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Sat, Oct 24 · 2026-27

Player projections

Expected minutes, points, rebounds, assists and threes for every player, from recent form, the opponent's defense by position and pace. Each number comes with an 80% range.

01Projections

Sat, Oct 24 · 8 games

Based on 2025-26: nobody has played 5 games of 2026-27 yet, so these use last season's per-minute numbers and expected minutes on each player's current roster. Players with fewer than 20 games last season are left out until they play. They switch to this season's games on their own.

MIA at CHA 6:00 PM ET · BKN at CLE 7:30 PM ET · MIL at PHI 7:30 PM ET · WAS at CHI 8:00 PM ET · SAS at DAL 8:00 PM ET · HOU at ATL 8:30 PM ET · NOP at DEN 9:00 PM ET · GSW at PHX 10:00 PM ET

PlayerMatchupMINPTS ↑REBAST3PM
Ryan NembhardGuardvs NOP103.60-101.20-32.91-50.40-2
Will RichardGuardat PHXvs top-5 defense134.10-111.60-40.80-20.60-2
Keon EllisGuardat CLE144.50-111.20-40.70-20.80-2
Craig PorterGuardvs BKN184.60-103.51-73.41-60.50-2
Sion JamesGuardvs MIA215.20-113.41-72.00-41.00-2
Bryce McGowensGuardat DEN145.31-131.40-41.00-20.60-2
Terance MannGuardat CLE247.01-143.01-62.91-60.80-2
Ben SarafGuardat CLE217.41-152.00-53.21-60.40-2
Gary Trent Jr.Guardat PHI217.82-151.00-31.20-31.80-4
Luke KennardGuardvs GSWvs bottom-5 defense228.42-162.30-52.20-51.50-3
Luguentz DortGuardvs HOUvs top-5 defense278.42-163.51-71.20-31.80-4
Nolan TraoréGuardat CLE228.72-171.70-43.71-71.00-2
Jordan GoodwinGuardvs GSWvs bottom-5 defense238.72-174.72-92.10-41.60-3
Dylan HarperGuardat DALvs top-5 defense178.72-172.60-52.91-50.60-2
Buddy HieldGuardvs WAS188.92-172.60-51.70-41.60-3
Marcus SmartGuardat ATL299.33-172.81-52.91-61.50-3
Davion MitchellGuardat CHA299.43-172.70-56.63-111.20-3
Aaron WigginsGuardvs HOUvs top-5 defense239.73-183.11-61.70-41.50-3
Egor DeminGuardat CLE259.93-183.01-63.21-62.31-4
A.J. GreenGuardat PHI2910.44-182.71-52.00-42.91-5
Carlton CarringtonGuardat CHI2811.34-203.61-75.02-92.10-4
Dennis SchroderGuardvs MIA2511.44-202.91-65.22-91.10-3
Pelle LarssonGuardat CHA2711.64-203.61-73.51-70.90-2
Dyson DanielsGuardvs HOUvs top-5 defense3311.74-196.63-105.73-90.30-2
Christian BraunGuardvs NOP3111.94-194.72-82.71-51.00-2
Moses MoodyGuardat PHXvs top-5 defense2612.05-213.31-61.60-42.41-5
Klay ThompsonGuardat CHA2312.24-222.20-51.50-32.91-5
De'Anthony MeltonGuardat PHXvs top-5 defense2412.34-223.21-62.51-51.40-3
Collin GillespieGuardvs GSWvs bottom-5 defense2812.45-213.91-74.52-82.81-5
Bilal CoulibalyGuardat CHI2712.45-214.72-82.81-61.20-3
Sam MerrillGuardvs BKN2612.55-212.50-52.40-52.91-5
Max ChristieGuardvs SASvs top-5 defense2912.75-223.31-62.00-42.41-5
Jaylon TysonGuardvs BKN2712.95-225.02-92.30-52.00-4
Brandon WilliamsGuardat PHXvs top-5 defense2313.15-232.90-63.81-70.50-2
Tre JohnsonGuardat CHI2513.15-223.11-62.20-52.00-4
Jordan PooleGuardat DEN2413.35-231.90-43.01-62.41-4
Brandin PodziemskiGuardat PHXvs top-5 defense2913.56-234.92-93.51-71.70-4
Reed SheppardGuardat ATL2713.66-232.91-63.41-62.71-5
Tim Hardaway Jr.Guardat CHA2713.76-232.60-51.40-32.71-5
Jalen GreenGuardvs GSWvs bottom-5 defense2014.06-242.80-62.20-51.70-3
Peyton WatsonGuardvs BKN2914.26-244.72-82.10-41.40-3
Devin VassellGuardat DALvs top-5 defense3114.26-234.21-72.61-52.40-5
Anfernee SimonsGuardvs MILvs bottom-5 defense2514.36-242.40-52.50-52.71-5
Jeremiah FearsGuardat DEN2614.67-243.71-73.51-71.20-3
Tre JonesGuardvs WAS2715.27-253.41-66.03-100.70-2
Jaime Jaquez Jr.Guardat PHI2915.47-255.02-94.82-80.80-2
VJ EdgecombeGuardvs MILvs bottom-5 defense3415.77-245.52-94.22-72.00-4
Kevin Porter Jr.Guardat PHI3116.07-254.82-86.94-111.10-3
Tyler HerroGuardat PHI2616.88-273.91-73.41-62.00-4
Grayson AllenGuardvs MIA2917.08-273.11-64.01-73.21-6
Stephon CastleGuardat DALvs top-5 defense3017.18-265.62-97.64-121.20-3
Amen ThompsonGuardat ATL3617.18-267.34-114.92-80.30-2
Ryan RollinsGuardat PHI3217.28-264.52-85.63-92.40-5
Bennedict MathurinGuardat DEN3017.78-275.42-92.40-51.40-3
Jimmy ButlerGuardat PHXvs top-5 defense2918.19-295.02-94.32-80.70-2
Josh GiddeyGuardvs WAS3218.19-278.85-1310.16-152.00-4
Coby WhiteGuardvs MIA2618.29-293.61-74.32-82.41-5
DeMar DeRozanGuardvs NOP3118.39-282.91-54.12-70.60-2
CJ McCollumGuardvs HOUvs top-5 defense3018.79-283.21-63.81-72.51-5
Kon KnueppelGuardvs MIA3218.99-285.52-93.51-63.41-6
De'Aaron FoxGuardat DALvs top-5 defense3118.99-293.91-76.33-101.80-4
Dillon BrooksGuardvs GSWvs bottom-5 defense3019.610-313.41-61.70-42.20-4
Nickeil Alexander-WalkerGuardvs HOUvs top-5 defense3320.611-313.31-63.61-63.11-6
James HardenGuardvs BKN3422.712-334.62-87.94-122.91-5
Jamal MurrayGuardvs NOP3425.114-364.21-77.14-113.21-6
Devin BookerGuardvs GSWvs bottom-5 defense3325.214-363.71-65.83-91.80-4
Stephen CurryGuardat PHXvs top-5 defense3125.715-373.41-64.42-84.12-7
Tyrese MaxeyGuardvs MILvs bottom-5 defense3526.215-373.81-76.23-103.01-5
Donovan MitchellGuardvs BKN3326.815-384.31-75.73-93.11-6
Jaylen BrownGuardvs MILvs bottom-5 defense3328.216-406.73-115.12-82.00-4

