The NBA has opened the 2026/27 season with a title race that already looks crowded, and the early edge belongs to San Antonio. In the league's preseason survey, the San Antonio Spurs drew 50 percent of the vote as the biggest championship favorite, with Oklahoma City close behind on 43 percent.
That is why Vít Krejčí is part of the conversation now: the new season has started with the league sorting its stars, its contenders and its surprises all at once. The same survey that put San Antonio and Oklahoma City at the top also put Victor Wembanyama on top of the MVP race, with 77 percent of respondents picking him as the most likely winner.
San Antonio's pull is easy to explain. The Spurs reached the final last season, and the vote suggests many general managers think that run was only the start. Oklahoma City is not far behind, though, and that narrow gap matters because it turns the opening months of the season into a test of which of the two can carry the heavier expectation without slipping.
Out East, the New York Knicks begin as the conference favorite after their championship run, while Philadelphia has remade itself around LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. That is a collection of talent strong enough to change the standings on paper, but it also creates a question that will be answered only on the court: who gets the ball, who finishes possessions and how quickly the fit turns into something stable?
The biggest swing in the league may come from Miami, where Giannis Antetokounmpo arrived from Milwaukee. The Heat's move raises the stakes well beyond one roster, because a player of that size changes the balance of power at the top of the league and forces every contender to rethink the path to June. Washington, meanwhile, took AJ Dybantsa with the first pick in the draft after he impressed during his lone college season at BYU, and the club's additions of Trae Young and Anthony Davis should make his adjustment easier.
There is still no single clean line through the season, and that is the point. San Antonio leads the title poll, Oklahoma City is close enough to make the race look almost even, and Wembanyama is being treated as the clearest MVP answer before the calendar has settled. The first months of 2026/27 will show whether the league's strongest teams are as separated as the vote suggests, or whether the season's most talked-about names are about to collide sooner than expected.
