The 2025-26 regular season is over and the NBA playoffs are about to start. That means award conversations have heated up. Candidates across the board put the final touches on their resumes and explain why they should go home with one of the league’s prestigious trophies.
The Oklahoma City Thunder could have a few finalists for the awards. They’ll for sure have one for the MVP race in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He’ll have a good chance to go back-to-back for the trophy and join some elite company of guys who’ve pulled that off.
100 media members vote for the awards. Each NBA market gets at least one vote. While Thunder Wire doesn’t have a vote, there is a mock ballot for the sake of a fun exercise:
MVP:
- 1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- 2. Victor Wembanyama
- 3. Nikola Jokic
- 4. Luka Doncic
- 5. Cade Cunningham
I’m going to ignore the silly 65-game rule to make this more fun. Being atop of the NBA standings all season, Gilgeous-Alexander should easily win the MVP award. There was some tension in the final month, but he’ll be the runaway winner again — with a real argument that he should be unanimous. He’s the best player on the best team. He’s enjoyed one of the most historic scoring campaigns in NBA history with 31.1 points on 55.3% shooting. That’s four straight 30-plus point campaigns. Only guys like Michael Jordan have done that. He’s one of the faces of the NBA in this era. Two consecutive MVP trophies are proof of that.
Defensive Player of the Year:
- 1. Chet Holmgren
- 2. Victor Wembanyama
- 3. Rudy Gobert
Fine. I’ll be the one to do it. Holmgren should bring home Defensive Player of the Year. I know. I know. It’s probably the hottest opinion in this fake ballot. In real life, Wembanyama will likely win it unanimously. But the Thunder having the clear-cut best defense for another year gotta count for something, right? Not just with a couple of All-Defensive Team spots. It’s not like Holmgren is the face of OKC’s defense. He completely changes the geometry of the opposition’s halfcourt offense. The advanced metrics also love the seven-footer and paint him as one of the best players. He’s also played more minutes than Wembanyama, which has to mean something.
Coach of the Year
- 1. Mark Daigneault
- 2. Joe Mazzulla
- 3. Mitch Johnson
This is getting greedy, but let me explain. The Thunder had the second-most games missed due to injuries. Only the Memphis Grizzlies had more. They dealt with injuries last season, but that pales in comparison to this year. Almost everybody on the roster missed notable time. Gilgeous-Alexander missed three weeks with an abdominal strain; Jalen Williams only played 33 games; Isaiah Hartenstein only played 47 games. Despite constantly juggling injuries, OKC has remained atop the standings. It finished with a league-best 64-18 record and 11.1 point differential. Considering all of that, Daigneault deserves love for keeping them afloat despite the volatile variables.
Rookie of the Year:
- 1. Kon Knueppel
- 2. Cooper Flagg
- 3. Dylan Harper
I know there’s been a recent push for Flagg to win the award at the last minute, but I respect Knueppel’s consistency. He had arguably the greatest 3-point shooting season by a rookie. He was part of the triumvirate that turned the Hornets around in one of the greatest in-season turnarounds ever. They’ve been red-hot since the New Year’s with a video-game-esque offense. Flagg has admittedly had higher peaks with four 40-plus point outings, but he missed too much time to make up the difference. That said, I think he’ll easily have the better career. He’s well on his way to being another MVP candidate who suits up for the Mavericks.
Most Improved Player:
- 1. Nickeil Alexander-Walker
- 2. Deni Avdija
- 3. Jalen Johnson
Considering the ambiguity of this award’s definition, I think Alexander-Walker best embodies the spirit of it. He’s had a career season. He averaged 8.6 points in his first six seasons as a solid role player. This year, he smashed his career averages across the board as a 20.8-point scorer. Just an unreal jump that you never see someone make at this juncture of their careers. He’s turned into one of the NBA’s best outside shooters. The Hawks have completely changed their roster on the fly and remain one of the hottest teams. A lot of that can be traced back to his breakout year. His random scoring explosion is what this award should be all about. Wasn’t that long ago when it felt like he was on the cusp of falling out of the NBA.
Sixth Man of the Year:
- 1. Keldon Johnson
- 2. Jaime Jaquez Jr.
- 3. Ajay Mitchell
This was probably the hardest one to figure out. I’ll give Johnson the slight edge. The Spurs have been the second-best team in the league this season. That deserves some merit. One of those is this award. Johnson has been a longtime player there. After being a starter to start his career, he’s seamlessly transitioned to being a Sixth Man scorer. San Antonio’s roster is filled with microwave scorers. He’s at the top of it.
Clutch Player of the Year:
- 1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- 2. Jamal Murray
- 3. Anthony Edwards
Forgot this award existed, to be honest. But feels like Gilgeous-Alexander should be the runaway winner. Studying for this honor involved me going through the highest point total in the clutch. As a reminder, the NBA defines the clutch as a game within five points in the final five minutes. Shouldn’t be a shocker to see Gilgeous-Alexander at the top with 175 points on 51.5% shooting. OKC is an impressive 20-7 in those scenarios. He had an epic game-winner over the Nuggets in one of the best games of the year. Think he should win this and have two trophies to bring home.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Here’s my unofficial 2025-26 NBA Awards ballot
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