NBA Divisions are important for only two reasons. They determine tiebreakers for playoff seeding, and they provide travel relief for most teams. That’s unless they play in the Northwest Division. The Portland Trail Blazers (10), Denver Nuggets (5), Minnesota Timberwolves (8) and Utah Jazz (3) all reside in the Top 10 for most miles to be traveled in the 2026-27 season. The Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t far behind at 13th. This road-hardened quintet must come prepared for battle four times against
one another.
Once upon a time the Northwest Division was a cakewalk for good teams. That’s not true anymore. Let’s take a stab at predicting how the member teams will place after 82 games are complete.
5. Utah Jazz
Expected Starting Five: Darryn Peterson, Keyonte George, Jusuf Nurkic, Lauri Markannen, and Jaren Jackson Jr.
Key Reserves: Ace Bailey, Isaiah Collier, Bryce Sensabaugh, Kyle Filipowski
After what feels like a never-ending rebuild, the Jazz are expected to field a competitive team. The talent and size of their starting 5 are sure to turn heads, and the straw that will have to stir the drink will be dazzling rookie, Darryn Peterson. Drafted 2nd overall in June’s NBA Draft, Peterson plays with the skillset and poise of a lethal veteran scorer. His ability to run the point will be a big factor in determining the chemistry for the starting group. Keyonte George should be sliding over to his more natural position of off guard where he can focus on what he does best, scoring. The frontline averages nearly 7 feet with former all-star Lauri Markannen, and former All-NBA Defensive player Jaren Jackson Jr providing an interesting forward pairing we’ve yet to fully see.
I’m also curious to see head coach Will Hardy in action with a team looking to be competitive. If you recall his first year from their tank-a-thon, he took a team expected to be at the bottom of the league and had them playing almost .500 basketball the first 30-40 games. After that initial surprising spurt, it felt like word from the top said “Hey! You’re doing an amazing job with this group, buuuuut….we need to win less. Pronto!” Since then the franchise has focused on lottery positioning up until this season.
Now that Hardy has a wealth of talent, and some intriguing,young role playing reserves, the Jazz will be dangerous. I think this year will be a discovery season because they need to learn how to play together as a unit before they learn how to win together. It will be up to Hardy to mold this talented bunch quickly, but rival teams will need to bring a lunch pail and hard hat when facing them.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
Expected Starting Five: LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, Jalen McDaniels, Jonathan Kuminga
Key Reserves: Ayo Dosunmo, Bones Hyland, Jaylen Clark, Terrence Shannon Jr., Joan Beringer.
After making the Western Conference Finals twi out of the past four seasons, the T-Wolves felt a major shakeup was needed to give their roster a different look around superstar guard Anthony Edwards. They sent out frontcourt size and interior play in Julius Randle and Nas Reid to bring in point guard LaMelo Ball from Charlotte. It was an all-in move to create arguably the NBA’s most dynamic backcourt.
The Wolves are hoping that having another playmaker can help free up Edwards to get the ball in more advantageous ways to score. Gobert and McDaniels are very stout defenders, with the latter becoming a more advanced offensive force. To round things out, they landed free-agent enigma Jonathan Kuminga to fill in at power forward. The track record of the talented, but flawed 5th year forward is to have small stretches of impressive performances before disappearing and becoming more of a bench reserve. He’s landed in an ideal spot because Minnesota is thin up front. After bouncing from Golden State to Atlanta over the past couple seasons, this is likely his last good opportunity to prove he’s a starting-caliber player worthy of a long-term deal. After Gobert, young third-year center Joan Beringer is the only real big man on the team.
Edwards is a superstar. That is a requirement for postseason success, which he’s led them to. Chris Finch is a tremendous head coach and Gobert is an annual resident of the league’s All-Defensive team. McDaniel is a superior Toumani Camara and 6th Man Ayo Dosunmu really started coming on strong at the end of last season. Minnesota really should be ranked higher given this infrastructure and previous success.
The Ball trade should be scrutinized in a way that’s similar to the Ja Morant move to Portland. He was able to play 72 games last season, which is a good sign after playing only 105 games total the previous three seasons. He’s a health risk and we’re about to find out if he’s put it behind him, or if last season was an outlier. He’s also played unserious basketball for most of his career, opting for unconventional shooting and passing that looks awesome on highlight reels when it works. Other times it’s sloppy and leads to turnovers. Finch will have to put up guardrails and keep him from bumping into them.
