Predicting the Top 10 Defenses for the 2025-26 NBA Season

RealGM Radio

RealGM NBA Radio with Wes Goldberg

Sports, News, Basketball, Sports News

4.7 • 627 Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Wes Goldberg attempts to predict the top 10 defenses in the league for the upcoming season, with the Oklahoma City Thunder setting the pace as the NBA's no. 1 defense again. Where will teams like the Warriors, Rockets, Magic and Clippers finish? Will a team surprise and crack the top 10? Can Victor Wembanyama lift the Spurs into the top tier? 00:00 – Intro & Overview of NBA Defense Predictions 04:00 – Oklahoma City Thunder: Defensive Identity & Strategy 10:30 – Houston Rockets: Amen Thompson’s Breakout Year 17:45 – LA Clippers: Kawhi, Zubac & Ty Lue’s Defensive Core 22:00 – Orlando Magic: Depth, Health & Defensive Consistency 27:30 – Dallas Mavericks: Anthony Davis & Derek Lively Combo 33:10 – Miami Heat: Bam Adebayo’s Versatility & Coaching 39:45 – Minnesota Timberwolves: Gobert & McDaniels’ Impact 44:30 – Golden State Warriors: Veteran IQ & Depth 50:10 – Cleveland Cavaliers: Mobley, Allen & Lonzo’s Role 54:00 – Detroit Pistons: Young Defensive Potential 59:00 – Honorable Mentions RealGM Radio is powered in part by North Station Media (CLNS). For advertising or media inquiries, contact info@clnsmedia.com 🔔 Like, comment, and subscribe for more NBA insights and analysis! Follow RealGM Twitter: https://x.com/RealGM Follow Wes Goldberg Twitter: https://x.com/wcgoldberg PrizePicks: PrizePicks is the best place to get real money sports action. With over 10 million members and billions of dollars in awarded winnings, PrizePicks has made daily fantasy sports accessible to all. You just pick MORE or LESS on at least two players for a shot to win up to 1000x your cash! Run Your Game all season long on PrizePicks. Download the app today and use code CLNS to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup! Gametime: Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase.

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0:28.6	what's up everybody real gm radio today i'm going to be trying to predict the top 10 defenses
0:35.5	in the league this season in order uh i did this last year i was pretty good uh we had a pretty good score i'm going to be trying to predict the top 10 defenses in the league this season. In order. I did this last year. I was pretty good. We had a pretty good score. I'm going to try to do it again. But before we jump in, also, thank you again for tuning in. The best way to support the show is to hit that subscribe button on YouTube. Follow us on your favorite podcast app to get this show every week. The NBA season is basically here.
0:55.2	It starts next week, opening night, Tuesday night.
0:56.9	So we have a bunch of fun stuff planned here at RioGM Radio, really excited for this season,
1:02.8	my second season of hosting the show.
1:04.9	So super excited.
1:06.6	Thank you for tuning in.
1:07.9	Thank you in advance for subscribing and following us on your podcast app.
1:10.9	Now, let's jump in.
1:12.2	It is a solo show for me today,
1:24.7	and I'm going to be predicting the top 10 defenses in the league this season.
1:28.1	This is, by the way, how the teams finished in defensive rating by the end of the regular
1:35.4	season. That is what we were trying to predict specifically. I did this exercise last year.
1:39.3	I was pretty close. Here's what I predicted last year. So going into the in this season, I predicted that the top 10
1:45.9	defenses in order would be by defensive rating, Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Orlando, Boston, Memphis,
1:53.7	New York, San Antonio, Miami, Cleveland, and Philadelphia. The actual finish was Oklahoma City, Orlando, the Clippers, Boston. So I was really
2:04.2	close in that top four. Houston, Minnesota, Golden State, Cleveland, Miami, Detroit. So I ended up
2:11.6	getting five of the 10 teams on my list. So again, I'm going to try to put them in order, but I do
2:17.0	think that the most
2:17.5	important thing here is identifying who the top 10 teams ultimately are, because we're talking
	...

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