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For the seventh straight year, the NBA asked me if I’d like to be one the media members with an official ballot for year-end awards. I said yes, and here’s how I decided to use it.
Quick note: I’m writing this before I receive the link to my actual ballot, which won’t come until after the end of the regular season, when the powers that be make their final tabulations on who qualifies under the league’s 65-game threshold for awards consideration. As such, I might need to make a change or two before I click submit.
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For the most part, though, here’s what my picks for the 2025-26 NBA regular season will look like:
Most Valuable Player
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
2. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
3. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
4. Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers*
5. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
In a campaign defined by a pretty phenomenal top four individual talents, all of whom have staked legitimate claim to being the league’s best player at one point or another during this season, I came back to the player I believe has been the best throughout the season: from celebrating ring night by carrying his team to a double-overtime win through nailing down a 60-win season and the top overall seed throughout the NBA playoffs — for the second straight year.
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Gilgeous-Alexander is the best player on the NBA’s best team, and the driving force behind the Thunder’s excellence. They’ve won at a 68-win pace in the games he’s played, and have outscored opponents by 16.5 points per 100 non-garbage-time possessions in his minutes — the point differential of a 72-win team. That’s true despite the fact that he has played more than 42% of his minutes with neither of his two best teammates — Jalen Williams, an All-NBA and All-Defense selection last season, and Chet Holmgren, who’s got an excellent chance of earning both of those honors this season — on the floor alongside him. In more than 950 such SGA-solo minutes, Oklahoma City has mopped opponents up by 12.4 points-per-100.
He’s second in the NBA in scoring, shooting 60% on 2-pointers as a guard;…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/2026-nba-awards-ballot-shai-gilgeous-alexander-for-mvp-kon-knueppel-for-rookie-of-the-year-202010368.html
Author : Dan Devine
Publish date : 2026-04-09 20:20:00
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