dailyloe.com – The NBA announced its finalists for the 2025-26 season awards on Sunday. Victor Wembanyama joined former winners Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic as finalists for the Most Valuable Player award. The announcement was made on April 19, 2026.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the reigning MVP. He averaged 31.1 points and 6.6 assists on 55% shooting this season. Nikola Jokic is a three-time MVP winner. He averaged 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists.
Jokic became the first player to lead the NBA in both assists and rebounds. Victor Wembanyama averaged 25 points and 11.5 rebounds in 29.2 minutes per game. He also led the league in blocked shots per game for a third straight season.
Wembanyama is also a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. He is considered the favorite to win that award. The other finalists for Defensive Player of the Year are Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Detroit’s Ausar Thompson.
Ausar Thompson led the league in steals this season. Gilgeous-Alexander is also a finalist for the Clutch Player of the Year award. He joins Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards and Denver’s Jamal Murray as finalists for that honor.
Anthony Edwards is a finalist despite falling short of the 65-game minimum for most regular-season accolades. Nominees for the Clutch Player award were selected by the league’s coaches. Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham also fell short of the 65-game minimum.
Doncic and Cunningham were on the ballot for all awards after an appeal. They appealed under the league’s “extraordinary circumstances” clause. Neither player cracked the top three in MVP voting.
Both are in line for All-NBA honors. Detroit’s Jalen Duren is a finalist for Most Improved Player. His scoring jumped from 11.8 points last season to 19.5 points this season.
Atlanta’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker is also a finalist for Most Improved. He more than doubled his scoring from 9.5 to 20.8 points per game. Portland’s Deni Avdija is the third finalist for Most Improved Player.
Deni Avdija made the All-Star team for the first time this season. He averaged 24.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists. Dallas’ Cooper Flagg, Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel and Philadelphia’s VJ Edgecombe are mentioned in the source.
