NBA Announces 2025/26 All-NBA Teams
The league has officially announced its three All-NBA teams, recognizing the top performers for the 2025/26 season (all Twitter links).
A total of 100 media members voted on the All-NBA teams, with First Team votes counting for five points, Second Team votes counting for three points, and Third Team votes counting for one point.
This year’s All-NBA teams are as follows (each player’s point total is noted in parentheses):
First Team
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder (500 points)- Nikola Jokic, Nuggets (500)
- Victor Wembanyama, Spurs (498)
- Luka Doncic, Lakers (482)
- Cade Cunningham, Pistons (414)
Second Team
- Jaylen Brown, Celtics (384)
- Kawhi Leonard, Clippers (277)
- Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers (276)
- Kevin Durant, Rockets (241)
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks (197)
Third Team
- Tyrese Maxey, Sixers (168)
- Jamal Murray, Nuggets (149)
- Jalen Johnson, Hawks (125)
- Jalen Duren, Pistons (121)
- Chet Holmgren, Thunder (87)
Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic, this season’s Most Valuable Player and runner-up, respectively, were the only unanimous first-teamers, with Wembanyama coming a single vote away — he had one Second Team vote to go along with 99 First Team votes.
Doncic and Cunningham each technically fell short of meeting the 65-game minimum required to be eligible for All-NBA and other major awards, but they appealed that ruling and were deemed award-eligible by the league. Doncic would have met the criteria if he hadn’t missed time due to the birth of a child, while Cunningham fell short after suffering a collapsed lung, so both players were granted “extraordinary circumstances” exceptions.
Notably, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, who played 61 games, also applied for an extraordinary circumstances exception. However, his request was denied, so his name didn’t show up on award ballots even though he likely would’ve been voted onto an All-NBA team if voters could’ve selected him. Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and LeBron James – who had made 21 consecutive All-NBA teams – were among the other superstars who didn’t meet the 65-game criteria.
Outside of the 15 players who made All-NBA teams, another dozen players showed up on at least one ballot, starting with Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, who had 26 voting points (Twitter link).
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (14 points), Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (9), Cavaliers guard James Harden (6), Rockets center Alperen Sengun (6), Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (5), Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5), Heat big man Bam Adebayo (4), and Celtics guard Derrick White (3) all earned multiple votes, while Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, Raptors forward Brandon Ingram, and Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley earned one Third Team vote apiece.
As usual, there are also financial implications worth noting related to the All-NBA teams. First and foremost, Duren will now be eligible to sign a contract with the Pistons that starts at up to 30% of the 2026/27 salary cap as a restricted free agent this summer. That means he could earn up to a projected $287.1MM over five years.
If he hadn’t made All-NBA, Duren’s maximum five-year contract with Detroit would’ve been worth a projected $239.3MM. Either way, the most a rival team can offer him is four years and $177.4MM.
Maxey and Cunningham are on their way to meeting the super-max (ie. Designated Veteran) criteria but would need to earn All-NBA honors again in 2027 to become eligible for maximum-salary extensions worth up to 35% of the cap instead of 30%.
Wembanyama is in a similar boat — despite making the All-NBA First Team and being named Defensive Player of the Year, he would need to achieve one of those feats again in 2027 in order to increase the maximum value of his next contract from 25% to the cap to 30% via the Rose rule. Wembanyama will be eligible to sign a rookie scale extension this offseason and is a lock to do so.
Paolo Banchero and Jalen Williams had Rose rule language in their maximum-salary rookie scale extensions, which were signed last offseason and will go into effect this July. They could’ve increased their respective starting salaries beyond 25% of the cap if they’d made an All-NBA team, but neither player did.
Interestingly, the maximum-salary rookie scale extension that the Thunder negotiated with Holmgren in 2025 did not include a Rose rule escalator, so the projected value of the big man’s contract (five years, $239.3MM) remains unchanged even though he earned a spot on the Third Team. It’ll go into effect this year and will be identical to Williams’ deal.
Finally, Edwards would have become eligible to sign a super-max extension with the Timberwolves during the 2027 offseason if he had been named to an All-NBA team this season. Because he didn’t qualify, he’ll need to make All-NBA next season in order to meet the performance criteria for a Designated Veteran extension.
