NBA awards picks: Experts split on MVP and Rookie, but SGA and Wemby are unanimous picks for other honors
NBA awards picks: Experts split on MVP and Rookie, but SGA and Wemby are unanimous picks for other honors
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Nikola Jokić? Kon Knueppel or Cooper Flagg? There were some tough awards calls after the regular season
By
Sam Quinn
Apr 13, 2026
at
7:53 pm ET
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10 min read
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Here's the good news: we've reached the end of the 2025-26 NBA season, and while All-NBA teams have been ravaged by the 65-game rule, the fields for the major individual awards were left mostly intact. We're still waiting to hear if Luka Dončić will receive an extraordinary circumstances exemption, but Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokić and Kawhi Leonard all snuck across the finish line in the season's final weekend to ensure their MVP eligibility. Among legitimate candidates, the only player we know to have fallen out of the running for a major award at this stage is Cade Cunningham for MVP.
That allowed our NBA staff here at CBS Sports to consider most of the realistic field for the NBA's major awards. Below, you'll find our votes for the eight highest individual honors in the league: MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, Clutch Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year. Note that the 65-game rule applies only to MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player. Rookie of the Year, Clutch Player of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year have no minimum.
You can surely predict some of our award winners. The only drama involved in the Defensive Player of the Year race was whether or not Wembanyama would reach 65 games, for example, but the other races were a good deal more dramatic. Depending on Dončić's eligibility, there are up to four realistic MVP candidates. Rookie of the Year has been a two-man race all year, but Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel have such different cases that there has been intense debate between the two of them. Most Improved Player and Coach of the Year are enormously subjective and therefore almost always create crowded fields.
So, where did our voters fall? Check out the 2026 CBS Sports NBA awards ballot.
MVP
Award
Brad Botkin
John Gonzalez
James Herbert
Jack Maloney
Sam Quinn
Jasmyn Wimbish
MVPNikola JokićShai Gilgeous-AlexanderNikola JokićShai Gilgeous-AlexanderShai Gilgeous-AlexanderShai Gilgeous-Alexander
Defensive Player of the Year
Award
Brad Botkin
John Gonzalez
James Herbert
Jack Maloney
Sam Quinn
Jasmyn Wimbish
DPOYVictor WembanyamaVictor WembanyamaVictor WembanyamaVictor WembanyamaVictor WembanyamaVictor Wembanyama
Rookie of the Year
Award
Brad Botkin
John Gonzalez
James Herbert
Jack Maloney
Sam Quinn
Jasmyn Wimbish
ROYKon KnueppelCooper FlaggKon KnueppelCooper FlaggKon KnueppelCooper Flagg
Coach of the Year
Award
Brad Botkin
John Gonzalez
James Herbert
Jack Maloney
Sam Quinn
Jasmyn Wimbish
COYJoe MazzullaJ.B. BickerstaffJoe MazzullaJoe MazzullaJoe MazzullaJ.B. Bickerstaff
Sixth Man of the Year
Award
Brad Botkin
John Gonzalez
James Herbert
Jack Maloney
Sam Quinn
Jasmyn Wimbish
6MOYJaime Jaquez Jr.Keldon JohnsonJaime Jaquez Jr.Jaime Jaquez Jr.Jaime Jaquez Jr.Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Most Improved Player
Award
Brad Botkin
John Gonzalez
James Herbert
Jack Maloney
Sam Quinn
Jasmyn Wimbish
MIPNickeil Alexander-WalkerNickeil Alexander-WalkerNickeil Alexander-WalkerNickeil Alexander-WalkerNickeil Alexander-WalkerJalen Duren
Clutch Player of the Year
Award
Brad Botkin
John Gonzalez
James Herbert
Jack Maloney
Sam Quinn
Jasmyn Wimbish
CPOYShai Gilgeous-AlexanderShai Gilgeous-AlexanderShai Gilgeous-AlexanderShai Gilgeous-AlexanderShai Gilgeous-AlexanderShai Gilgeous-Alexander
Executive of the Year
Award
Brad Botkin
John Gonzalez
James Herbert
Jack Maloney
Sam Quinn
Jasmyn Wimbish
EOYBrad StevensSam PrestiOnsi SalehOnsi SalehOnsi SalehSam Presti
Expert explanations
Botkin: There is an almost irrefutable MVP case for each of SGA, Jokić and Wemby. In the end, Jokić is still the best player of the three, and the Nuggets still suffer more without him than the other, deeper teams do without their star. He's the first guy in NBA history to lead the league in both rebounding and assists, and, on the side, he averaged 27 points per game.
Don't worry, there is still hardware going out to SGA, who is my Clutch Player of the Year, and Wemby, who should be the unanimous pick for DPOY (if he isn't, someone needs their voting privileges revoked). Rookie of the Year is a total toss-up; I give Kneuppel the edge for his impact on meaningful winning. Neckeil Alexander-Walker is the clear MIP. The guy went from a bench role player to 20 PPG om 40% high-volume 3-point shooting.
I can understand COY votes for a lot of guys, but to me Mazzulla is clearly the guy -- even if he doesn't want the honor. The fact that the Celtics lost Jayson Tatum for the majority of the season, and lost the minutes that Jaylen Brown was on the court, and s