Last year's awards winners were tough to pick. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Evan Mobley were reasonable preseason MVP and Defensive Player of the Year picks. Far fewer people expected Stephon Castle to win Rookie of the Year, Dyson Daniels to win Most Improved, or Payton Pritchard to win Sixth Man.
This season's winners should be easier to nail down. There are some heavy favorites for the bigger awards. The smaller ones are where the fun comes in. Here are my picks for every major award winner in the 2025-26 season.
Most Valuable Player: Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic
Jokic has been the best player in the league over the past five seasons. He's won the award three times during that span and finished runner-up twice.
Jokic deserved the award over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander last season, mostly because of how he did more with a lot less. The Nuggets haven't been nearly as good at building the right infrastructure around him, as evidenced by their shocking firing of both their coach and lead decision-maker shortly before last year's playoffs were set to start.
This year, the Nuggets are poised to be a lot better. Jokic's minutes might actually be down given that the team finally has a suitable backup for him in Jonas Valanciunas. But his efficiency should go up given that he has better targets to pass to, and more importantly his team should stack up more wins.
Newcomers Cameron Johnson and Tim Hardaway Jr. give the Nuggets two great catch-and-shoot gunners. They should help open the floor up for Jokic, as should the return of an elite cutter in Bruce Brown. The Nuggets should be a deeper and better regular season team than in years past.
This is Jokic's award to lose. He's been the best player by the stats and eye test for a while now. He's lost the award in previous seasons due to voter fatigue and lack of team success. That fatigue will hurt incumbent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, although the Thunder will probably end up as the No. 1 seed in the West again. The Nuggets have a great chance to get the No. 2 seed. If that happens, then Jokic is a near-lock to win MVP No. 4.
MORE:Sporting News POT: Why Nikola Jokic got our award over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg, Mavericks
Cooper Flagg Dallas Mavericks
NBA Entertainment
Flagg is the massive favorite to win Rookie of the Year. In ESPN's offseason NBA personnel survey, he received 19 of 20 votes for the award.
Flagg should play a lot and pile up statistics on a Mavericks team that is in need of shot creation. He's a versatile forward who can score from all three levels, run the floor well in transition, and set up teammates. He may be the youngest player in his rookie class, but he's also the most skilled.
Flagg is also going to contribute immediately on the defensive side of the ball too, where he looks like he can be an All-Defensive type of player. He has great instincts, motor, and tools, which he showed by generating a ton of blocks and steals at Duke.
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Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
This was Wemby's award to win last year before a blot clot issue prevented him from meeting the 65 games played minimum threshold. If he stays healthy, he's winning his first of what should be many DPOYs.
There's not much argument about Wembanyama's defensive ability. He's led the league in blocks per game by a wide margin in both of his two years thanks to a ridiculous eight foot wingspan. Opponents look terrified of shooting layups whenever he's patrolling the paint.
Wembanyama also covers a massive amount of space on the perimeter. His long reach allows him to swipe for steals that nobody else can get, and he moves much more fluidly than a player his size should.
The only thing that has caused voters pause in the past in giving Wembanyama this award has been the Spurs' mediocre team defense. They finished as the No. 25 defense in the league last year (they were 20th before his injury). That should improve with the addition of defensive big man Luke Kornet and another year of experience for Rookie of the Year winner Stephon Castle.
MORE:Victor Wembanyama's DPOY potential in two blocks
Most Improved Player: Ausar Thompson, Pistons
Amen Thompson had his own breakout last season for the Rockets. Now it's time for Amen's identical twin Ausar to jump onto the national radar.
Ausar has the tools to be an incredible defender. LeBron James has praised both twins' athleticism, noting that "they ain’t like the rest of us."
Ausar is an absolute menace as an on-ball defender, hounding opponents with his strength, speed, and agility. He can shut down all different types of scorers, and it's only a matter of time before he starts making All-Defensive teams like his brother.
Ausar's offense remains the weakest part of his game. He's not much of a threat from outside. But he's an excellent cutter, he is unstoppable getting to the rim, and his manic energy in attacking the offensive glass adds a different dimension to the Pistons' offense.
The Pistons are a team on the rise, and Ausar is going to be a vital part of their core going forward. Now fully recovered from his own blot clot issue, he is poised to have a huge year.
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Sixth Man of the Year: Donte DiVincenzo, Wolves
Donte DiVincenzo
The Sixth Man award usually goes to a big bench scorer on a good team. The Wolves should be among the better teams in the West, and DiVincenzo should have a bigger scoring role with the departure of Nickeil Alexander-Walker and less responsibility on Mike Conley.
DiVincenzo had a strange year last season. He looked ready for a breakout in his last year with the Knicks but struggled to get acclimated after being traded to the Wolves. Prior to the All-Star break, he was shooting less than 40 percent from the field. His normally reliable jumper returned in the second half of the year, where he shot 46.4 percent from the field and a sterling 44.7 percent from 3.
DiVincenzo should also benefit from the improved passing of Minnesota's main playmakers. Julius Randle thrived in a point forward role towards the end of the year. Anthony Edwards also looked to take a leap in the postseason as a playmaker. DiVincenzo is one of the best catch-and-shoot threats in the league, and he doesn't hesitate when he's open. He should feast on open looks, upping his scoring average in the same way that last year's winner Payton Pritchard did.
MORE:Ranking the NBA's top defensive players 1-10 |11-100
Clutch Player of the Year: Anthony Edwards
Jokic has been my favorite to win this award over the past several years. He's the best player with the game on the line, and he seems to always deliver in those situations. Voters haven't rewarded him with a win, so I'm going in a different direction.
Edwards has finished 8th and 3rd in this award over the past two seasons. He's already one of the most lethal one-on-one players in the league. The Wolves are going to be in a lot of close games, and he's going to get the ball most of the time in those situations.
Edwards has been good in those spots, in spite of teams loading up on him. Last year during the regular season, he shot 43 percent in clutch situations. He upped that to 50 percent in the playoffs. He hasn't had that signature buzzer-beater yet, but one or two of those types of shots could win him the award.
Edwards is at his best defensively at the end of games too. His attention meanders through the first three quarters but when he wants to lock in, he is an elite one-on-one bulldog. It is very possible that he could have some signature stops to add to his resume as well.
RANKING BY POSITION:PG |SG |SF |PF |C
Coach of the Year: Quin Snyder, Hawks
A year after finishing with 40 wins and failing to advance in the Play-In Tournament, the Hawks should be a lot better. Jalen Johnson was a massive part of their offense last season, and he returns fully healthy. Atlanta has also added two vital rotation pieces in Kristaps Porzingis and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Snyder has always been a well-respected coach, earning Coach of the Year votes in six seasons and finishing top three twice. He's never won the award though.
Snyder is a brilliant offensive mind who should make the most of the Porzingis and Trae Young pick-and-roll duo. He incorporates innovative spacing concepts, placing his centers in unusual spots on the floor to open things up for others. Porzingis is well-suited to that system and should thrive.
The Hawks should also be better defensively. Alexander-Walker, who Snyder has familiarity with based on their Utah days together, gives them another lethal point-of-attack defender alongside DPOY runner-up Dyson Daniels.
Snyder has all of the ingredients that he has been missing in previous seasons. If the Hawks are a top four team as expected, he's going to be a finalist for this award.
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