Nuggets Face Tough Decisions As Roster Becomes More Expensive
Cost-cutting could become the focus of the Nuggets‘ offseason plans, with possibly more than one “starter-level player” being moved in an effort to trim salary, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post.
Denver already has $213.8MM committed to 10 players for next season, which exceeds both the projected luxury tax level and the first apron while being in sight of the $222MM second apron. Durando expects ownership to view the second apron as a hard cap while possibly having designs on escaping the tax.
Jonas Valanciunas, who has a $2MM guarantee on his $10MM salary for next season, is almost certain to be gone, according to Durando. He could be traded to a team willing to accept the $2MM in dead money, but a second-round pick would have to be attached and the Nuggets only have three available. Other options are to waive him and keep the $2MM on next season’s cap sheet or to use the stretch provision over the next three years.
Durando also expects Denver to exercise its $2.41MM option on Jalen Pickett – whose contract is roughly $40K cheaper than the projected cap hit for a veteran’s minimum salary – and to hang on to the 26th pick in the draft, which fills another roster spot for about $3.1MM.
The choices get tougher with restricted free agents Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones, Durando adds. Jones fell just short of starter criteria this season, so his qualifying offer will be $2.65MM rather than $5.9MM. Watson’s is $6.5MM, but his offers in free agency will be far above that number. Durando suggests the Nuggets might want to discourage prospective suitors by expressing their intentions to match any offers for both players, but they’ll need to clear out a significant amount of salary before that becomes realistic.
Trading Christian Braun may be impossible since his five-year extension is just beginning, but Durando suggests there might be takers for Zeke Nnaji, who’s down to two years left on his contract and will make $7.5MM next season. Durando also theorizes that Denver could get involved as a facilitator in a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade as a way to get rid of an unwanted contract.
To move significant money, the Nuggets would have to part with Jamal Murray ($50.1MM next season), Aaron Gordon ($32MM) or Cameron Johnson ($23.1MM). Durando points to Johnson as the easiest to move because he has an expiring contract, but even erasing his entire salary without taking anything back would still leave them several million above the tax line once they fill out the roster.
The only realistic path toward getting out of the tax is to unload Johnson and another valuable player, whether that means sacrificing Watson in free agency or considering a move to send out Murray or Gordon. Regardless of the path, Durando views it as a potential step back for an organization that wants to keep contending for titles while Nikola Jokic is still in his prime.
Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Jazz, Mitchell, Blazers
When he spoke to reporters last week at his end-of-season media session, Nuggets president Josh Kroenke repeatedly referenced “running it back” as a viable offseason path for the club. However, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post writes, going that route that doesn’t necessarily mean Denver would bring back everyone who played a rotation role this season.
“When I say running it back, you’re talking about a lot of different variations of what ‘running it back’ could look like,” Kroenke explained. “Is it gonna be the exact same team? I don’t think there’s ever the exact same team of the 13 to 16 guys in there. But are you talking about the same core group of players? Potentially. And that could mean re-signing and bringing back certain guys as well.”
According to Durando, the “core group” Kroenke is referring to is made up of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon. In other words, there’s a scenario in which the team “runs it back” with that trio while making a meaningful change to its rotation. Several league sources have told The Denver Post they expect the Nuggets to trade one of their starters – perhaps Cameron Johnson or Christian Braun – this summer, especially if the team intends to re-sign Peyton Watson.
As Durando points out, if the Nuggets remain out of luxury tax territory for a second straight year in 2026/27, they’d reset the repeater clock and avoid more punitive tax penalties. However, that won’t be easy, given that the team already projects to operate well into tax territory even without a new deal for Watson on the books.
“If we deem running it back the most competitive thing we can do for the roster, that’s probably what we’re going to be doing,” Kroenke said when asked about paying a significant tax bill. “So I don’t want to put words in my dad (Stan Kroenke)’s mouth by any means, but he has owned the team for a very long time. We’ve run it aggressively as we can at different points in time. I think that the joke is always, we love to pay for talent on the floor. So leaning into that assessment that people have put on us at different points in time, if we deem that’s the most competitive thing for us, then that’s what we’re gonna be doing.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) looks ahead to the difficult decisions facing the Nuggets this summer, considering whether it makes sense for the front office to complete a more significant overhaul of the roster around Jokic or just make smaller changes.
