NBA: Predicting the starting lineup for every team in the league

The 2021-22 NBA season is quickly approaching, with teams reporting for Training Camp this week and preseason games starting soon. While there are a few unresolved trade rumors, for the most part, the offseason activities are done and team rosters are set.

Training camp will bring some competition for the last spot or two on each roster, but those players likely aren’t in contention for starting. Injuries could also strike and force a change, but as things stand right now, we can be fairly certain of which players are available to start.

With the NBA Draft and free agency coming to a close, it’s time to look ahead to the coming season and predicting the starting lineup for every team in the league.

Who will each team start next season? Let’s go team-by-team and make some predictions. First, some ground rules. We are going to assume injured players are back healthy for the start of the season unless we know that they are not. Kawhi Leonard and Jamal Murray are not projected as starters, but Zion Williamson and Pascal Siakam are. It’s possible Williamson and Siakam are not available to start the year, but hopefully, they will be or be back soon. Jonathan Isaac, Markelle Fultz and Klay Thompson are among those temporarily replaced in our projections.

With all apologies to those fan bases that are positive they have insider knowledge that we do not, this is our best prediction for the starting lineup of all 30 NBA teams. Going in alphabetical order, we begin with a team that is flying high (pun intended) after a run to the Conference Finals last year.