UCLA basketball is set to return to greatness next season, or at least that’s the hope residing in Westwood.
The signing of 5-star Serbian Nikola Kusturica is a huge addition to the 2026-27 UCLA roster. Longtime college basketball analyst and reporter Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports posted his projected 2026-27 starting five for UCLA after Kusturica signed with the Bruins on Thursday.
Rothstein projects Trent Perry, Jaylen Petty, Kusturica, Eric Dailey and Xavier Booker as the 2026-27 UCLA starting five. Rothstein stated that UCLA should be a consensus top 15 to 20 team next season. He has UCLA ranked 19th in his preseason rankings.
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UCLA’s Returning Production
Booker, Dailey, and Perry return to the 2025- 26 UCLA roster. Petty has three years of eligibility remaining after averaging 9.9 points per game, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists at Texas Tech as a freshman during the 2025-26 season. Perry is the leading returning scorer for UCLA after averaging 12.6 PPG, 3.0 RPG and 2.8 APG in 2025-26.
Dailey led UCLA by starting 35 of the Bruins’ 36 games during the 2025-26 season and averaged 11.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 1.3 APG, while shooting an efficient 48.6 percent from the field. Booker started 27 games in 2025-26 and played in all 36 contests, while averaging 7.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 1.2 blocks in 20.1 minutes per game.
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UCLA Relying on a Young Rotation
Booker, Dailey, and Perry are projected to be the only juniors in the 2026-26 UCLA rotation. No seniors are expected to be in the 2026-27 UCLA rotation. With Kusturica and Petty projected to be new starters for UCLA in 2026-27, head coach Mick Cronin has a critical task of building chemistry over the next 3.5 months before the Bruins open the season on November 2 against Arizona in Las Vegas.
Perry played heavy minutes over the final three months of the season. In January, Perry averaged 35.2 MPG, played 33.0 in February, and 34.4 in March. Petty, the projected starting shooting guard, and Butler transfer Azavier Robinson are expected to be the primary backups to Perry, running the UCLA offense.
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UCLA Will Have a Deep Frontcourt
Mick Cronin, UCLA
Booker, Dailey, Auburn transfer Filip Jovic, and Kusturica give UCLA a deep and talented frontcourt. Jovic averaged 6.3 PPG and 4.0 RPG while shooting 64.0 percent from the field in 37 games with nine starts for Auburn as a freshman in 2025-26. Jovic should be the first frontcourt player off the bench for UCLA during the 2025-26 season.
Expect Cronin to emphasize defense and floor spacing in the upcoming season. The updated rotation features significant depth. UCLA projects to be improved in 2026-27. College basketball metrics analyst Bart Torvik has UCLA 21st in his rankings.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/ucla as UCLA Basketball: Projected Dynamic Lineup Alters Season Ceiling.
