The 2026 NBA offseason has been crazy. Giannis leaving Milwaukee for South Beach. LeBron heading to Philadelphia. Jaylen Brown crossing the rivalry line from Boston to Philly. Kawhi going back to Toronto. This summer has been wild.
And it came right after an equally wild 2025–26 season that ended with the Knicks finally winning an NBA championship for the first time in forever — figuratively speaking.
With several superstars changing teams and contenders reshuffling their cores, it’s time to go through some of the offseason’s biggest winners and losers heading into 2026–27.
Winner: Philadelphia 76ers
We already mentioned LeBron going to Philadelphia.
The crazy part?
Jaylen Brown played the best basketball of his career last season in Boston, averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists while Jayson Tatum missed most of the year. At 29, Brown got an extended opportunity to operate as a true No. 1 option — and delivered.
Now he joins a Philadelphia team that already made the second round last season with Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and rising guard VJ Edgecombe.
Embiid’s health is always going to be the biggest question, but even a diminished Embiid remains one of the most dangerous big men in the league. If he can give Philly enough games, Maxey continues to play like an elite guard, LeBron operates as a point forward and Brown becomes the scorer and two-way wing Philly needed, this team could be built for a serious playoff run.
And we haven’t even gotten to Edgecombe yet. He may not be the first, second or third option, but at only 21 he might be Philadelphia’s most valuable long-term piece.
Philadelphia now has star power, shot creation, veteran experience and young talent. If this group is reasonably healthy when the playoffs arrive, the Sixers should be a top-three team in the East and a legitimate championship contender.
Loser: Boston Celtics
Boston probably should have entered this category going into last season. Tatum missed most of the year, and yet the Celtics still overachieved, winning 56 games and finishing as the No. 2 seed in the East.
This season, though, the circumstances are different.
Losing Jaylen Brown hurts in multiple ways. Boston didn’t just lose its 1B scorer. They lost one of their most physical defenders and a player who could create offense when the system broke down.
As much as analytics love Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, neither one is replacing what Brown brought to the lineup.
Boston did bring in Paul George in the Brown trade and added Mitchell Robinson to strengthen the frontcourt. Robinson was an important piece of New York’s championship run, but he isn’t being asked to replace Brown’s offensive creation. George is still productive, but at 36 and with his injury history, expecting the 2021 version of PG would be unrealistic.
The Brown situation also left a bad taste because the breakup followed months of uncertainty around Boston’s future. Whatever the reasoning, the Celtics traded a homegrown Finals MVP directly to a division rival — and that rival then added LeBron.
Boston should still make the playoffs. They may even land somewhere around the top five in the East. But unless they make another move or somebody on this roster takes a major leap, it’s hard to view this version of the Celtics in the same championship tier as before.
4DK Verdict
Philadelphia: Championship expectations.
Boston: Playoff team, but no longer an automatic member of the East’s top tier.