- The Jazz upgraded their front line in February by acquiring Jaren Jackson Jr. to complement Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t take another frontcourt player with the No. 2 pick in the draft. As Sarah Todd of The Deseret News writes, Utah fully intends to take a “best player available” approach to that selection rather than drafting for need. “As they say, ‘Need is a bad evaluator,'” president of basketball operations Austin Ainge said. “Because everyone is going to react to the NBA in different ways. It’s unpredictable.”
- Second-year Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell continues to thrive in an increased role this spring, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, who awarded Mitchell a grade of A-plus for his performance in Monday’s series-clinching Game 4 win. Having replaced injured star Jalen Williams in the starting five, Mitchell averaged 22.5 points and 6.0 assists per game in the second round vs. the Lakers. He’s one of the league’s best bargains, with a $2.85MM salary for 2026/27 and a $2.85MM team option for ’27/28.
- In a pair of subscriber-only stories for The Oregonian, Bill Oram argues that Portland’s city council would be making a mistake not to take the threat of relocation more seriously as the Trail Blazers seek public funding for arena renovations. “I think (Portland’s city councilors) think if they vote no they are sticking it to the new ownership group,” one source close to the negotiations told Oram. “But what I don’t think they realize is that if they vote no it gives the new ownership group a window to move the team.”
Nuggets Notes: Jokic, Gordon, Watson, Adelman, More
Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic is the only untouchable player on the Nuggets‘ roster entering the offseason, according to team president Josh Kroenke (story via Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette).
As Benedetto observes, with Jokic off the table, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon will be monitored closely as potential trade candidates. Kroenke discussed Gordon’s status specifically during Friday’s end-of-season press conference.
“I love Aaron Gordon. I know that I think the world of him, just like the entire Nuggets nation does, but there are some things that we’re going to have to look at,” Kroenke said. “This team looks a lot different when Aaron Gordon is healthy. I think everybody can acknowledge that. We need a healthy Aaron Gordon, so we need to figure out how to make the most of him and get the most out of his body for the benefit of the team, that’s for sure.”
The Nuggets theoretically could bring back most of the same roster that won 54 games but was eliminated from the first round of the playoffs in 2025/26. That would almost certainly push the team over the second tax apron, Benedetto notes, but Kroenke said multiple times that it was an option that would be explored.
“Everything is on the table. … if we deem running it back the most competitive thing that we can do for the roster, that’s probably what we’re going to be doing,” Kroenke said. “The smartest teams can figure out how to stay competitive while having to make some of those cutthroat moves at different points in time.”
Here’s more from Friday’s press conference, which also featured top front office executives Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace as well as head coach David Adelman:
- The reason Denver could be deep into the tax if the team decides to run it back is because restricted free agent Peyton Watson is expected to command a significant payday this summer. Tenzer and Wallace stopped short of saying the Nuggets would match any offer sheet for Watson, tweets Benedetto, though they said they “hope” the 23-year-old stays in Denver long term.
- Kroenke said he has “full faith” in Adelman and credited the Nuggets’ coaching staff and front office for helping the team have a good deal of regular season success amid multiple injuries to key players in ’25/26, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “While we’re very proud that we won 54 games, I’m most proud of that stretch (in January), the way that the coaching staff was without Nikola,” Kroenke said. “I think when Nikola is on your roster, you should be winning 50 games probably. So that’s a great accomplishment in most NBA circles, but for us, I think that’s where we expect to be. And we expect to be even higher. I thought that if this group was healthy, that this could be a 60-, 65-win team.”
- For his part, Adelman said the Nuggets could use more ball-handling and athleticism after those two facets of the game were exposed as weaknesses during the past two playoff runs, per Benedetto (Twitter link).
Nuggets Rumors: Adelman, Gordon, Watson, Johnson, Murray, Braun
The Nuggets were left stunned by their first-round loss to the Wolves, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Against a stout Minnesota defense, almost the entire rotation — including stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray — underperformed relative to the regular season, when Denver won 54 games and entered the playoffs having won 12 straight contests.
Although there’s been some speculation about head coach David Adelman potentially being on the hot seat after the early exit, Durando hears the “immediate sense” within the Nuggets is he’ll be back at the helm in 2026/27. Both Jokic and Murray offered support for Adelman after the team was eliminated on Thursday, Durando notes.
