Who Wins The 2026 NBA Awards And Why

We run through the 2026 NBA Awards finalists and lock in our predictions from Coach of the Year all the way to MVP. We weigh team record, availability, defensive impact, and late-game responsibility, then ask you to tell us who really deserves the hardware.
• Coach of the Year finalists and why Spurs’ Mitch Johnson gets our pick 
• Clutch Player of the Year case for Jamal Murray over Anthony Edwards and SGA 
• Sixth Man of the Year as a true jump ball between Tim Hardaway Jr., Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Keldon Johnson 
• Most Improved Player reasoning and why we lean Nickeil Alexander-Walker 
• Defensive Player of the Year breakdown and why Victor Wembanyama feels like the easy choice 
• Rookie of the Year stats and why Cooper Flagg separates as the best two-way rookie 
• MVP criteria debate with availability, win shares, and team success pushing SGA to the top 
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Transcript

Welcome And Awards Roadmap

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show Get a Bucket. I'm your host, Train as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're talking about the 2026 NBA Awards. Because we have the finalists, and they will be dropping this week. But to be clear, we're going to talk about each award, my own predictions, and I'll list the finalists that the NBA has given. So again, we're talking about the NBA's MVP, depoys, rookie of the year, most improved, sixth man of the year. I'll give my takes on the clutch player of the year, the finalist, and then the coach of the year. Executive of the year, maybe I'll talk about another day. But those are what that's what we're talking about right now. So we let you know what? Let's start it off with Coach of the Year. I think Coach of the Year should be smooth, and then we'll move on up to the MVP. So, Coach of the Year. I had a four, I had a four-team race, if I'm being honest with you. You know what I'm saying? It was looking pretty decent. It was looking pretty decent. But they got three for the finals. We got JB Bickerstaff, Mitch Johnson, and Joe Missoula. Now, J.B. Staff's off Detroit, Mitch Johnson from the Spurs, and Joe Mizzula from the Celtics. That's about what I had to call the spade a spade. And I might have to go Mitch Johnson, the Spurs head coach. Don't get me wrong, ladies and gentlemen. JB Bickerstaff has coached his tail off. Okay? Pistons number, what, three seed in the NBA? No one would have expected the Pistons to be here. Nobody. I don't even know if Pistons fans would have thought it. Mitch Johnson, though, I don't know if we would have thought the Spurs were number two in the league. Like the Celtics, they were number four. And that was because, you know, like we had question markers. They traded Drew Holiday. They lost Christos Porzingis. JT went out with an injury for the whole season damn near. Like, we weren't expecting top four in nothing. I don't think the East even. Some people were talking about it be a gap year. Try to get one of these diaper dandies from the draft. But the Spurs at number two in the NBA, and they beat the OKC Thunder, the number one team in the NBA. What was it? Three out of four times? Four out of five times? Something like that? Yeah, I gotta go Mitch Johnson. Mitch Johnson for the Spurs, Coach of the Year. Argue with your mama. I can hear the Thunder, but we expected them to be number one. Now, being number one without your second option, I can understand that. So they were my fourth team, right? Like the fourth option. But I gotta go Mitch Johnson, number one. Now we're gonna scroll on up here. What? Alright, so the NBA's website, they got clutch player of the year. It's between Anthony Edwards, Shea Gilders, Alexander, and Jamal Murray. I might lean Jamal Murray on this one. Listen, SGA, the team, stout. So while he does do a lot, he doesn't have to do as much as the other two. Anthony Edwards did a lot. Got your team pretty daggone high. But I look at Jamal Murray because Jamal, while yes, you play with Nicola Jokic, he also carried that Nuggets team for about a month and some change where he was snapping to the point that he became an all-star for the first time. So if we're talking about Clutch Player of the Year, I may have to give Jamal Murray his flowers. But I can't be mad if Anthony Edwards gets it too. Because yes, Julius Randle's been the top player, right? Rudy Gobert is still a solid defensive anchor. Jaden McDaniel's been hooping. He's still the best player on the team, without question. He leads the team so much. But Jamal Murray was pretty clutch for the Nuggets. So I may lean Jamal Murray for this one. Sixth man of the year. Alright, so this one's kind of tough for me. I'm basing it off the finalist award. We got Tim Hardaway Jr., Jaime Hawkins Jr., and Keldon