There are less than 10 games to go in the NBA regular season yet multiple individual awards remain up for grabs.
Some trophies already have their plaques engraved – MVP, DPOY, and Clutch Player of the Year carry heavy minus-money favourites.
The other four awards also have minus-money frontrunners, but their cases aren’t as ironclad.
What can these final three weeks of the NBA season do to influence voters?
How strongly will recency bias play a role?
Let me walk through my thoughts on these four remaining awards and where I see betting opportunity on FanDuel.
### Rookie of the Year
Cooper Flagg might end up as the best all-time player from this class, but Kon Knueppel has had the more impressive rookie season.
The former Duke roommates came into the year drafted first and fourth overall; they’ll wrap 2025-26 in a one-two fight to hoist the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy.
As of writing, here’s where their averages stand:
Flagg: 20.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.9 blocks
Knueppel: 19.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.2 blocks
On Opening Night, Flagg walked in as an incredibly short -220 favourite on FanDuel to be ROTY.
No previous rookie had opened as a shorter favourite since odds tracking began.
Kevin Durant was the closest in 2008, starting at -200 before eventually winning.
Even though Flagg got as short as -1100 in the middle of February, his injury combined with Charlotte’s mid-season surge created a flip that seems irreversible.
The counting stats might still favour Flagg, but I see three arguments tough for him to overcome.
1) Knueppel leads the NBA in total threes
Let that statement sink in for a second.
In a league with Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards etc., a 20-year-old rookie is on pace to lead the NBA in made threes.
He currently has 253 makes on 577 attempts (43.8 percent).
We’re not even talking about rookie-specific records anymore; Knueppel is establishing himself as a top-level shooter amongst all 450 players in the league.
The power of this achievement alone might be enough to drive his ROTY case.
2) The Hornets are now, good?
Impact on winning rarely factors into ROTY voting.
Top-ranked prospects get drafted to bottom-dwelling teams.
But when a player makes a quantifiable impact on games won, their contributions get rewarded.
The Hornets won 19 games last season and have doubled that output with nine games to go this year.
Their offensive rating went from 29th last year to 5th this year.
Part of their ascension is good health but there’s no denying that having the league’s top three-point shooter completely changes the ceiling of your offence.
3) Game played not to be ignored
The game minimum for awards doesn’t apply to ROTY but in a tight race like this one, those extra 11 games should matter.
Knueppel sits at 72 to Flagg’s 61 games played and will be a key in their play-in tournament push.
Flagg’s Dallas Mavericks haven’t cared about winning for weeks and are focused on his development versus victories.
I don’t think these final nine games matter.
Barring injury or an 84-point game from Flagg, I’m not sure there’s anything he can do.
**The Pick: No action on ROTY**
### Most Improved Player
This award is down to four candidates on FanDuel:
Jalen Duren, -155
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, +170
Deni Avdija, +700
Jalen Johnson, +4000
Outside of Dyson Daniels last year, the previous five winners all made an inaugural All-Star Game appearance the year they won.
Of that list above, Duren, Avdija and Johnson all meet this criterion.
NAW is the lone exception.
If put in a vacuum between those three, I expect Duren to end with the strongest case.
Statistically, his numbers don’t wow like the others.
He’s had a 65 percent jump in scoring while all his other stats remain neutral or even in decline.
Avdija has had a 41 percent jump in scoring and a 72 percent jump in assists.
Johnson has had a 21 percent jump in scoring and a 62 percent jump in dimes.
Duren’s case is truly anchored to Detroit’s winning ways.
From a team that lost 28 games straight two seasons ago, to the 44-win team from last year, the Pistons have skyrocketed to the top of the East, a miraculous feat.
What makes the achievement more astounding is the fact that Detroit hasn’t made any blockbuster trades to bolster their roster.
Organic growth from Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson and Duren are the key drivers to their success.
Duren went from the seventh option in Detroit’s offence last year to the second option this year and managed it with incredible efficiency.
None of the other three candidates can claim to impact winning more than Duren has.
With Alexander-Walker, I think he has a tantalizing late-season case here.
