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3 NBA teams that will underperform in 2026-2027

The Big Lead · Nathan Zuniga · 2026-08-19T13:39:08+00:00 · nguồn gốc

The NBA season is almost here as one of the craziest off-seasons in NBA history has finally died down. Stars like LaMelo Ball, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, and Ja Morant are all with new teams after an action-packed offseason. With all these offseason moves, everybody has an opinion or prediction to make. Most people are predicting success or breakouts. Let’s switch it up. Here are three teams that I think will underperform this season. MORE: 3 NBA teams that are being heavily overlooked ahead of the 2026-2027 season Miami Heat The Heat made the biggest move of the offseason by acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo, while also adding Tim Hardaway Jr. However, they didn’t make many other notable moves. In fact, they gave up several of their notable scorers and good pieces to acquire Giannis. Outside of their frontcourt, Miami is lacking talent at almost every position. Giannis is obviously going to make them competitive, but I don’t think they have enough around him to make a deep postseason run. The Heat will be a good team, but I don’t see them making it very far in the playoffs. MORE: 3 NBA rookies who will struggle in 2026-2027 New York Knicks This one might come as a shock since the Knicks won the NBA championship last season. They re-signed their core and added Andre Drummond, which are all good moves. The problem is the Eastern Conference is getting better and more competitive. The Knicks aren’t a bad team by any means, but I think they’re going to fall out of championship contention this season. Don’t expect to see a back-to-back. Minnesota Timberwolves I’m not someone who thinks the Timberwolves got worse. In fact, I believe the addition of LaMelo Ball and the loss of Julius Randle makes them significantly better. The problem is that it takes time for a new team to gel together. By next season, I think Minnesota will be among the best teams in the league, but this year could be ugly. Jaden McDaniels will get a starting spot, and I think he’ll shine, but it could also take him some time to get comfortable in his new role. The key to this team’s success is, as I’ve hammered multiple times, time. — Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories with The Big Lead Newsletter —