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Predicting the next NBA champion and major award winners

Julian Catalfo / theScore

With the 2025-26 NBA season tipping off Oct. 21, theScore's Joseph Casciaro, Michael Chandler, Chicco Nacion, Sam Oshtry, and Jonathan Soveta boldly predict which teams will be left standing and who'll be in line for individual hardware after the campaign.

Significant injuries to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton have turned a watered-down East into a free-for-all. The New York Knicks could benefit most, with the additions of Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele boosting a bench that struggled under Tom Thibodeau. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns are still liabilities on defense, but Mike Brown's roster is more balanced than his predecessor's.

Nikola Jokic's continued brilliance, the addition of Cam Johnson, and an overhauled bench unit anchored by Jonas Valanciunas, Bruce Brown, and Tim Hardaway Jr. have convinced three of our editors to pick the Denver Nuggets. Two others have opted for the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who return the entirety of a 68-win roster. There's also a sneaky pick for the Houston Rockets.

Eight of the last 12 champs have come from the West, and during that span, only one title-winner finished worse than third in its conference. We expect that trend to continue, and the Thunder and Nuggets are unsurprisingly the favorites to outclass whoever triumphs in a threadbare East. The Knicks winning it all could trigger an apocalypse, assuming an end-of-days scenario isn't already underway.

Despite the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks winning the last two draft lotteries with just 1.8% and 3% chances, respectively, the prospect of landing the likes of AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, and Darryn Peterson will continue to motivate rebuilding franchises like the Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz to consider tanking. The one outlier here is a pick for the Washington Wizards, who should be both undeniably bad and immensely fun to watch.

Cooper Flagg is both the bookmakers' favorite and our in-house pick to win Rookie of the Year, especially with an opportunity to flex his ball-handling and playmaking chops during Kyrie Irving's extended absence. Tre Johnson, who slid to the Wizards at No. 6 in the 2025 draft, could emerge as Washington's primary scorer following Jordan Poole's trade to New Orleans and the expected deadline departures of CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton.

A first-time winner will take home the honor for top coach this season, according to our editors. Quin Snyder landed on 60% of our ballots ahead of what's expected to be a strong campaign from the restocked and healthy Atlanta Hawks. Ime Udoka, who finished third in voting last year, and Jamahl Mosley, who was runner-up to Mark Daigneault in 2023-24, are also considered among the league's best bench bosses due for recognition.

Behind every great team and coaching staff is an executive who's well-versed in both pencil pushing and Xs and Os. Executive of the Year typically recognizes the backroom business operator who has made the biggest improvement, and recent roster additions for the Orlando Magic, San Antonio Spurs, Hawks, and Knicks shaped our selections. Executives from the league's 30 teams vote on the award. Boring stuff.

Amen Thompson was already among the top picks for this honor prior to VanVleet's injury, and his odds have only improved following a standout sophomore campaign in which the Rockets forward earned a spot on the All-Defensive first team. Andrew Nembhard's expected to assume a larger backcourt role amid Haliburton's absence. He was instrumental in the Indiana Pacers' run to the Finals, shooting 46.5% from deep in the playoffs.

Victor Wembanyama was the consensus favorite to win the Spurs' fifth-ever Defensive Player of the Year distinction in 2024-25 before San Antonio shut the wiry Frenchman down on Feb. 20 due to a blood clot in his right shoulder. Despite appearing in only 46 games (19 short of the required 65 games for awards consideration), Wembanyama still recorded a league-leading 176 blocks, which was 28 more than the next closest player. This is an easy pick.

Some bookmakers have tabbed Celtics guard Payton Pritchard to become the first repeat winner since Lou Williams in 2018-19. But this overlooks a recent trend in how the award is being evaluated, with voters increasingly favoring players contributing to team success over sheer scoring acumen. Each of the last five Sixth Man of the Year honorees came from clubs that recorded 52-plus wins, which may be a tall task for the shorthanded Celtics.

Will Jokic become one of six to win four or more MVP awards, or will newly slim Luka Doncic collect his first? Voter fatigue has seemingly been an issue in the past for Jokic, who suffered decisive defeats in 2022-23 and last season despite posting historic numbers. Could the reverse favor him this year? None of this takes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander into account. The reigning MVP remains on an upward trajectory on a team that should challenge for the best record.

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