The 2026-27 NBA season is barely a week old, and while some teams like the Thunder, Rockets, and Grizzlies have started undefeated, a few others are already dealing with some pretty big problems. And we're not just talking about rebuilding teams losing games, either. Some of the biggest contenders in the league are struggling much more than anybody expected.
The defending champion Knicks are somehow 0-3 , the Heat haven't won a game since trading for Giannis , and the Warriors needed four attempts to get their first victory. Meanwhile, the Magic finally got a win but already lost two important starters to injuries, which is alarming considering how much they've invested in this roster.
Now, obviously, nobody should be making major decisions after three or four games. But there's a difference between losing because of a bad shooting night and losing because your roster has problems that were already there last season. And for these four teams, I think there's plenty to worry about beyond their records.
Four games into the Giannis Antetokounmpo era, the Miami Heat are still looking for their first win, and things are getting pretty uncomfortable. Miami just lost 113-109 to the Mavericks on Monday , following earlier defeats against the Timberwolves, Pistons, and Hornets. That's an 0-4 start for a team that spent the entire offseason building around a two-time MVP, and it's the franchise's worst opening since 2008-09.
The most frustrating part is that Giannis has actually been pretty good. He's putting up 28.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists on 55.7% from the field, including a 29-point, 15-rebound, 11-assist triple-double against Dallas. He also had 35 against Minnesota and 36 against Detroit, so it's difficult to blame him for Miami's problems.
Bam Adebayo , on the other hand, has been a huge disappointment . After finishing last season with 20.1 points and 9.8 rebounds, he's down to 11.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists while shooting 40.0% from the field. He scored only four points against Detroit before fouling out, then followed that with eight points on 3-of-10 shooting against the Mavericks. And that's a pretty serious issue when Miami's two best players are supposed to form one of the NBA's most dangerous frontcourts.
The spacing is probably the biggest offensive concern. Giannis wants to attack the basket, while Adebayo has always been most comfortable operating around the elbows, setting screens, and finishing inside. When they share the floor, opposing defenses can load up the paint without worrying too much about Bam shooting from outside.
That's where Miami's perimeter additions were supposed to help, but Klay Thompson , Andrew Wiggins, and Tim Hardaway Jr. haven't provided nearly enough consistent shooting. And when Giannis kicks the ball out after drawing multiple defenders, too many possessions end with missed threes or another difficult attempt late in the shot clock.
The numbers are pretty ugly. Miami's offense has produced just 105.1 points per 100 through its first three games, ranking 27th in the league, while its defense allowed 121.4, also 27th. And according to NBA.com's John Schuhmann , the Heat were allowing an incredible 136 points per 100 in the 50 minutes Giannis and Bam shared the floor. That defensive number is based on a very small sample, but it's still concerning for a team with two players who have made multiple All-Defensive teams.
And Monday's loss showed that the problems aren't limited to getting destroyed by good opponents. Dallas was only 1-2 entering the game, yet Miami couldn't protect a 12-point lead. Giannis gave them a triple-double, Davion Mitchell scored 21 points, and the Heat still lost after shooting a horrible 14-of-25 from the free-throw line.
Erik Spoelstra needs to figure out the frontcourt rotation quickly. I'd stagger Giannis and Bam more often, give Bobby Portis additional minutes alongside Giannis, and use Bam as a passer in more dribble-handoff actions with Klay.
The Heat shouldn't need Giannis to score 35 points every night just to have a chance. They brought him in to become championship contenders, not to ask him to carry an offense that struggles whenever he gets surrounded. And with Miami now 0-4, I'd say they're easily the most desperate team in basketball. Something has to change before this start becomes a much bigger problem.
There's something pretty strange about watching the defending NBA champions start the next season without winning a single game, especially when they basically brought back the same roster that won the title. But that's exactly what's happening with the New York Knicks , who have already lost to the 76ers, Celtics, and Magic.
And the historical context makes it even worse. New York is only the third defending champion in NBA history to start 0-3, joining the 1969-70 Celtics and 2011-12 Mavericks. Neither of those teams won a playoff series that season, although both had lost important pieces from their championship rosters.
The Knicks don't have that excuse. Jalen Brunson , Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart are all back, and Mike Brown is still coaching the same group that went 53-29 and beat the Spurs in the Finals. So why does the offense suddenly look this bad?
