The Association’s new broadcast partner, NBC Sports, shared a hopeful message on three downtrodden NBA franchises, the Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, and Brooklyn Nets, for the 2025-26 season.
NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin sees the three teams having high entertainment value despite likely sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The Hornets and Wizards, as Helin explains, have young foundational talent.
The Nets have two high-volume gunners who could be entertaining for opposing fanbases, more so than for the select few in New York who don’t cheer for the Knicks.
“There’s a pattern with the bottom three teams in the conference. Charlotte and LaMelo Ball will be entertaining but lose a lot of games. The Wizards have some interesting young talent — Tre Johnson, Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington — but are going to lose a lot of games. Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. are going to put up a lot of points for Brooklyn, but the Nets are going to lose a lot of games,” Helin wrote.
Funnily enough, NBC won’t carry any of Brooklyn’s games this season. The other two teams will have one game each. Charlotte will play the Cleveland Cavaliers on December 22, while Washington will play the Detroit Pistons on November 10.
Even with the NBA Play-In Tournament’s integration, teams are racing to the bottom of the standings like they did before lottery odds were flattened.
That won’t be any different for the 2025-26 season, especially with a strong prospective 2026 draft class led by Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson, BYU Cougars wing AJ Dybantsa, and Duke Blue Devils forward Cameron Boozer.
Perhaps these teams could be even more entertaining with a true franchise player for the 2026-27 season.
