As the 2025-26 NBA regular season winds down, the race for the league's top individual honors is heating up. For the seventh consecutive year, I've been entrusted with an official ballot to help decide the winners. While I'll need to wait for the final 65-game eligibility list before submitting, here's a detailed look at my current picks for the major awards.
The MVP conversation this season has been a thrilling debate among four phenomenal talents, each making a compelling case as the league's best player at various points. However, my vote goes to the player who has been the consistent engine of excellence from opening night to the final buzzer: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Gilgeous-Alexander isn't just putting up numbers; he's defining winning basketball. He celebrated his championship ring by willing his team to a double-overtime victory and has since piloted the Thunder to a second consecutive 60-win season and the NBA's top overall playoff seed. He is the undisputed best player on the league's best team.
The statistics are staggering. With SGA on the floor, the Thunder have played at a 68-win pace and outscored opponents by a dominant 16.5 points per 100 possessions—a margin typical of a historic 72-win squad. What makes this even more impressive is that he has logged over 42% of his minutes without his two elite teammates, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, beside him. In those 950-plus solo minutes, Oklahoma City still crushed opponents by 12.4 points per 100. He combines elite scoring—second in the league—with remarkable efficiency, shooting 60% on two-pointers as a guard, a testament to his unstoppable drives and mid-range mastery.
Shifting to the future of the league, the Rookie of the Year race presents a fascinating scenario. While the current draft class has several standout performers, my forward-looking ballot for the 2026 award is already focused on a player who hasn't yet played an NBA minute: Duke's Kon Knueppel. The sharpshooting wing possesses a pro-ready game and a maturity that suggests he could make an immediate splash, potentially following in the footsteps of recent instant-impact rookies.
These selections highlight the beautiful spectrum of NBA talent, from established superstars driving championship contention to the promising newcomers who represent the league's exciting future. It's this blend of present greatness and future potential that makes filling out an awards ballot both a privilege and a challenge.