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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.
On Thursday, we broke down MVP, Rookie of the Year and individual honors. Let’s finish up with the team selections.
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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.
For the most part, though, here’s what my picks for the 2025-26 NBA regular season will look like:
All-NBA • All Defensive • All-Rookie
All-NBA
First Team
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
Nikola Jokić, Nuggets
Luka Dončić, Lakers*
Jaylen Brown, Celtics
Hey, look: it’s my MVP ballot. That’s tidy. (Again: Luka’s here pending the resolution of his challenge, and Cade would be here if he was eligible.)
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Second Team
Kawhi Leonard, Clippers
Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers
Kevin Durant, Rockets
Tyrese Maxey, 76ers
Chet Holmgren, Thunder
I made the case for Leonard among the MVP candidates and in the aforementioned recent episode of The Big Number. I also discussed Durant there, as Ben Rohrbach did in a recent piece on older players having elite seasons.
It’s frankly unbelievable that, at age 37, now nearly seven years removed from a ruptured Achilles tendon, has played the second-most minutes in the entire NBA. It’s much more believable, to anyone who’s watched KD cook over the years, just how much he’s done with those minutes, averaging nearly 26 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5 assists per game on characteristically pristine 52/41/88 shooting splits, and keeping the Rockets’ offense at a top-10 level despite the losses of starting point guard Fred VanVleet before the season and offensive rebounding kaiju Steven Adams midway through the campaign.
For all their flaws, the Rockets survived those injuries and rickety offense to win 50 games in the tough-as-hell West, and KD —…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/2026-nba-awards-ballot-all-nba-all-rookie-all-defensive-team-selections-151346953.html
Author : Dan Devine
Publish date : 2026-04-10 15:13:00
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