Author: rb809rb

The 2025-26 fantasy basketball season is in the books for most managers, and it’s time to hand out some hardware. From Nikola Jokić delivering another triple-double campaign to Kon Knueppel‘s record-breaking rookie year in Charlotte, this season provided no shortage of standout performances. Here are the winners of our 2025-26 fantasy basketball awards, including MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Waiver Wire Add, and Most Improved Player.

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Fantasy MVP

Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

There are plenty of great options for this award. Still, Jokić is my pick because he averaged a triple-double for the second straight season. While his scoring was down a bit, he still averaged 27.9 points to go along with 12.9 rebounds and 10.9 assists per game. Even though he doesn’t block a lot of shots for a center, he provided 1.4 steals and 1.8 3-pointers a night.

For the first time in his career, Jokić will play fewer than 69 games. However, he enters the final week with 62 games played, so he likely won’t miss that mark by much. It likely took a top-two pick to secure Jokić in your league, and he yet again proved to be well worth it.

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Defensive Player of the Year

Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Wembanyama could have easily been named the Fantasy MVP. At the very least, he is the Defensive Player of the Year. He rejected 3.1 blocks a night, despite averaging a modest 29 minutes a game. He also averaged 1.0 steals, so if he can hold that over the final week of the season, it will be his third straight season in which he averaged at least 3.0 blocks and 1.0 steal.

How dominant was Wembanyama in terms of blocks? No other player has even averaged 2.0 blocks a game, let alone approached Wembanyama in that department. Chet Holmgren, Evan Mobley and Jay Huff are the players immediately behind Wembanyama with their averages of 1.8 blocks per game. He can almost single-handedly win the category for fantasy managers.

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Rookie of the Year

Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets

Cooper Flagg entered the season as the overwhelming favorite to be the best rookie in fantasy. He certainly hasn’t disappointed, averaging 21.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 3-pointers. While he dealt with some injuries, he enters Monday having played 66 games.

As good as Flagg has been, I think Knueppel edged him out for this award. Not only is Knueppel averaging 18.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.4 3-pointers, but he has been extremely efficient. He has shot 48.1% from the field, 86.2% from the charity stripe and 43.0% from 3. In terms of his historical perspective, Knueppel made the most 3-pointers in a season for the Hornets in their history. He also set an NBA record for most 3-pointers made by a rookie. Another key stat is that he has already appeared in 78 games. The 12 more games played than Flagg is significant. The level of value has also been enjoyed by fantasy managers. Knueppel is No. 1 on the list of players who appear most often on the top-500 Yahoo Public League teams at 28.2%.

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Players on the most top 500 Yahoo Public League teams

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Waiver Wire Add of the Year

Ryan Rollins, Milwaukee Bucks

Rollins was not expected to play much for the Bucks, but he was thrown into the fire early after Kevin Porter Jr. was injured in the first game of the season. Porter would end up being sidelined for more than a month and appeared in just 38 games for the season as he dealt with other ailments down the stretch. Giannis Antetokounmpo has also appeared in only 36 games.

With minutes and shot attempts up for grabs, Rollins became a stellar waiver wire add for managers who took a chance on him. He has appeared in 73 games, averaging 17.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 3-pointers. His points came in efficient fashion, with him shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.9% from behind the arc. Not only was he a great fantasy asset, but he has likely played himself into being one of the building blocks for the Bucks heading into next season.

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Most Improved Player of the Year

Keyonte George, Utah Jazz

The Jazz selected George with the 16th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft with the hopes that he could be their point guard of the future. He flashed promise during his first two seasons, but it looked like a lack of efficiency was going to keep him from reaching his full potential. He shot 39.1% from the field over his first two seasons, and it looked like Isaiah Collier could push him to be the team’s point guard of the future towards the end of last season.

George has taken his game to another level this season, shooting 45.6% from the field. That helped him average 23.6 points and 2.5 3-pointers to go along with 3.7 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.1 steals. The only negative was that he played just 54 games because of injuries and the Jazz positioning for a top draft pick. The franchise could compete for a playoff spot next season following the acquisition of Jaren Jackson Jr. and the likely addition of another lottery pick. If they finally shed their tanking ways, George could take his fantasy value to an even higher level next season.

The Toronto Raptors (43-35, 6th in Eastern Conference) host the Miami Heat (41-37, 10th in Eastern Conference) on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena.

Both the Raptors and Heat have clinched a spot in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, but their seeding remains uncertain. Both teams have chances to get better playoff positioning, and in the Raptors’ case, locking up a top 6 seed would be massive.

The Raptors have been fighting to hang on down the stretch, but they’ve lost three of their last four, including a 115-101 defeat at the hands of the Boston Celtics on Sunday. As for the Heat, they’re coming off a 152-136 win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday, meaning they’ve won two of their last three but own a 2-3 mark across their last five games.

Here are three key storylines to know heading into today’s matchup.

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1. Massive playoff implications: Even though both teams have already locked up a berth in the playoffs, there’s a lot to be determined in terms of seeding ahead of the final week of the regular season. Ahead of Tuesday’s slate, the Raptors hold a 0.5-game lead over the 76ers for the sixth spot in the standings, and a win here could go a long way for Toronto since the rest of their schedule includes another matchup against the Heat and a meeting with the Knicks.

As for the Heat, they’re 2.0 games behind Toronto, and with back-to-back head-to-head meetings, Miami could cause a massive shockwave in the standings if it wins both games. With the standings in the East so tight and six teams vying for the final two playoff spots to avoid the Play-In Tournament, the stakes are incredibly high before this showdown.

2. Scottie Barnes dishing out the dimes: The Raptors may be without Immanuel Quickley (foot) again for this game, and while the team has a perfectly capable backup point guard in Jamal Shead, it has been Barnes who’s embracing a bigger role in the playmaking department. Barnes has dished out at least six assists in each of his last 10 games, a stretch in which he’s averaging 9.9 dimes but also 3.2 turnovers. Barnes is one of the most versatile forwards in the NBA, so it’s not a surprise to see him stand out in another area of his game. Look for Barnes’ facilitating to be a challenge for the Heat’s defense.

3. Bam Adebayo will have a massive opportunity to shine: The Raptors could be shorthanded in terms of their frontcourt depth since Sandro Mamukelashvili (knee) and Collin Murray-Boyles (quadriceps) are questionable, meaning Jakob Poeltl will be the only true center available for Toronto.

That should mean a flashing green light for Adebayo, who is having a career year. The star big man is averaging 21.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per game in his 11 appearances after he dropped 83 points on the Wizards on March 10, and he’s putting up 24.1 points with 10.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game since the All-Star break. He could be a big problem down low for the Raptors.