As the 2025-26 NBA season is about to tip off, we’ll soon learn which teams work, and which teams will be forced to make alterations in the future. But that doesn’t mean we can’t guess our way to something beforehand about the current outlooks of certain franchises that might need organizational changes soon. Here are five teams to keep an eye on.
Heat: What’s the plan, Pat?
All right, all right. It’s unfair to pin the latest round of mediocrity on just Pat Riley, as GM Andy Elisburg also has some serious sway in the organization. Yet you have to wonder how long the Heat can maintain their steadfast refusal to rebuild. They have good players, and quite a few of them, but they simply do not have in their possession a player who can carry them into the Finals now that Jimmy Butler is no longer on the roster.
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Look, the Heat will be competitive. They’ll fight. They’ll be scrappy. They’ll win games they frankly have no business winning. But ultimately, this team has a fairly set ceiling, despite acquiring Norman Powell for freaking peanuts. Could this season, if they finish in the play-in again, prove to shake the foundation of Heat culture? Maybe, maybe not. But at the very least, it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to be open to new interpretations of roster construction.
(Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports Illustration)
Pelicans: Can Willie Green survive the hot seat?
The arrival of Joe Dumars to helm the front office has already been a disaster in terms of asset evaluation. One look at this roster, and it’s clear the odds are against the Pelicans making any type of competitive push. With an increasingly angered fan base, eventually the organization is going to need a fall guy, and that person is unlikely to be Dumars.
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Enter Willie Green, who is entering his fifth season as the organization’s head coach. So far, he has won 148 games, lost 180 and hasn’t exactly stood out as a beacon of hope for fans. While he’s done reasonably well given the circumstances, 10 total playoff games isn’t enough to save him from the chopping block, especially if the team starts poorly and the franchise needs an excuse to keep fans invested.
It appears all the more likely Green will be out of there if things go sideways. Is it fair? Probably not. But when has that ever stopped any NBA organization from firing its coach?
Bucks: Eh, what’s up, Doc?
Doc Rivers is notorious for avoiding responsibility, blaming his players, not playing young guys and installing offensive systems that lack nuance. With the Bucks firmly up against the wall, after waiving and stretching Damian Lillard, and spending their last remaining bullets on signing Myles Turner, they’re going to look for a scapegoat as soon as Giannis Antetokounmpo sneezes, and odds are good that will be Rivers.
The twist is that firing Rivers would easily be justified, even without the element of a scapegoat, but that probably won’t stop the Bucks from applying that logic anyway, seeing as Rivers is easier to replace than making significant roster upgrades. (That’s what happens when you decide to paint yourself fully into a corner.)
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Of course, it shouldn’t just be Rivers potentially seeing his head roll here. The franchise spends more time being concerned about retaining Antetokounmpo than actually trying to build a contender around him, which is what he wants. General manager Jon Horst and the front office have spent years attacking the problem from the wrong angle, and seem hell-bent to continue that pattern for … reasons?
We’ll see if the Bucks come out swinging and use the downfall of the Celtics and Pacers to their advantage. If they do, perhaps they all slide into safety. But that won’t leave Bucks fans particularly optimistic about the future.
Hornets: Come on, just sting a little!
Hornets are usually very protective of their colony and are ready to throw down in tough times. That hasn’t been the case for a while in Charlotte. This organization is all over the place to the point where we can’t limit any one person to becoming the sacrificial lamb. If this teams starts off poorly again, especially with a healthy roster, everything should be on the table, including moving off, yes, LaMelo Ball.
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The roster lacks cohesion and symmetry, and has developed habits that make you wonder if it can ever turn the narrative around as a collective group. This team needs better players, a stronger strategy and a true long-term plan, all of which seem to be a bit of an afterthought these days. Organizational changes should be more than welcome, especially if the Hornets are far below .500 when the calendar turns to 2026.
Bulls: Is there currently a more unserious NBA franchise?
The answer is a resounding no, and that’s not the worst part. Including them here, which intends to point toward possible reactions to poor performance, is actually a joke, because they don’t make changes. In fact, the front office and coaching staff, namely ArtÅ«ras KarniÅ¡ovas and Billy Donovan, seem to continue receiving contract extensions for a job not done, by just finding themselves in the play-in tournament every year.
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If the league had such issues with the Philadelphia 76ers that it decided to move Sam Hinkie off his post during The Process, what exactly is keeping it from doing the same to the Bulls? At least The Process Sixers had a plan and made a genuine attempt at acquiring future stars, to a point where they could compete for a championship.
The Bulls are standing still, by choice, and that should infuriate the league enough to reach out to Mr. Burner, Bryan Colangelo, to at least do something other than what’s currently being done. (That’s a joke. No team should entertain Colangelo as a real option.) But the point stands. This organization rewards its own members in reaching pointless mediocrity, and if that isn’t grounds for change, then what is?