Johnson. I was hoping I should just call Keldon Johnson Jr., just call it a day. We got two of them already. But Timmy's on the Nuggets. Jaime is on the Heat. Keldon's on the Spurs. This one's interesting. I had to look at Timmy again. I had to look at Jaime and I had to look at Keldon. Sixth Man of the Year is the hardest one for me to choose, ladies and gentlemen. Honestly, we could have even gone Reed Shepard off the Rockets. We could have gone Nas Reed off the Wolves. Like there were a couple of players that actually played well. Hell, if AJ Mitchell had played more games, he might have been in the thick of these. Here's six man of the year discussions. But ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to say it's a jump ball on this one. Kelden Johnson had the higher win shares, right? Reed Shepard, ironically, had the higher percentage in terms of factoring into the games. Tim Hardaway, higher win share than Jaime Hockey Jr. But Jaime, well, he mattered more to his team if you want to base it off the win shares, the wins that they that the team had. Jaime had a 9.7%. Tim Hardaway had 8.2%. Kelton had 10.6%. If you're going off stats, it's a jump ball. Impact, I might lean Jaime. But again, there's a case for all of them. So this one's actually a jump ball for me, ladies and gentlemen. I want to lean Jaime off numbers. Reed Shepard looked good. Reed's not a finalist, though. So again, I'm a little bit confused for six men in the year. I'm curious what your thoughts are. To be clear, all three of these players could get a bucket. All three of them. So that's why it's even tougher, too. They're all averaging like 15 plus, 14, 15 plus. It was kind of crazy. Let's move on up, though, to the most improved player. Now the finalists are Nikhil Alexander Walker, Denny Avita, or Denny Aldia, and Jalen Duran. Now, Nikhil for the Hawks, Denny for the Portland Trailblazers, and Jalen for the Detroit Pistons. Ladies and gentlemen, this one was a little bit easier for me, right? Because I also had two other players to consider: Jalen Johnson on the Hawks, and Cade Cunningham as well for the Detroit Pistons. And it's funny, because I gotta go Nikhil Alexander Walker. Like when you look at what he did this season in comparison to last season, it was higher. He upped his points per game more than anybody. Like, unless my math ain't mathing correctly, Jalen was average. Jalen got a four-point advantage. Cade lost two points. Jalen Durin gained eight points. Then he obviously gained seven. Nikhil Alexander Walker, ladies and gentlemen, he did 12. Gave a 12-year bid. You know what I'm saying? Like Buddy, Buddy was out there hooping. And it makes you wonder why the Wolves actually lost him. Because if they kept him, imagine if they kept Nikhil Alexander Walker. That could be an easy, nice little appearance. So you could have him, Ant-Man, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle, and Rudy Gobert. Bro, that would have been a smooth little squad. Even with Denny Avdia, this was an all-star season. He's viewing him. We're now viewing him as maybe a second option on a title team. Maybe. And he's been hooping. Jalen Duran. Can he be on Team USA? He's getting Team USA considerations just on how he's played. Cade Cunningham, he's already a team USA lock. Jalen Johnson. All-star and all-NBA consideration and a franchise player. That's what happened this very season for everybody. Hell, even Cade's an MVP candidate. But Nikhil Alexander Walker, ladies and gentlemen. If we're talking about most improved based on what we did from this from last season to this season, I give it to Nikhil. But I'm curious what your thoughts are, ladies and gentlemen. But again, all three of these guys, Nikhil, Denny, Jalen, even Cade and Jalen, they can all get a bucket. All top quality players. I just lean Nikhil for me. That's just me personally. That's just me personally. But if y'all got a different answer, I'd love to hear it. Now let's move on up to the depoys. Now the depoy finalists. We got Chet Holmgren off OKC Thunder. Azar Thompson off the Detroit Pistons. And Victor Wimbenyama for the San Antonio Spurs. And ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this was easy. I gotta go Victor Wimbenyama. Don't get me wrong, Azar Thompson has been dogging folks on the defensive end. Chet Holmgren, he's been like number two the last two years now. Wemby has been leading the league in blocks. He wins defensive win shares and block percentage. Like when he's on the floor, there's a clear, obvious case. Like he doesn't have to score much to make an impact defensively. Like he can have eight to ten points and still affect the game. I don't know if Chet has that same level of gravity. I don't know if Asar Thompson has that same level of gravity. So, ladies and gentlemen, easy peasy lemon squeezy. This goes