The once mighty Pacific Division has fallen far, placing in my opinion as the weakest of the six divisions in the NBA, with one playoff team, a few play-in hopefuls, and one bottom-feeder.
Los Angeles Lakers
Additions: Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, Matisse Thybulle, Jaden Hardy, Kevon Looney, Ziaire Williams, Cameron Carr (24th pick in 2026 Draft)
Subtractions: LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard, De’Andre Ayton, Jaxson Hayes, Maxi Kleber, Drew Timme, Kobe Bufkin
Other: Re-signed Austin Reaves to a max deal
Outlook: The Lakers were a very good regular season team last year, and it just seems like JJ Redick is an excellent head coach for driving consistent winning. The Lakers did overhaul more than half of their roster, including basically all of their rotation players but Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, but they did get younger and more athletic for the most part. I thought they overpaid pretty significantly for Walker Kessler, and I didn’t like that deal for them – but there’s no question he’s a massive upgrade at center and will help stabilize their defense. The Lakers don’t have enough perimeter defense or a third guy good enough behind Luka and Reaves for me to think they are championship contenders, but if Luka is healthy they feel like a lock to win a lot of games and be a dangerous playoff opponent.
Prediction: 52-30 (Last year predicted 50-32, actually 53-29)
Golden State Warriors
Additions: Yaxel Lendeborg (11th pick in the 2026 Draft), Georges Niang, Brandon Williams
Subtractions: Quinten Post, Seth Curry, Malevy Leons
Other: Re-signed Draymond Green, Re-signed Kristaps Porzingis, Re-signed Al Horford, Re-signed Gary Payton II, Re-signed De’Anthony Melton, Re-signed Charles Bassey
Outlook: The Warriors seem stuck in a holding pattern as Steph Curry ages into the final portion of his career. Jimmy Butler’s season-ending ACL tear killed whatever minimal chance the Warriors had to be a real playoff team last year, and his injury should keep him out for much of this year as well. Add in Moses Moody’s torn Achilles that will probably hold him back for most of if not the entirety of the 2027 season and you have a Warriors’ team that is probably worse on paper than the one that started last season. The big wild card is rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, who was probably the best player in college last season and powered Michigan to a national championship. Lendeborg is old for a rookie but should be able to help out right away: the question is whether he’s just a decent role player or could be a high-level starter. Even if Lendeborg does prove to be an impact player, if Steph Curry slips at all the Warriors will be fully cooked anyway. It’s hard to imagine them being an above-average team considering the age of Steph, Draymond, Horford, and other rotation players, but they will probably be competent enough.
Prediction: 35-47 (Last year predicted 46-36, actually 37-45)
Phoenix Suns
Additions: Miles Bridges, Luke Kennard, Koa Peat (30th pick in 2026 Draft)
Subtractions: Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, Amir Coffey, Nigel Hayes-Davis
Other: Extended Dillon Brooks, Re-signed Collin Gillespie, Re-signed Mark Williams, Re-signed Jordan Goodwin, Re-signed Haywood Highsmith
Outlook: The Suns were one of the most pleasant surprises in the NBA last season, recovering from the disappointing Kevin Durant era with a hard-playing, gritty team that clawed its way into the playoffs despite a talent disadvantage. Those teams are fun, but its very hard to sustain that level of effort year-to-year, and the Suns won’t be able to take anyone by surprise this season. There’s also not a ton of internal development available to the Suns outside of second-year big man Khaman Maluach, as most of the team are in their primes and not likely to improve significantly. I also hated the acquisition of Miles Bridges, both because of his off-the-court awfulness as well as his on-court impact. The Suns will be ok, and I could see them squeaking into the play-in again, but I’ve built in some regression for this year.
Prediction: 34-48 (Last year predicted 29-53, actually 45-37)
Los Angeles Clippers
Additions: Keaton Wagler (5th pick in 2026 Draft), Brandon Ingram, Rui Hachimura, Max Strus, Gradey Dick, Baba Miller (36th pick in 2026 Draft), Nick Martinelli (55th pick in 2026 Draft), Johni Broome
Subtractions: Kawhi Leonard, John Collins, Bennedict Mathurin, Nicolas Batum, Bogdan Bogdanovic
Other: Re-signed Bradley Beal, Re-signed Kobe Sanders, Re-signed Jordan Miller
Outlook: As always, I won’t go too in-depth on the Clippers, since that’s what our regularly scheduled content is for. But overall, I think the Clippers will be ok to bad this season, with their upside limited because of the defensive end of the floor. Their starting center is approximately 1 million years old in basketball age, Darius Garland is their best offensive player but is awful on defense, and a lot of their other high-minute players like Brandon Ingram and Rui Hachimura are bad on that end too. Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. can only do so much on that end. For the actual long-term outlook of the team, I just hope Keaton Wagler looks good off the bench. If not, this will be a long, long year.
Prediction: 33-49 (Last year predicted 51-31, actually 42-40)
Sacramento Kings
Additions: Darius Acuff (7th pick in 2026 Draft), Alex Karaban (29th pick in 2026 Draft), Emanuel Sharp (45th pick in 2026 Draft), Ben Simmons
Subtractions: DeMar DeRozan, Russell Westbrook, Devin Carter
Other: Re-signed Precious Achiuwa, Re-signed Daeqwon Plowden
Outlook: The Kings were trying to be competent last year but failed miserably, finally pulling the plug around halfway through the season to lean into the tank. They were not rewarded with a top lottery pick for their troubles, but did secure Darius Acuff, their most exciting young prospect since Tyrese Haliburton over a half-decade ago. Unfortunately for the Kings, the detritus of their previous team is still around, including the unhappy Domantas Sabonis, mightily overpaid Zach LaVine, and other expensive veterans like Malik Monk and De’Andre Hunter. Acuff should be fun, I like the Kings’ other rookies well enough, and a couple of their second-year players like Nique Clifford and Dylan Cardwell could be ok complementary pieces. But this team seems like a lock to be a bottom-feeder barring Acuff astonishing as a rookie or guys like LaVine and Hunter having unexpected returns to form.
Prediction: 25-57 (Last year predicted 37-45, actually 22-60)