New York is scoring only 101.7 points per game with a 102.2 offensive rating, ranking last in the NBA. That's a massive drop from last season's 119.8 offensive rating, which ranked third. And while three games obviously aren't enough to expect those numbers to continue, the shooting problems have been a big red flag.
Bridges has been the biggest disappointment by far . He scored 15.3 points per game during the championship season, but he's managed just 10 points across his first three games this year. That's 3.3 points on 5-of-23 shooting, including 0-of-10 from three.
We're talking about a player who's supposed to be one of New York's most reliable perimeter scorers, and he hasn't made a single three-pointer. That's a pretty terrible start, especially when his offense is such an important part of what makes this starting lineup work.
Brunson hasn't been particularly efficient, either. He's down to 22.7 points and 3.7 assists on 39.1% from the field and 26.7% from three, compared with 26.0 points and 6.7 assists last season. Towns has actually played pretty well, producing 21.0 points and 12.0 rebounds on 62.2% from the field, but he hasn't received enough help.
And there's an interesting tactical problem here. With Bridges missing open shots, opposing defenses can send another defender toward Brunson whenever he attacks the basket or runs a pick-and-roll with Towns. The Knicks aren't moving the ball quickly enough to punish those rotations, and too many possessions are ending with contested jumpers.
New York also suffered one of the league's biggest declines in shot quality through the first week, per NBA.com, so this isn't simply a case of good shooters missing good looks. The loss against Orlando probably showed their issues better than anything else. The Knicks were leading by 10 points in the fourth quarter against a Magic team missing Paolo Banchero, but somehow allowed 40 points in the final period and lost 111-102.
Franz Wagner scored 21 of his 23 points in that quarter, while Orlando's reserves outscored New York's bench 47-11. That's a 36-point difference from the second units in a game the Knicks lost by nine.
Mike Brown needs Bridges to recover his shooting, but he also has to find more reliable bench offense. Miles McBride has been decent at times, but the rest of the reserves haven't provided nearly enough scoring when Brunson sits.
And the schedule isn't giving New York much time to relax. The Knicks face the undefeated Pistons on Tuesday, and another loss would leave them 0-4, tying the worst start by a defending champion in NBA history.
I still think this roster is far too talented to stay near the bottom of the East, but going from winning the championship to potentially losing four straight games is definitely a reason to be concerned.
At least the Golden State Warriors finally won a game, right? After three straight losses to start the season, Golden State went into Denver on Monday night and beat the Nuggets 134-114 , with Stephen Curry shooting a perfect 8-of-8 from the field and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg putting up 31 points and 12 rebounds .
That's actually a pretty impressive win against Nikola Jokic, especially after losing 127-105 to the Lakers , 111-108 to the Grizzlies , and 131-122 to the Suns . But even with that result, the Warriors are still 1-3, sitting near the bottom of the West, and there are plenty of questions about what this team is supposed to look like over the next few months.
The biggest problem is obviously the injuries. Jimmy Butler is still recovering from surgery to repair his torn right ACL, Moses Moody is recovering from surgery to repair his left patellar tendon, and Kristaps Porzingis remains away from the team after dealing with health issues.
And Porzingis might actually be the most concerning situation of the three because Golden State expected him to become its starting center. He signed a two-year, $40.0 million extension after producing 16.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in 15 games last season, but hasn't been available since the preseason, as ESPN's Shams Charania has already reported that the Warriors are exploring potential trades involving him , which says quite a bit about how uncertain his future has become.
Without Porzingis, Golden State's frontcourt has been pretty vulnerable. Walker Kessler scored 26 points on a perfect 12-of-12 shooting against the Warriors, and the Lakers finished with 66 points in the paint. That's an awful lot of easy offense allowed by a team that still has Draymond Green anchoring its defense.
The early defensive numbers aren't encouraging, either. Golden State allowed 122.2 points per 100 through its first three games, ranking 29th in the NBA. And according to NBA.com, the Warriors were getting outscored by 27.6 points during Curry and Green's 50 shared minutes across the first two games. For a team relying so heavily on those two veterans, that's a pretty concerning statistic.
But Lendeborg might be the one thing giving Warriors fans some actual hope right now. The rookie had 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists against Phoenix, then followed that with 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists against Denver. Those are excellent numbers for someone playing his first four NBA games. His rebounding and ability to attack the basket have been particularly important, especially without Jimmy. And against the Nuggets, he helped Golden State win the rebounding battle 50-36 while the team made 22 triples on 44 attempts.
