The 2025-26 NBA season is less than a week away, and while there are so many storylines surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers' present and the future of the NBA champion New York Knicks, there are several intriguing narratives around the league.
In some instances, it could take all season to shake out, while others could have a fate determined in the first quarter of the campaign.
Either way, here are 10 important people at all levels of the game who bear watching, starting with a No. 1 pick who is still looking to make his playoff debut.
Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
Why he's interesting: It's now or never, period.
Williamson's 62 games last season were the second most of his career, trailing only the 70 he played in 2022-23. His stretch of playing 52 of 53 games from Dec. 14 to April 5 was the longest such span of his career. The Pelicans were 21-31 during that time, as the team had a litany of players in and out through the season while trying to develop rookies Jeremy Fears and Derik Queen.
This is Year 8 for the 2019 No. 1 pick. The league moves fast, and Williamson's contract for 2027-28 is not guaranteed. Pelicans GM Troy Weaver previously went through the painstaking process of a Pistons rebuild at the start of the decade, with no assets to accrue draft capital, but that's not the case here. The new regime resisted wholesale changes last season, and they hope new coach Jamahl Mosley will have the same effect J.B. Bickerstaff had in Detroit three years ago before they make any drastic moves.
Williamson has the most credentials, but also the most questions. Apparently, he's come into camp in great shape, working plenty with assistant coach God Shammgod over the summer.
Doug Christie, Sacramento Kings
Why he's interesting: The bar isn't high.
There's no mandate for the Kings to make the playoffs with the current roster, and the front office has stated it would not saddle itself with win-now moves that jeopardize the future. Zach LaVine is on an expiring deal, and who knows how Domantas Sabonis, who has two years left on the extension he signed in 2023, fits into the future.
But Christie has yet to put an imprint on this roster as far as style of play, which is something Kings GM Scott Perry is big on. If Christie can put promising rookie point guard Darius Acuff Jr. in positions to be an elite lead performer, it will certainly be a feather in his cap while the roster starts to take shape. If it's another nondescript 22-win season with no discernible on-court quality, things could get tricky for the well-liked Christie.