Cohen also correctly picked last week's King of the Court winner, Luka Doncic, in the first King of the Court of the 2025-26 NBA season. Now, Cohen has revealed his DraftKings King of the Court betting strategy for Tuesday's NBA five-game slate.

With a new NBA season finally here, our experts are here to make some bold predictions, pick the next MVP, and more.

In our first NBA-focused edition of Newsweek Sports Betting 📩, we give out our NBA Finals and regular season MVP picks.

Maybe! Those were among the responses The Athletic got this week when it asked its NBA staff for bold predictions for the 2025-26 season. Here’s one prediction for each team as the season tips off: The Hawks finish with a top-10 defense: Atlanta was 19th in defensive efficiency last season and has never finished in the top half of the league in the Trae Young era.

Tyrese Maxey was on fire Monday night, dropping 43 points on the Orlando Magic in an upset victory at home. He hit 15-of-32 from the field, 4-of-11 from behind the 3-point line and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, while adding eight assists, four rebounds, a steal and just one turnover in his 42 minutes.

The San Antonio Spurs host the Toronto Raptors, potentially giving us another opportunity to see Victor Wembanyama treat the NBA like he's playing on a mini-Nerf hoop in his backyard.

Braun averaged 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.1 steals last season, his third in the NBA. He jumped from 47.3 percent from the field his first two seasons to 58.0 percent. He’s a 38.4 percent 3-point shooter for his career and a solid defender.

Victor Wembanyama had a remarkable start to his third season in the NBA. The Frenchman led the San Antonio Spurs to a 125-92 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. Wembanyama went off scoring 40 points (15 of 21 from the field),