Small numbers under each projection are the 80% range. Defense chips rank the opponent on points allowed per 100 possessions to his position group: bottom-5 means one of the five most generous. 70 players shown.

Check a prop line

Betting tools

Projection 28.2 (80% range 16-40). Type the line from your sportsbook to see the over and under chances.

One game is noisy: even a good projection misses by several points most nights. Add it to a parlay.

02Track record

2025-26 backtest

No projected games are final yet. Here is how the model did replaying 2025-26.

2025-26 backtest: average miss per player game

StatThis modelSeason averageLast 10 averageGain vs season avgInside 80% range
Points4.584.694.662.2%80%
Rebounds1.881.911.931.6%81%
Assists1.351.371.371.3%80%
Threes made0.890.900.911.1%80%
Minutes5.035.435.127.4%n/a

Lower is better. Season and last-10 averages are the simple guesses the model has to beat.

How this works

The method

Two steps. First we project minutes from a player's minutes per game this season, over his last 10 games and over his last 5 (the last 5 count the most), plus home court and the second night of a back-to-back. Then each stat is his per-minute rate (season, last 10 and last 5) times those minutes, adjusted for the opponent and the pace.

The opponent adjustment compares how many points, rebounds, assists and threes the opponent allows per 100 possessions to his position group (guards, forwards or centers) with the league. Early in a season it leans on last season's number. An opponent that allows 10% more points to his position adds about 2.1% to his points. A game 3% faster than average adds about 5.5%.

The weights were fit by least squares on 24,874 player games from 2025-26. The 80% ranges come from how far real results landed from the projection in testing, grouped by projected minutes.

How we tested it

We replayed 2025-26 from Mon, Dec 1 to Sun, Apr 12, refitting on the first of each month using only earlier games, and projected 19,968 player games. The average miss on points was 4.58, against 4.69 for his season average and 4.66 for his last-10 average. The gain is small, but it held for every stat, and 80% of real point totals landed inside the 80% range.

A gradient boosting model on the same inputs missed by 4.65 points, so we kept the simpler model. It runs inside our database every morning.

What it cannot see

Injuries, rest days, who starts and trades after the morning update. It projects every active player as if he plays, and it is graded only on players who did. Minutes are the biggest source of error: had we known each player's real minutes, the average miss on points would have been 3.74 instead of 4.58. Blowouts cut starters' minutes and are not predicted.

Until a player has 5 games in a season, his projection uses last season's per-minute numbers and his expected minutes on his current roster (last season's minutes handed out down the depth chart). That early-season mode could not be tested, because our data starts in 2025-26. Rookies without NBA games get no projection, and neither do players with fewer than 20 games last season (a few games is too small a sample) until they play this season (Decision #87).

Updated every morning for the next seven days of games. Once a game tips off its projections are frozen, and those frozen numbers are what we grade.