with Victor Women Yama. Honestly, he just needs to have the game-played threshold, which I think he's at 64. So we make an exception for Buddy, but because remember the threshold was 65. So he's right there. So as long as he made the threshold, he was good and keep it a buck with you. Same thing could have been said for last season. So finally he gets a de-poy. We might be seeing him be de-poy for like multiple seasons in a row. And one of them seasons, he might get MVP. I'm just saying. But let's pay, let's just have a little patience. Now, let's move on up. Because again, I could talk about all the players. Like I could meet, I can mention Scotty Barnes, Derek White, Rudy Gobert, but the de-poy one is probably the easiest one to give. Now, the rookie of the year. Alright, this one was an interesting discussion. The finalists, we got VJ Edgecomb for the 76ers, Cooper Flag for the Dallas Mavericks, and Con Canuple from the Charlotte Hornets. I love this season personally from the Rookie of the Year because we got two Duke Boys out there. That's right. They come from good stock, ladies and gentlemen, but only one can win. And I gotta go Cooper Flag. I've talked about this before, so I don't have to harp about it too much. But Coop, he doesn't lose in any of these statistical categories except when we get to the splits. Talking about points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks. And then you got three-point percentage, field goal percentage, and free throws. Khan Canupple only does better than Cooper Flag in the splits. And keep in mind, for someone who's a three-point shooter, 43% is pretty daggone good as a rookie. Breaking rookie records, I respect it. But the field goal percentage, 48 to 47, favoring Khan Knupple. And then the free throw percentage, 89 to 82, again, favoring Khan Knupple. That's not a large enough difference for me to say, oh yeah, Khan's gotta win it. I understand the Hornets almost made the playoffs, but Coop was easily the better player, more of a two-way player, with at minimum similar offensive output. But again, that's at minimum. Like Charlotte's better than the Mavs. You have more responsibility and more focus on you if you're Cooper Flagg. So again, ladies and gentlemen, rookie of the year. Shout out VJ Edgecomb for having a phenomenal season, too. But this has been a two-man race for quite some time. Dylan Harper also had a wonderful season. Again, this has been a two-man race for quite some time. Shout out to Cooper Flag for winning rookie of the year. Now, MVP. Ladies and gentlemen, this one, this one was interesting, right? For starters, the finalists, we got SGA from OKC, Nicola Jokic from the Denver Nuggets, and of course Victor Wimiyama from the Spurs. I have kind of a gripe with this, but I'm curious, right? So I remember in 50 from from 1956 to 1980, the NBA players used to actually vote on who the NBA's MVP was. Then in 81 till now, we switched that to more so media voting, right? Well, as a I guess media, I I I gotta say, SGA was in fact my choice for MVP. He is the only player in the top 10 in offensive win shares and defensive win shares. Now, he's number two in scoring, number 14 in assists, number three in free throw attempts, number one in free throw makes. He's played more games than everyone. And keep in mind, my list included Cade Cunningham, Jalen Brown, and Luka Doncic. Luka was last. To be my order was SGA, right? Cade Cunningham, Victor Wimanyama, Jalen Brown, Nicola Jokic, then Luka Donchik. And he's played, SGA has played more games than everyone, but Jalen Brown. Again, the best ability is availability, ladies and gentlemen. And his team was number one, not just in the West, but in the NBA back-to-back seasons. And they did so without J Dub. Jalen Williams, their second best player. Now, Cade Cunningham, close. Very close. It was hard for me to not put him number one for the MVP. And I think next season, if he does it again, the Detroit Pistons number one again, we gotta have a discussion about Cade over SGA. Victor Wimbenyama. If the Spurs were over OKC, I could have given him that nod. But remember, I said they were number one without their second best player. Yes, OKC's pretty deep, pretty talented. So are the Spurs. And while, yes, they are new and are exceeding expectations. They weren't a complete team. They had injuries to deal with. Now, Jalen Brown's team had a complete revamp, and I was pushing for JB being MVP for quite some time. It was between him and Cade for a minute. Because I also thought SGA wouldn't have hit the game's play threshold. Remember, Jalen Brown was not playing with Jason Tatum. And if the Celtics were a number one seed in the East, before JT gets there, I might bring Jalen Brown up a little bit higher. Or if Nicola Jokic was healthier and if they outpaced the Thunder, okay. I could give that, I