FanDuel only began listing him for this award once Trae Young got injured.
He opened at +7500 and was as short as +1700 to begin this month.
No player has gone through a bigger statistical jump than him.
His scoring is up 117 percent, his passing is up 37 percent, and he’s handled this increased responsibility with a career-high field-goal rate.
His case has only been solidified by Atlanta’s recent winning – they peeled off an 11-game winning streak and been 14-1 over their past 15.
Similar to Daniels last season, what voters value more remains to be determined.
Will they see the statistical leap and award NAW for his individual improvements?
Or will they acknowledge Duren’s impact on Detroit’s winning and hand him the George Mikan Trophy?
If you asked me, with the Pistons going 4-1 despite Cunningham’s recent injury, Duren’s the guy to beat especially since he’s averaged 24.6 points per game since Cade went down.
**The Pick: Jalen Duren, MIP (-155)**
### Sixth Man of the Year
Of all remaining awards, this is the one I foresee flipping before the season wraps.
Keldon Johnson currently leads the charge at -105 on FanDuel but I remain skeptical of his case.
For starters, my first major red flag is his scoring output.
At 13.0 points per game, he sits below all four other candidates listed on FanDuel.
He’s last in playmaking amongst this group at 1.3 apg and sits behind Naz Reid at 5.5 rpg.
My other concern?
I’m not even sure he’s San Antonio’s most important bench player.
Rookie Dylan Harper has played a critical role filling in for either De’Aaron Fox or Stephon Castle in their backcourt rotation.
Since the trade deadline, the Spurs have been involved in seven clutch time games.
Johnson has played a whopping 2.0 minutes while four other bench players have played between 9.6 to 2.4 minutes.
Yes, San Antonio has by and far the best record amongst all the 6MOY candidates, but how integral has Johnson been to their success?
Sure, the last six winners of this award all played for a team seeded third or better but it’s not a defined criterion.
I think there’s value in hunting for an alternative who’s making more of an impact on a lower-seeded team.
Given where their prices are, I see the most value in Reed Sheppard’s case (+750).
Since the All-Star Break, Sheppard leads all these candidates in scoring and has the best stat profile. Here’s his comparison versus Johnson’s:
Sheppard: 15.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.9 blocks
Johnson: 11.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.2 steals, 0.1 blocks
Sure, the Spurs have been 15-2 since the ASW but is that due to Johnson’s stellar play?
While the Rockets have only gone 10-9, I think he’s played an instrumental role for them and would have a losing record without him.
Kevin Durant leads the team in scoring and three-point percentage (43.1) but outside of him, no one in their starting unit is shooting well.
Sheppard is next in line at 38.0 percent from deep (on 9.0 attempts) while all other rotation players sit between 35.4 to 15.6.
Over this same period, KD is the only starter with a positive net rating (+1.3).
What’s Sheppard on/off?
He’s a team-leading +2.9.
As ugly as things have gotten for Houston, there’s a world where they settle as the fourth or fifth seed.
Given Sheppard stat profile, he fits the player mold of those who traditionally win this award.
He’s the most important player of these five respective to their teams.
I don’t think anyone deserves to be a minus-money favourite given the parity.
**The Pick: Reed Sheppard, 6MOY (+750)**
### Coach of the Year
Like ROTY, this is a two-horse race.
It’s Detroit’s JB Bickerstaff versus Boston’s Joe Mazzulla.
Two teams that were projected to finish fifth and eighth in the standings are in a dogfight for the top spot.
The media has showered them with praise all year and I don’t think any of the other candidates have enough runaway to snatch this award away.
Both are deserving, I simply think Bickerstaff’s achievement is more monumental and began earlier than Mazzulla’s.
In my opinion, the only thing that could torpedo Bickerstaff’s case is if Boston clears them for the 1-seed.
A 4.5-game gap with 10 games remaining is essentially an impossible task.
But if you’re on the Celtics hype train, I’d direct you to bet Boston to finish as the 1-seed on FanDuel at +1300 instead of COTY at +200.
**The Pick: Boston Celtics to be the 1-seed (+1300)**