It is always very difficult to predict NBA awards because there are many unpredictable factors.
Which players get hurt? Which players overperform or underperform? Will any teams do better than expected?
Some awards are easier to pick, but it’s nearly impossible to get all of them right.
With this being said, here are my predictions for each award.
Coach of the Year: JB Bickerstaff
There are a ton of good options for this one, but I am going to go with the runner-up from last season. Bickerstaff more than tripled the Pistons’ wins from 2024 to 2025. I am not one to use prior seasons to strengthen a coach’s case, but let me dive deeper. The Pistons finished as the No. 6 seed last season. Three of the teams that finished ahead of them were the Celtics, Pacers, and Bucks. All of these teams will be without one of their All-Stars from last season. Since this is the case, I think the Pistons will climb up to the third or fourth seed. If this happens, the voters will see what Bickerstaff did with the team last year, and improved them again; it will be a great case for sure.
J.B Bickerstaff shared his enthusiasm on this season for the Detroit Pistons…
“I told our guys, this is my 22nd year,” and this is the most excited I’ve been to start a season.”#DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/uWXPEn7q2o
— SleeperPistons (@SleeperPistons) October 3, 2025
Rookie of the Year: Dylan Harper
This year’s Rookie of the Year race will be super interesting. For starters, the first two picks from the draft will be playing alongside All-Star bigs. Both of these teams also have solid supporting casts, so this leads to both rookies being under pressure to have solid seasons. I think both Harper and Cooper Flagg will have great seasons. With this being said, I expect the Spurs to be better than the Mavericks, giving the edge to Harper.
Most Improved Player: Brandon Miller
I always find these next two awards extremely hard to predict. However, I’m expecting a huge jump from Brandon Miller this year. I’ll take it a step further. This will be the year the Hornets decide they want to build around Brandon Miller, and not LaMelo Ball. This may sound a little disrespectful to Ball, but it has far more to do with Miller’s potential and Charles Lee being all-in on him.
Sixth Man of the Year: Jordan Clarkson
I think that picking 6MOY is debatably even harder than MIP. With this being said, I like my chances picking Jordan Clarkson. The Knicks have a great starting five already, so Clarkson will fit in pretty comfortably. In addition, he is already very familiar with the sixth-man role. He already won 6MOY a couple of seasons ago, and I’d be surprised if he was not one of the front-runners this year too.
“Guys know – you throw it to me, it’s getting in the air. The majority of the time, I feel like I’m open. That comes with a grain of salt – I know I’ve got to take good shots and play the right way as well.”
– Jordan Clarkson on his role with the Knicks pic.twitter.com/YiHPjbJjw9
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) September 24, 2025
Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama
I don’t think this one needs much of an explanation. All I’m going to say is I feel bad for guys like Evan Mobley, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Bam Adebayo. They are all fantastic defenders, but I can’t imagine any of them winning many DPOYs as long as Wemby stays healthy.
Most Valuable Player: Nikola Jokic
People like to talk about voter fatigue all the time, but I really do not see it as much of a thing unless it is a tie-breaker. I think that Jokic will continue to put up crazy stats, and his team will win a ton of games since he has such a good supporting cast now. As long as the Nuggets are a top-three seed and Jokic stays healthy, I think he runs away with his fourth MVP.
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