NBA's five biggest X-Factors for 2026-27 season: Hopes hinge on Joel Embiid, LaMelo Ball and others

These five players are the major swing pieces that could shape the new NBA season The most important players of a given NBA season are the best ones. Shocker. The 2027 NBA champion will probably hinge first and foremost on the Victor Wembanyamas and Shai Gilgeous-Alexanders of the world. We know they're great. It's not as though the stars cancel each other out, but we take their greatness as a given and make predictions accordingly. Where our predictions are usually wrong, though, is a tier or two down. A reserve becomes a starter. A starter becomes an All-Star. An All-Star becomes a legend. Someone, or multiple someones, vastly outperforms expectations in a way that pushes his team over the top.

These are the X-Factors of a given season, the players whose development or fit or health has a chance to turn a contender into a champion. We've now seen a week of games in the 2026-27 season, and these are the players who stand out as the major swing pieces in the 2027 championship race. The Oklahoma City Thunder gave 11 players at least 900 minutes last season. Five of those players, due to either trade or injury, are either gone or should not be expected to return this season. The Thunder preemptively replaced Isaiah Joe with Jared McCain in