“It’s not his fault we couldn’t rebound,” Jokic said. “It’s not his fault we couldn’t catch the ball very well. There is nothing to blame David Adelman. It’s all us.”
Here are a few more notes and rumors related to the Nuggets, whose expensive payroll could lead to roster changes this summer:
- The Nuggets value Aaron Gordon and recognize how vital he has been to the team’s success over the years, but a series of hamstring and calf strains have limited his availability over the past two seasons, and those injuries have people wondering if he’ll be able to make it through another deep playoff run going forward, according to Durando. While Gordon has been off-limits in trade talks during previous transaction windows, league sources tell Durando that won’t be the case this summer.
- As Durando writes, the future of the core in Denver (outside of Jokic) seems very much up in the air following another early playoff ouster. Durando confirms the Nuggets want to re-sign restricted free agent Peyton Watson, who missed the series due to a hamstring strain. But that would push the team over the second tax apron, and ownership was considered unlikely to foot that bill even before the disappointing postseason run.
- In part because he’s entering the final year of his contract, which pays him $23MM in 2026/27, Cameron Johnson has long been viewed as the most likely starter to be traded this summer to clear out money for Watson, league sources tell Durando. Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette has heard similarly, pointing out that Christian Braun‘s five-year, $125MM rookie scale extension and the $106.4MM Gordon is owed over the next three years may make them more difficult to move.
- Both Durando and Benedetto wonder if Murray could be a trade candidate this offseason. He’s coming off the best regular season of his career and will likely make his first All-NBA team, but he has struggled against elite defenders the past two postseasons. Jokic expressed confidence in the duo’s ability on Thursday, Durando notes. “I mean, I think we are still good,” Jokic said. “I think we created the looks. Sometimes you need to make it. I think a miss doesn’t make you a bad player, and misses don’t make you a bad decision-maker. It’s a miss-or-make league. So we couldn’t make any shots. … I’m confident in my and Jamal’s two-man game.”
- Braun refused to use injuries as an excuse for the first-round loss, Durando adds. “Obviously I have confidence in us getting back and (winning a title) because we have done it. … This team is so good that every time you lose early is a disappointment,” Braun said. “So we’ve gotta be better. I know we can do it with this group. Whatever happens (this offseason), happens. We’ve gotta find a way to get better. You can’t blame anything. You can’t blame injuries. You can’t blame health. They had injuries, too, and they kicked our (butt).”
Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Edwards, Dosunmu, Thunder
After a somewhat shocking first-round exit, the Nuggets need to figure out what comes next. Part of that will revolve around finding way to generate offense outside of Nikola Jokic, Bennett Durando writes for the Denver Post.
While the three-time MVP struggled, producing the first series without a 30-point game in his career, Durando notes that Denver’s offseason additions failed to provide any offensive spark to jump-start the team and help get Jokic in rhythm. As a team, the Nuggets shot 32.1% on wide-open threes, and Bruce Brown had nine turnovers to 10 assists for the series.
“I think you have to look at the different formulas of how we played (offensively) this year, what was most successful,” head coach David Adelman said of the offense not translating from the regular season. “And you have to really break it down more so into the types of teams that we struggled with, and what are the answers there to make things flow better for us. And I think that takes time.”
The Nuggets will now have to figure out what comes next, and that includes considering options that might not have been on the table before, such as trading Jamal Murray, coming off the most successful regular season of his career, writes Vinny Benedetto of the Denver Gazette.
We have more from around the Northwest Division:
- Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards is hopeful that he’ll be able to return for the second-round series against the Spurs, after missing Game 7 and being ruled week-to-week due to a hyperextended knee. Edwards has been doing constant rehab work and has told his teammates he expects to return at some point in the series, Jon Krawczynski writes for The Athletic.
- The Timberwolves lost Ayo Dosunmu in their close-out game over the Nuggets, and it’s unclear how soon he’ll be back. “Ayo is more day to day,” coach Chris Finch said, per Andrew Dukowitz (Twitter video link). “He went through things but just the light stuff.” Dosunmu was the hero of Game 4, scoring 43 points to lead the Wolves to a win without Edwards.