could give Nikola Jokic some flowers too. Because I mean, look, if we're talking about impact, I go Jalen Brown, okay? But when we're talking about stats and impact, Nicola Jokik, 28 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists on 57 from the field, 38 from the three, 83% from the free throw line. That is disgusting numbers. Meanwhile, JB, Jalen Brown, 29 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists on 48 from the field, 35 from 3, 80 from the free throw line. That's a quality stat. We not ain't talking about defense. We're talking about the highlight stats. Jalen Brown, Nicola Yokin, they deserve MVP. Wimby deserved MVP. Cade Cunningham deserved MVP. But again, SGA, he matters so much to the team that people view as the best team in the NBA on and off the court. He is their absolute leader. Now, I've heard people trying to talk about Luka Doncic, right? He doesn't have enough defense, and offense is not elite enough to have a separation over SGA. Like, yes, Luca's assisting is higher than SGA. So is his rebounding. He's also the bigger player. Scoring-wise, it's not that much of a difference. And keep in mind, Luca has more of a usage rate. He has a higher usage rate. So I'm assuming he's going to score a little bit more. He had a phenomenal, what was it, March? Where he scored like 600 points. That is disgusting to think about. But I couldn't put him ahead of Nicole Jokic. His team was higher. Couldn't put him again ahead of Jalen Brown. His team was higher. Same with Wimby. Same with Cade and same with SGA. And before y'all talk about, well, Luca's on the Lakers, Luca's on the My Lakers, where we have Braun. People are trying to hype up Austin Reeves. We got DeAndre Aiden. We got all these players. We have comparable talent. Now, whether it gels correctly on the floor, it's another discussion. But we do have comparable talent. Despite what I have said sometimes, that's sometimes it's a little emotional based when I'm talking about my Lakers. But if we're talking about talent for talent, remember DeAndre Ayton was a number one pick at one point in time. LeBron James was the number one pick at one point in time. Like we have decent talent on our team. And if he had gotten higher team-wise, and he was the lead cause, the lead catalyst, well, okay, cool. I could put him up there. I could put him a little bit higher. But that wasn't the case. So again, ladies and gentlemen, Shea Gilts Alexander should win the MVP. I will take Cade Cunningham or even the Jalen Brown. I don't know about Yoke. He had a phenomenal season for sure. Statistically, the man, A, dominant. But when we're talking about impact, again, he's missed time. So did Wimby. So did Cade. JB's availability should be rewarded. Not to mention the man was hooping this season. Almost giving us 30. Being the primary defender, yes, you still had Derek White, but still being a primary defender against them wings. I'm just saying, ladies and gentlemen, there's a discussion to be had for Jalen Brown winning MVP or Cade winning MVP. Because your best second best option is Jalen Durham, who might not have a bag. He just brute force. Quality talent to have if you the Pistons. But if we're talking about somebody who just who can help get a bag, your next best option might be Tobias Harris, who's not bad, by the way. It's just a little bit different than what some of these other players have. Like with Nicola Yoke having Jamal Murray, or Luka Doncic having LeBron James, or Victor Women Yama having Darren Foxx, Jalen Brown eventually getting back Jason Tatum, but that happened later in the season. Just saying, ladies and SGA having Chet Hongrig. It's a little bit different. So again, we have multiple people who could have won MVP this season. But I do lean SGA for MVP. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of the episode. I've talked about a lot of players who can get a bucket. I've talked about a lot of players who can stop people from getting a bucket. I'm curious, who do you all? And I've talked about coaches who have coached teams to get a bucket and to stop people from getting a bucket. So I'm curious, ladies and gentlemen, who do you all think should win coach of the year, clutch player of the year, sixth man of the year, most improved player, defensive player of the year, rookie of the year, and MVP, most valuable player. I'm curious your thoughts. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of this episode. So be sure to tune in this week as the award winners should be dropping. I'm curious to see how the NBA looks at these players. But I'm also curious for your thoughts, ladies and gentlemen. So like I said, this does conclude the end of the episode. Please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey, I'm the host of Get a Bucket. I hope you are all having a good one. Take care.