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Mon, Oct 26 · 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

Mon, Oct 26 · 9 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.

WAS at CHA 7:00 PM ET · MIN at CLE 7:00 PM ET · CHI at BOS 7:30 PM ET · DAL at MIA 7:30 PM ET · IND at MIL 8:00 PM ET · PHX at OKC 8:00 PM ET · ATL at HOU 8:30 PM ET · MEM at UTA 9:00 PM ET · GSW at DEN 10:00 PM ET

PlayerMatchupMINPTS ↑REBAST3PM
Brooks BarnhizerForwardvs PHX101.90-62.20-50.60-20.20-1
Dwight PowellForwardat MIA153.80-104.72-91.20-30.00-1
Caleb MartinForwardat MIA164.30-112.80-61.50-30.40-1
Nae'Qwan TomlinForwardvs MIN134.80-122.40-60.70-20.30-1
Spencer JonesForwardvs GSWvs top-5 defense235.60-123.31-60.80-20.90-2
Leonard MillerForwardat BOS115.61-132.80-60.60-20.50-2
Justin ChampagnieForwardat CHA145.91-143.71-80.80-20.50-2
Oso IghodaroForwardat OKCvs top-5 defense226.21-135.02-92.20-40.00-1
Kris MurrayForwardat UTA246.31-133.91-71.60-40.60-2
Patrick WilliamsForwardat BOS216.91-142.90-61.40-31.30-3
Jaylin WilliamsForwardvs PHX217.51-155.62-102.51-51.50-3
Jamir WatkinsForwardat CHA217.51-153.91-71.30-31.00-2
Moussa DiabateForwardvs WASvs bottom-5 defense267.92-158.75-132.00-40.00-1
Taylor HendricksForwardat UTA208.32-164.21-81.10-31.10-3
Nikola JovicForwardvs DAL188.32-163.71-72.51-51.00-2
Draymond GreenForwardat DENvs bottom-5 defense278.32-155.42-95.73-101.40-3
Isaac OkoroForwardat BOS279.03-162.60-51.50-31.10-3
Cody WilliamsForwardat CLE259.23-173.11-62.10-50.40-2
Isaiah HartensteinForwardvs PHX259.33-179.45-143.51-70.00-1
Sam HauserForwardvs CHIvs bottom-5 defense259.33-173.81-71.50-32.61-5
Gui SantosForwardat DENvs bottom-5 defense219.43-183.91-72.51-51.10-3
Royce O'NealeForwardvs WASvs bottom-5 defense289.83-184.72-82.71-52.71-5
Jay HuffForwardat MIL2210.03-194.11-81.60-41.50-3
Khris MiddletonForwardat CHA2310.13-193.51-72.71-51.10-2
Daniel GaffordForwardat MIA2210.13-197.43-121.10-30.00-1
Zaccharie RisacherForwardat MIA2310.13-194.11-81.20-31.40-3
Jalen SmithForwardat BOS2110.13-196.63-111.20-31.60-3
Will RileyForwardat CHA2210.33-192.80-61.90-41.00-2
Tari EasonForwardvs ATL2610.44-186.23-101.50-31.50-3
Marvin Bagley IIIForwardvs GSWvs top-5 defense2010.53-196.13-101.50-30.40-2
Isaiah StewartForwardat UTA2410.93-205.52-101.30-30.70-2
Nicolas ClaxtonForwardat BOS2711.34-206.63-113.41-60.00-1
Jonathan KumingaForwardat CLE2111.54-215.22-92.20-40.90-2
Cameron JohnsonForwardvs GSWvs top-5 defense3011.95-203.71-72.40-51.90-4
Jarace WalkerForwardat MIL2611.95-205.22-92.71-51.80-4
Kyle KuzmaForwardvs IND2612.95-224.52-82.61-51.10-3
Jaylen WellsForwardat UTA2713.46-223.41-61.80-41.90-4
Naz ReidForwardvs WASvs bottom-5 defense2613.76-236.23-102.30-52.10-4
GG JacksonForwardat UTA2313.96-244.82-91.70-41.20-3
Aaron GordonForwardvs GSWvs top-5 defense2414.06-235.02-92.40-51.40-3
Kelly Oubre Jr.Forwardat MIL3214.16-225.02-81.60-41.70-4
KyShawn GeorgeForwardat CHA2914.46-244.82-84.22-82.00-4
Santi AldamaForwardat MIA2714.56-247.13-113.01-61.60-3
P.J. WashingtonForwardat MIA3014.66-237.44-111.80-41.30-3
Onyeka OkongwuForwardat HOU3014.66-237.24-112.91-51.80-4
Bobby PortisForwardvs DAL2414.67-246.83-111.70-42.10-4
Airious BaileyForwardvs MEMvs bottom-5 defense2815.07-254.62-82.00-42.00-4
Jaden McDanielsForwardat CLE3215.27-244.31-72.81-51.40-3
Jabari Smith Jr.Forwardvs ATL3415.37-246.63-101.80-42.10-4
Matas BuzelisForwardat BOS2915.67-255.52-91.90-42.20-4
Paul GeorgeForwardvs CHIvs bottom-5 defense2715.67-254.72-83.21-62.41-5
Naji MarshallForwardat MIA2915.77-265.02-93.31-60.80-2
Miles BridgesForwardat OKCvs top-5 defense3016.07-255.62-93.01-61.80-4
Andrew WigginsForwardvs DAL3016.28-265.12-92.91-62.00-4
Brice SensabaughForwardvs MEMvs bottom-5 defense2516.78-273.51-62.20-52.41-5
Evan MobleyForwardvs MIN3118.09-278.85-133.51-60.90-2
Jerami GrantForwardat UTA3019.610-293.71-62.40-52.41-5
Alperen SengunForwardvs ATL3219.810-308.65-136.03-100.50-2
Brandon MillerForwardvs WASvs bottom-5 defense3020.011-314.82-83.41-63.11-6
Norman PowellForwardat BOS2920.811-323.31-62.30-52.61-5
Jaren Jackson Jr.Forwardvs MEMvs bottom-5 defense3120.911-316.13-102.10-41.90-4
Jalen JohnsonForwardat HOU3421.511-329.65-147.34-111.50-3
Cooper FlaggForwardat MIA3321.511-327.03-114.52-81.00-2
Pascal SiakamForwardat MIL3323.813-356.63-103.91-71.70-4
Kevin DurantForwardvs ATL3524.914-365.22-94.62-82.20-4
Giannis AntetokounmpoForwardvs DAL2525.815-389.25-145.22-90.40-2
Lauri MarkkanenForwardvs MEMvs bottom-5 defense3428.517-407.44-112.30-52.91-5

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. 67 players shown.

Check a prop line

Betting tools

Projection 30.4 (80% range 18-43). 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.