- The Thunder have built a culture that includes relationships with previous franchise mainstays, such as Serge Ibaka. Chet Holmgren spoke recently on how important that is. “I think it’s amazing. One, I think it speaks to the culture that those guys, Serge, still coming back around however many years since he left here,” Holmgren said, per Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (video link). “… It was cool to sit down and talk to Serge about some of his experiences in this exact building. It’s been fun.“
Nuggets Notes: Offseason, Watson, Johnson, Valanciunas
With $203MM+ committed to eight players for the 2026/27 season and multiple key contributors, including Peyton Watson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Spencer Jones, and Bruce Brown facing free agency, the Nuggets will have a hard time keeping their current roster intact let alone upgrading it, as Jason Quick and Sam Amick write for The Athletic.
Examining some of the difficult roster decisions facing Denver this offseason, Quick and Amick wonder if players like Aaron Gordon, Cameron Johnson, and/or Julian Strawther could end up on the trade block. While Christian Braun and Zeke Nnaji are also potential trade candidates, Nnaji has been a negative trade asset essentially since signing a four-year rookie scale extension back in the fall of 2023, and Braun’s own five-year, $125MM rookie scale extension, which will go into effect later this year, will limit his appeal on the trade market, according to The Athletic’s duo.
If the Nuggets stick with their current core, they’ll be leaning heavily on two players entering their age-31 seasons (Nikola Jokic and Gordon) and one who will turn 30 during the ’26/27 season (Jamal Murray). However, EVP of player personnel Jon Wallace tells The Athletic that Denver doesn’t have any concerns about the ages of its top players.
[RELATED: Nikola Jokic: ‘I Still Want To Be A Nugget Forever’]
“We’re mature, but we are not old,” Wallace said. “You look at OKC and the San Antonios and yes, they are here, they have arrived, and they have a lot of good, young talent. But I think we have a good mixture of both maturity and some youth.”
Here’s more on the Nuggets:
- While there are a few teams with cap room expected to be among Watson’s suitors this summer, re-signing the restricted free agent wing is considered the Nuggets’ top offseason priority, sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
- Johnson, who has been traded from Phoenix to Brooklyn to Denver in recent years, acknowledged after Thursday’s season-ending loss that he understands the “business side” of basketball, but added that he hopes to get another chance to make a run with this team next season, per Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette. “For me personally, there’s a lot left to be done with this group, but it’s not always in my hands,” Johnson said.
- Nuggets reserve center Jonas Valanciunas is technically under contract for next season, but his $10MM salary is only partially guaranteed for $2MM, so he’s a strong candidate to be waived. If so, it sounds like a return overseas is very much in play after it didn’t happen a year ago. According to Jonas Lekšas of Krepsinis.net (Twitter link), Zalgiris Kaunas – the EuroLeague’s only current team based in Valanciunas’ home country of Lithuania – is prepared to offer a guaranteed two-year deal that would start at two million Euros (hat tip to Stefan Acevski of Eurohoops). The big man reportedly sought a move to the Greek club Panathinaikos last summer, but the Nuggets were unwilling to negotiate a buyout at that time.
- Within his preview of the Nuggets’ offseason, ESPN’s Bobby Marks suggests the team needs to add a reserve point guard and a reserve big man who can protect the rim. Replacements for Hardaway and Brown will also be necessary if they don’t want to return on team-friendly contracts, Marks notes.
Northwest Notes: Jones, McDaniels, Blazers, Jazz
After he made just 15-of-48 shots (31.3%) during the Nuggets‘ two losses in Minnesota, Nikola Jokic submitted a more characteristic performance in Game 5 on Monday, racking up a triple-double (27 points, 16 assists, 12 rebounds) while knocking down 9-of-15 field goal attempts.
Perhaps even more importantly, Denver’s supporting cast stepped up in a major way. Jamal Murray scored 24 points, Cameron Johnson had 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, and – in his second career playoff start – Spencer Jones added 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with three blocks and three steals.
As Jason Quick of The Athletic and Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required) detail, Jones began the season on a two-way contract but showed as early as the preseason that he deserved a longer look after playing sparingly as a rookie in 2024/25. Jones ended up starting 37 games and averaging 22.1 minutes per night, and he has emerged as a crucial part of Denver’s lineup in these playoffs with Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson sidelined.
