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Sun, Oct 25 · 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

Sun, Oct 25 · 7 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.

LAL at UTA 5:00 PM ET · IND at BKN 6:00 PM ET · ORL at NYK 7:00 PM ET · TOR at MIN 7:00 PM ET · LAC at OKC 7:00 PM ET · DET at PHI 7:30 PM ET · MEM at SAC 9:00 PM ET

PlayerMatchupMINPTS ↑REBAST3PM
Jalen PickettGuardat OKCvs top-5 defense154.50-112.00-51.90-40.90-2
Matisse ThybulleGuardat UTAvs bottom-5 defense134.80-121.60-40.80-21.00-2
Keon EllisGuardvs INDvs bottom-5 defense154.90-121.40-40.70-20.90-2
Javonte GreenGuardat PHI155.81-132.40-60.60-20.90-2
Alex CarusoGuardvs LAC196.21-132.70-62.00-41.00-2
Jamal SheadGuardat MIN236.61-141.70-45.32-91.00-2
Kenrich WilliamsGuardvs LAC166.71-153.31-71.40-30.90-2
Nah'Shon HylandGuardvs TOR136.71-151.40-42.01-41.30-3
Svi MykhailiukGuardvs LAL166.71-151.70-41.40-31.40-3
Kris DunnGuardat OKCvs top-5 defense276.91-133.11-63.31-60.90-2
Ben SheppardGuardat BKN227.01-143.00-61.80-41.30-3
Kobe SandersGuardat OKCvs top-5 defense207.11-142.20-51.50-31.20-3
Terance MannGuardvs INDvs bottom-5 defense257.52-143.31-63.11-60.90-2
Ja'Kobe WalterGuardat MIN217.51-152.60-51.20-31.40-3
Bruce BrownGuardvs ORLvs bottom-5 defense247.92-153.81-72.10-40.70-2
Walter Clayton Jr.Guardat SAC218.02-162.10-54.22-71.10-3
Ben SarafGuardvs INDvs bottom-5 defense228.02-162.20-53.51-60.40-2
Quenton JacksonGuardat BKN178.22-162.10-52.61-50.80-2
Cason WallaceGuardvs LAC268.32-152.91-62.50-51.30-3
Jared McCainGuardvs LAC188.42-162.00-41.40-31.50-3
Daeqwon PlowdenGuardvs MEM218.72-172.40-51.00-31.60-3
Nique CliffordGuardvs MEM258.72-163.81-72.50-51.00-3
Landry ShametGuardvs ORLvs bottom-5 defense239.33-181.80-41.40-32.00-4
Nolan TraoréGuardvs INDvs bottom-5 defense239.43-181.80-44.02-71.10-2
Daniss JenkinsGuardat PHI209.53-182.40-54.02-71.00-2
Jordan MillerGuardat OKCvs top-5 defense229.63-182.90-62.10-40.60-2
Ausar ThompsonGuardat PHI269.93-185.83-103.21-60.10-2
Jaden HardyGuardat UTAvs bottom-5 defense179.93-181.60-41.10-32.00-4
Javon SmallGuardat SAC219.93-183.21-63.81-71.50-3
Kevin HuerterGuardat PHI2310.23-193.51-72.61-51.40-3
Ziaire WilliamsGuardat UTAvs bottom-5 defense2310.63-192.40-51.10-31.60-3
Egor DeminGuardvs INDvs bottom-5 defense2610.74-193.31-63.41-62.31-5
Cam SpencerGuardat SAC2411.24-202.60-55.63-92.00-4
Isaiah JoeGuardat PHI2111.24-202.60-51.40-32.51-5
Josh HartGuardvs ORLvs bottom-5 defense3011.85-207.03-114.62-81.40-3
Miles McBrideGuardvs ORLvs bottom-5 defense2611.95-202.40-52.50-52.61-5
Isaiah CollierGuardvs LAL2611.95-212.50-57.64-120.50-2
Donte DiVincenzoGuardvs TOR3012.15-213.91-73.71-72.91-5
Malik MonkGuardvs MEM2212.85-221.90-43.11-62.01-4
Ajay MitchellGuardvs LAC2613.26-223.11-63.51-71.00-3
Jalen SuggsGuardat NYK2713.36-223.71-75.22-92.00-4
Aaron NesmithGuardat BKN2913.46-224.01-71.90-42.20-4
Jalen WilliamsGuardvs LAC2313.55-233.51-74.32-80.60-2
Quentin GrimesGuardat UTAvs bottom-5 defense2913.66-233.61-73.41-61.70-4
Cedric CowardGuardat SAC2613.66-235.93-102.81-61.50-3
Anthony BlackGuardat NYK2914.46-243.61-73.51-71.50-3
Anfernee SimonsGuardvs DET2614.77-242.50-52.40-52.61-5
Ayo DosunmuGuardvs TOR2714.87-243.31-63.51-71.70-4
Immanuel QuickleyGuardat MIN3115.97-253.91-75.73-92.30-4
Collin SextonGuardat UTAvs bottom-5 defense2415.97-272.30-53.41-61.70-3
VJ EdgecombeGuardvs DET3516.07-255.52-94.11-71.90-4
Andrew NembhardGuardat BKN3116.47-252.70-57.64-121.80-4
Scottie BarnesGuardat MIN3317.48-277.24-115.63-90.80-2
Darius GarlandGuardat OKCvs top-5 defense2917.69-282.20-56.13-102.61-5
Zach LaVineGuardvs MEM2918.29-292.60-52.20-52.41-5
Desmond BaneGuardat NYK3319.210-293.91-73.91-71.90-4
LaMelo BallGuardvs TOR2820.011-314.72-86.94-113.71-6
Austin ReavesGuardat UTAvs bottom-5 defense3423.313-344.72-85.63-92.30-5
Cade CunninghamGuardat PHI3323.413-345.52-99.86-141.90-4
Keyonte GeorgeGuardvs LAL3223.713-343.61-66.43-102.41-5
Jalen BrunsonGuardvs ORLvs bottom-5 defense3425.314-363.21-66.53-102.51-5
Tyrese MaxeyGuardvs DET3626.715-383.81-76.03-102.91-5
Anthony EdwardsGuardvs TOR3428.317-404.72-83.61-63.21-6
Jaylen BrownGuardvs DET3428.717-406.83-115.02-81.90-4
Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderGuardvs LAC3229.718-424.01-76.33-101.60-3

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. 65 players shown.

Check a prop line

Betting tools

Projection 32.9 (80% range 20-45). 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.