NBA Awards Race Recap: SGA Expected to Win MVP, Flagg and Knueppel Too Close to Call

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Time has run out for NBA players hoping to bolster their cases to win MVP, Rookie of the Year, and a variety of other awards now that the regular season has concluded.

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While reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is expected to win the league’s highest individual honor for a second time, the Rookie of the Year race has become one of the most-followed stories in sports.

Key Takeaways

Gilgeous-Alexander is favored to win his second straight MVP after his team took the #1 seed in the West for the second consecutive season.

Victor Wembanyama for Defensive Player of the Year is the largest favorite in any market.

NBA players are not eligible for regular-season awards if they didn’t meet the 65-minimum game requirement (barring extreme circumstances).

Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP last year while averaging 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.0 rebounds for the 68-14 Oklahoma City Thunder en route to a seven-game victory in the NBA Finals. He followed that up with 31.1 points, 6.6 assists, and 4.3 rebounds on a remarkable 55.3% shooting as his team finished atop the Western Conference for the second year running.

The 27-year-old’s excellence has given him a 95% chance to win the NBA MVP, according to users at the top prediction app Kalshi.

Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) and Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs) are both listed with 3% chances despite having remarkable seasons of their own.

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While Wembanyama does not appear to be much of a threat to take Derrick Rose’s title as the youngest NBA MVP in history, he is a near shoo-in to win the Defensive Player of the Year. Kalshi lists him at 99% and everyone else at less than 1% to win the award.

The Rookie of the Year leaves the most intrigue for fans and voters. First-overall pick Cooper Flagg (Dallas Mavericks) sits at a 53% chance, and his former roommate at Duke, Kon Knueppel (Charlotte Hornets), is at 42%.

Flagg appeared to have lost his grip on the race when he was sidelined by an injury for nearly a month from early February into March. However, 51 and…

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Publish date : 2026-04-13 17:32:00

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