NBA awards predictions for the 2026-2027 season: our picks for MVP, DPOY and more

The 2026-2027 season brings a full slate of award races, and BeBasket is picking winners before tip-off. Victor Wembanyama is our MVP favorite, even though the market behind him is split several ways. AJ Dybantsa is our Rookie of the Year, Wembanyama doubles up as our Defensive Player of the Year pick, and the Coach of the Year race is one we're watching through three sidelines before the ball goes up. Here's who we like across the major awards, and the numbers behind each call.

Wembanyama vs. a divided MVP market

Victor Wembanyama is our MVP pick. He's the betting favorite in multiple season previews, with thekotshow.substack.com writing in September that "Victor Wembanyama is the pick here and the betting favorite at about +200," and covers.com calling him "the favorite entering the season." We're siding with the markets here: his two-way impact makes him the one to beat.

The race won't be unanimous, though. FanDuel's board for the 2026-2027 regular season MVP lists Nikola Jokić at +600, Giannis Antetokounmpo at +1000 and Anthony Edwards at +1600 behind Wembanyama. Yahoo Sports frames it differently, with Luka Dončić at +550, Jayson Tatum at +2000 and Cade Cunningham at +2200, and Cooper Flagg also mentioned among the names in the conversation. No single name is a consensus pick across every outlet, and that gap is worth watching once the games start.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander complicates the picture further. He's won two straight MVPs, the most recent in 2025-2026 on 31.1 points and 6.6 assists a game, making him just the fifth active player to win the award in back-to-back seasons, per ESPN. Sports Illustrated flags voter fatigue as a factor that could work against both Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokić in their bids for another trophy, and we think that dynamic is real.

Dybantsa for Rookie of the Year, Wembanyama repeats as DPOY

Our Rookie of the Year pick is AJ Dybantsa. The Washington Wizards took him with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft out of BYU, and he's already drawing attention on multiple odds boards. One opening line had Cameron Boozer as the favorite at +240, with Darryn Peterson and Dybantsa both at +400 and Darius Acuff Jr. at +450, according to Sports Illustrated's betting desk and BYU Cougars Wire. We like Dybantsa as the No. 1 pick to take the award.

Defensive Player of the Year is a shorter conversation. Wembanyama is our pick to repeat after winning the award unanimously in 2025-2026. He's a heavy favorite again, listed at -350 by BetMGM according to statsniper.com, and at -335 on an earlier odds release from Yahoo Sports. Covers.com's numbers tell the same story: Wembanyama projected at 94%, with Amen Thompson, Anthony Davis and Ausar Thompson all bunched at 4%. A unanimous winner coming off that kind of season doesn't get discounted much, and the gap between Wembanyama and the field reflects that.

Coach of the Year will come down to standings

Coach of the Year is the hardest category to call before the season starts, since it tracks team performance as much as any individual read. We're not picking one name outright, but three coaches are the ones to watch if their teams outperform expectations. Charles Lee enters his second season as head coach of the Charlotte Hornets after already winning Eastern Conference Coach of the Month in January 2026, his first such honor, according to the team. Will Hardy returns to run the Utah Jazz for 2026-2027. And Quin Snyder is back on the sideline for the Atlanta Hawks. If any of these three teams climbs the standings, expect their coach's name in the conversation by spring.

Our Sixth Man and Most Improved Player picks

For Sixth Man of the Year, we like either Ajay Mitchell or Dylan Harper. Harper was the +700 favorite at BetMGM as of September 29, with Mitchell next at +800, according to statsniper.com. Mitchell also shows up in the Most Improved Player conversation, listed at +3000 on one board from Yahoo Sports, which notes he logged 26 minutes a game last season for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Either path works for him — we just like the player.

Most Improved Player is a two-horse race for us: Brandon Miller or Amen Thompson. Miller is the favorite on multiple books, at +1100 on SportsbookReview's October line and +800 at BetMGM. Thompson, of the Houston Rockets, shows up at +750 on one board and +6000 on another from Yahoo Sports, which calls him "a fan and voter favorite." We wouldn't be shocked by either result once the 2026-2027 season plays out.