After one of the most exciting seasons in recent memory, NBL27 is shaping up to follow through with an even stronger showcasing of basketball in Australia.
Valuable imports have returned, while some are just getting started. With the league being top heavy now, it has become one of the hardest seasons to predict in recent memory.
Sydney looks to defend its title through bringing back most of its championship team, while the likes of Adelaide and Melbourne are primed to grab the top spot from them.
With the season starting this Saturday night, it's time to predict where each team sits after finalising their rosters and judging how they looked form-wise in Bendigo's NBL Blitz.
Brisbane Bullets
2026 Record: 6-27 (10th)
Predicted starters: Nate Hinton (G), Arnas Velicka (G), Max Mackinnon (F), Jaylin Williams (F) Tyrell Harrison (C)
The Bullets have at least started to kick things in the right direction with the hiring of former Sydney Kings coach Will Weaver who hopes to uncover some much needed identity and culture that has been lacking since their re-introduction into the league.
Losing former club MVP Casey Prather in the off-season will haunt them offensively.
Newly acquired imports Hinton, Velicka and Williams have all showed signs of offensive output, but none to warrant first-option status and that still leaves defence as the main obstacle for this team to finally conquer.
New Zealand Breakers
2026 Record: 14-20 (7th)
Predicted starters: Parker Jackson-Cartwright (G), Dejan Vasiljevic (G), Josiah-Jordan James (F), Sam Mennenga (F), Charles Bediako (C)
A roster shakeup for the Breakers still places them on the lower end of the NBL hierarchy, with Jackson-Cartwright yet again steering the ship through uncertain territory.
Signing Kouat Noi was the highlight of their off-season as his championship experience will hopefully implement some much-needed winning habits.
Questions also shroud their imports, with James not playing up to his best in the blitz and now facing injury problems.
Bediako looks to be a solid addition, however, the real uncertainty for the Breakers rests in Vasiljevic's infamous inconsistency.
Tasmania JackJumpers
2026 Record: 14-19 (6th)
Predicted starters: Taran Armstrong (G), Bryce Hamilton (G), David Johnson (F), Josh Bannan (F), Will Magnay (C)
Continuity is key here for the team down south, whether that is in regards to bringing back imports Hamilton, Johnson and Mathias or the potential re-signing of coach Scott Roth.
It helps that former Taipan Armstrong is a match made in heaven with Roth's grinding set-up offensive game style.
Defensively, they look primed to put a stop to most teams with Magnay's paint presence, Bannan's rebounding and Johnson's ability to switch onto multiple match-ups.
Hamilton is also returning from an ACL-injury which may take some time to fully recover from for the former All-NBL Second Team member.
Cairns Taipans
2026 Record: 9-24 (9th)
Predicted starters: Jaylon Brown (G), Reyne Smith (G), Malique Lewis (F), Jack McVeigh (F), Keanu Pinder (C)
Playing a staggering seven pre-season matches, the Taipans are one of the most game-ready teams heading into the season.
The return of Pinder to the club is huge to solidify a consistent second-option. Brown looks to be the distributor needed to make sure the attention doesn't divert away from McVeigh or even Lewis who looks to prove himself and raise his draft stocks in the process.
Adam Forde's team also has some of the most promising depth he's ever coached after adding some key role players in Jonah Bolden, Sunday Dech and Shaun Bruce. Though in recent memory, it's rare to find a season where the Taipans have played up to expectations.
Illawarra Hawks
2026 Record: 13-20 (8th)
Predicted starters: Tyler Harvey (G), Milton Doyle (G), Kelan Martin (F), Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (F), Sam Froling (C)
One of the best coached teams in the competition that still holds some of its core players that helped win a championship in 2025.
Froling's injury last year made it a write-off campaign, but with the off-season additions of Doyle and Martin it's clear to see where their priorities sit now as the void Trey Kell III left still looms over.
The only questions that surround this club now are those on the other side of the floor after finishing in the bottom three for defensive rating. Bringing back a utility player in Darius Days is one step in the right direction.
South East Melbourne Phoenix
2026 Record: 22-11 (3rd)
Predicted starters: Skylar Mays (G), Nathan Sobey (G), Tanner Krebs (F), D'Shawn Schwartz (F), Jordan Hunter (C)
Josh King has the ability to make any team he coaches elite defensively despite the personnel and this season should be no different in forming that identity.
Signing NBA draft-prospect Dash Daniels and bringing back Angus Glover only reinforces this belief while new imports Mays and Schwartz look to add a spark to the offence.
Coming off arguably his best season, Sobey's averages of 22.5 points per game was one of the main talking points and elevated him into MVP talks.
Now with a playmaker like Mays and a shooter in Schwartz, the offence hopes to open up the floor and invite a committee-based scoring output.
Perth Wildcats
2026 Record: 21-12 (4th)
Predicted starters: Brandon Knight (G), Anthony Dell'Orso (G), Dylan Windler (F), Kristin Doolittle (F), Jo Lual-Acuil Jr (C)
When you talk about the NBL post-season you simply cannot leave out the league's premier club in that discussion.
The Wildcats are always up there and this season will be no different, especially after the recent signing of 450-game NBA veteran Knight who looks to patch up their point guard problem.
Adding sharpshooter Dell'Orso out of Arizona is another big move who compliments nicely with Windler and the dominant inside scoring that Lual-Acuil provides.
Make no mistake though, this is still Doolittle's team and it'll be up to him to connect all the pieces on the floor.
Sydney Kings
2026 Record: 24-9 (1st)
Predicted starters: Kendric Davis (G), Matthew Dellavedova (G), Torrey Craig (F), Xavier Cooks (F), Andrew Carr (C)
Winning back-to-back championships in the NBL has never been an easy venture and that has been clear after the way the Kings have fared in the off-season.
Losing Tim Soares and most of their bench will be a massive loss for their depth, even with the form of Makuach Maluach in the pre-season.
However, retaining Davis is all that was needed to make them a championship contender yet again, with the players around him complementing his game perfectly.
Elite defence is there thanks to Dellavedova and Craig, while Cooks can do everything that is required on the floor except for shooting.
Melbourne United
2026 Record: 20-13 (5th)
Predicted starters: Cole Anthony (G), Chris Goulding (G), Luke Travers (F), Sam Waardenburg (F), Josh Oduro (C)
The winners of the off-season and the literal winners of the pre-season; it should come as no surprise that Melbourne is the team to take the biggest jump in the NBL landscape.
Signing NBA veteran Joe Ingles and bringing back NBA-draftee Travers was only the start to forming the deepest team in the league.
Adding Anthony was the cherry on top and the move needed to take them further in the finals. What remains to be seen now is if first-time head coach Jacob Chance can make all these weapons work with one another and prove that he's up to the task of taking the reins from Dean Vickerman.
Adelaide 36ers
2026 Record: 23-11 (2nd)
Predicted starters: Flynn Cameron (G), Bryce Cotton (G), Bul Kuol (F), Zylan Cheatham (F), Isaac Humphries (C)
Falling short in overtime of the deciding Grand Final series game last season, there's no team more desperate to prove everyone wrong than this one.
The squad from last year has mostly all returned and they've even added one of the best defensive-stoppers in the league through Bul Kuol, who returns from injury soon.
Cotton is a six-time NBL MVP centrepiece that this team relies on and he'll be the one to dictate just how far this team can go with his unwavering shot-creating ability.
Cheatham has also proven he can step-up when it counts, while Cameron is riding off some stellar form in the club's two pre-season games.