Edwards and Ball seem pretty excited to play together, and they may develop some great chemistry. I’m just not ready to put any trust in the front office’s decision for this roll of the dice, until it proves it made them better than they were. If anyone in the front court misses extended time, they will become very small immediately. While this will be a super fun team, it’s also a house of cards.
3. Portland Trail Blazers
Projected Starting Five: Damian Lillard, Ja Morant, Donovan Clingan, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija
Key Reserves: Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson, Robert Williams III, Sidy Cissoko
Portland has a ton to prove. However, a team led by a hungry Deni Avdija, the lethal offensive force of Damian Lillard, and the unflappable Jrue Holiday provides the Blazers with a trio of leadership and big-time talent. Granted the latter two are getting up there in age, but if you’re in a tight game in the fourth quarter, it’s going to be hard to put a more balanced trio than these three on the floor.
How Ja Morant adjusts into this group is a mystery. Unlike the Ball trade to Minnesota where he easily stepped into the available starting point guard spot, Morant added to an already-loaded backcourt. If head coach Micah Nori can become a master at rotations and finding the right lineups, Morant can be a valuable playmaking and scoring weapon.
Defensive concerns exist for every minute Lillard and Morant share the floor. That puzzle needs to be solved. However, Portland is stacked with talent, and I feel it won’t be long before everyone is talking about Deni and Dame as one of the league’s best 1-2 punch star duos. Their games are tailor made to play together.
How healthy this group can remain will loom large and dictate where they end up. They get thin in the frontcourt pretty quickly once they turn to the bench. Like Minnesota, injuries on the frontline would cause catastrophic problems. All things being equal, Portland should easily have a top-10 offense. Can they hold the fort on the defensive side is the main question. Defining roles for Scoot Henderson and Morant that gain their buy-in is crucial. If Portland finds that balance, they will be formidable. The Blazers and Timberwolves could easily swap places.
2. Denver Nuggets
Projected Starting Five: Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Nikola Jokic, Cameron Johnson, Aaron Gordon.
Key Reserves: Demar DeRozan, Tyus Jones, Spencer Jones, and Zeke Nnaji
It’s been a steady decline in results since the Nuggets hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy in 2023. Last year they were bounced out of the first round, Yet they still employ center Nikola Jokic who is an unbelievable force of basketball nature. If anyone has watched him in the preseason, he’s already thrown one of the greatest passes the world has ever seen. Death, taxes, and Jokic filling stat sheets. As long as he’s playing and his injury prone supporting cast can cobble it together, Denver will remain a strong regular season team.
Their main offseason acquisition was signing veteran star wing Demar DeRozan. He’s 37, but will become the Jrue Holiday for the Nuggets off the bench. The talent level of the rest of the reserves isn’t overly exciting, and their deep bench are all unknowns. Their lack of depth is going to be a major concern come playoffs time. This might be this team’s final run because they are at the second apron of the salary cap with little upcoming draft capital. If the Nuggets falter in the playoffs again, major trades will be the only way to recraft a different rotation around Jokic. I want to bump them lower than the division’s runner up, but I can’t disrespect the last four seasons that have seen them average 53.5 wins and a 3 seed.
- Oklahoma City Thunder
Projected Starting 5: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein
Key Reserves: Alex Caruso, Ajay Mitchell, Jaylin Williams, Aday Mara
We need to take a moment to recognize that EVP and General Manager Sam Presti is going into his 20th season running this franchise. He’s the only GM in OKC’s history, and once again he has positioned the Thunder for a run at a championship.
If the preseason is any indication, Presti has struck gold in the draft again with 7’3” rookie center Aday Mara out of Michigan. Mara averaged 14.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3 assists, and nearly 3 blocked shots per game in 19 minutes. He turned heads on both ends of the floor in ways Blazer fans have been hoping Yang Hansen would pop. Mara was a great find to help them try stopping Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs from ending their season twice in a row.
Former all-star Jalen Williams looks to rebound with a healthy season after a constant battle with a hamstring all of last year. He adds a huge element to the team if he can return to form. Holmgren was manhandled by the Spurs the last time we saw him, but he’s still one of the better two-way players in the game. Then there’s the reigning NBA MVP, SGA. A scoring savant, he’s mastered the art of creating contact to draw fouls. He’s basically the offensive version of Toumani Camara. The league is instituting new push off rules this season, so watching how this affects the NBA’s biggest foul baiter will be interesting. Still, until someone other than the Spurs knock the Thunder off the Western Conference perch, this is their division.
With the season kicking off tomorrow, how do you see the Northwest Division shaking out?