Still, asking a rookie to become one of your main offensive players wasn't exactly the plan when the Warriors decided to keep competing around Curry. And that's where the desperation comes in. Curry is 38 years old, Green is 36, and Golden State already missed the playoffs last season after finishing 37-45. The West has teams like the Thunder, Rockets, Lakers, Timberwolves, and Grizzlies starting extremely well, so even getting into the play-in could become a mission impossible thing.
The Denver win was encouraging, and Lendeborg looks much better than anybody expected. But unless the Warriors get healthier or find another reliable center, I don't see how they can compete consistently against the conference's best frontcourts.
Mike Dunleavy might have to make another trade before the deadline , because spending another year near the bottom of the West while Curry is still playing this well would be pretty disappointing.
The Orlando Magic might be the most unfortunate team on this list because their problems aren't entirely about playing badly. They actually got their first win of the season on Sunday, beating the defending champion Knicks 111-102, but somehow ended up losing another important player to injury.
Jalen Suggs suffered a non-contact injury to his right knee late in that game, and the MRI revealed a mild bone bruise. Fortunately, there was no structural damage, but he'll still be reevaluated in two weeks.
And that's happening just days after Paolo Banchero suffered a low-grade right high ankle sprain against the Timberwolves, with reports suggesting he could miss four to six weeks.
So now Orlando is 1-2, missing its best scorer and starting point guard, and relying on Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane, and Anthony Black to handle a pretty difficult stretch of games, and the timing couldn't be much worse, either.
The Magic finished 45-37 last season before blowing a 3-1 lead against the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. After another disappointing postseason, the franchise brought back almost the same roster, with Sean Sweeney replacing Jamahl Mosley as head coach.
This was supposed to be the year Orlando finally started competing with the Knicks, Cavaliers, and Celtics near the top of the East. Instead, they're already trying to figure out how to survive without two of their most important players .
And the offense wasn't exactly looking great before the injuries. Orlando opened with a 132-125 loss to the Hawks, then got destroyed 115-93 by the Timberwolves. Banchero was excellent in the opener with 35 points and 10 assists on 10-of-12 shooting, but the rest of the team couldn't consistently keep up.
Bane was particularly disappointing, finishing with 18 points on 5-of-15 shooting against Atlanta. Suggs also struggled with his shot, and now he's sidelined after starting the season with 8.0 points, 5.7 assists, and 5.0 rebounds on 35.7% from the field.
The biggest offensive issue continues to be outside shooting. Orlando ranked near the bottom of the NBA at 34.3% from three last season, and through its first two losses, the Magic made only 21 of their 79 three-point attempts, 26.6% from deep, which isn't going to get you very far when almost half your field-goal attempts are coming from outside.
The interesting thing is that Sweeney has clearly tried to change Orlando's offensive approach. The Magic have increased their three-point attempt rate from 38.6% last season to 47.1% through their first three games, one of the biggest changes in the league, and it actually worked against New York. Orlando made 18 of its 42 triples, shooting 42.9%, while Wagner finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Wagner is now producing 21.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists through three games, and he'll probably have to become the team's main offensive creator until Banchero returns. Bane also needs to be much more consistent, especially considering Orlando invested four first-round picks and a first-round pick swap to acquire him from the Grizzlies in 2025. Meanwhile, Black should get a much bigger role with Suggs unavailable, and Jase Richardson could see additional minutes in the backcourt.
The Magic have enough talent to remain competitive for a few weeks, but their margin for error is getting smaller. They're also beginning a stretch with 13 of their next 18 games on the road, which makes surviving without Banchero and Suggs even more difficult.
Orlando doesn't necessarily need to make a major trade right now, but I'd definitely explore adding another scoring guard or a reliable shooter. With so much invested in this core, the Magic can't afford another season where injuries and offensive inconsistency lead to an early playoff exit.
And while 1-2 isn't a terrible record by itself, losing your two most important backcourt and frontcourt creators in the first week is a pretty serious reason to feel desperate.
Miami has the most immediate problem at 0-4, especially because Giannis is already playing well and the roster still can't win. New York has the most pressure to turn things around as the defending champion, while Golden State has the least time to waste with Curry entering another season at 38.
Orlando's situation is a little different, but injuries have already put its playoff expectations in danger before the team has had a chance to develop much chemistry under Sweeney.
All four teams have enough talent to improve, and we're still talking about an extremely small sample. But if these problems continue for another 10 or 15 games, at least a couple of front offices might have to start considering some pretty significant changes.
