NEW YORK, Aug. 12 -- Cooper Flagg is going to China before anyone else in the league gets to see him play again. The Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets will play two preseason games in Macao in October, and Flagg, the reigning Rookie of the Year, will take the floor there for his first competitive action of the 2026-27 season. The irony of the NBA's most-watched young player previewing the new year in a country that restricts access to many of the league's digital platforms is not something the league has chosen to discuss in its scheduling announcements.

What the league has announced is a schedule that formalizes a season whose main storyline is already in place. The 2026-27 NBA schedule drops Thursday. The San Antonio Spurs are the d...