As good as Jones was offensively on Monday, head coach David Adelman wanted to talk after the game about the forward’s defense. Adelman first considered a rotation role for Jones last fall based on the way he guarded Brandon Ingram in a preseason game, and his defensive effort was on display again in Game 5 as he took on the Julius Randle assignment.
“He just competes, man,” Adelman said of Jones, who will be a restricted free agent this offseason. “Randle’s an All-Star. Randle’s a load. And nobody in this room would want to be near Randle in their lives. And (Jones) just stands there and takes the hits.
“I thought he was really good outside of one time (at) not fouling him, either, where he made him take tough contested shots. A couple times, (Randle) got to his right shoulder and he laid the ball in with his left hand. But that’s why he gets paid a ton of money, because he’s a really special player. But the stuff early, he pushed him out. That’s the thing with Randle. If you concede space, just go home. I think Spence did a good job of competing for the spot.”
Here are a few more items of interest from around the Northwest:
- Since calling out Denver’s defense after the Timberwolves‘ Game 2 win, Jaden McDaniels has embraced the villain role and was willing to add more fuel to the fire following Minnesota’s loss on Monday, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “I love this environment, everyone hating me, all the hate’s coming toward me,” McDaniels said of being booed by the Denver faithful. “I love it. I don’t care. I feed into it. It just brings the best out of me. We just ended up losing today, but we’re going to win the next one.”
- As Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report notes (via Twitter), the Trail Blazers‘ two-way players have made the trip to San Antonio for Game 5 on Tuesday. Players on two-way contracts aren’t eligible to play in the postseason, but Portland was the only team not to bring its two-way players on the road during the first two games of a first-round series, with new owner Tom Dundon looking to reduce spending.
- After finishing either 29th or 30th in defensive rating in each of the past three seasons, the Jazz expect former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. to help on that end of the court in 2025/26. Still, they know they’ll need to do more this offseason to fix one of the league’s worst defenses, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. “Defense is going to be a team-wide goal for us this summer,” president of basketball operations Austin Ainge said. “Every guy’s been told that we’re making a big leap next year defensively. No discussion. It’s going to happen.” Head coach Will Hardy singled out Ace Bailey and Keyonte George as two players he wants to see more from on defense.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Named Clutch Player Of Year
Thunder guard and reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has added another accolade to his collection, having earned the league’s Clutch Player of the Year Award, according to the NBA league office (Twitter link).
Gilgeous-Alexander scored a league-leading 175 points on 51.5% shooting from the field in 125.1 clutch minutes played this season. He also led the league with 52 made field goals in the clutch. He played 52.3 fewer minutes in clutch situations than Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who ranked second in the NBA with 166 total points.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA with 16 go-ahead field goals in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime this season, including a game-winning step-back three-pointer versus Denver on March 9. The Thunder posted a 124.5 offensive rating and 23.8 net rating during clutch time, both second-best in the NBA. Oklahoma City went 24-10 in clutch games this season.
Per the NBA’s “clutch” tracking data, Gilgeous-Alexander’s average of 6.5 points in the clutch is the best in the NBA among those who played more than one clutch game, according to The Athletic’s Joel Lorenzi.
Murray and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards were the other finalists, but Gilgeous-Alexander was the runaway winner, gaining 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes from a media panel. Murray narrowly beat out Edwards for second place — while the Wolves star showed up on more total ballots, Murray held the edge in second-place votes and was the runner-up by a single voting point (117 to 116).
A total of 10 players received votes. The full results can be found here.
This is the fourth season that the league has given out a Clutch Player of the Year award. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson won it last season and finished fifth in this year’s vote.
Wolves/Nuggets Notes: McDaniels, Gobert, Edwards, THJ
The Nuggets and Timberwolves are meeting in the playoffs for the third time in the past four years and the two Northwest clubs have developed one of the NBA’s best rivalries during that time. After Minnesota evened up their first-round series on Monday by stealing Game 2 in Denver, Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels added more fuel to that fire when he was asked about his team’s offensive game plan.
“Go at (Nikola) Jokic, Jamal (Murray), all the bad defenders,” McDaniels said (Twitter video link via Chris Hine of The Star Tribune). “Tim Hardaway, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, their whole team.”
Asked to clarify whether he was referring to all of those players as bad defenders, McDaniels doubled down.
“Yeah, they’re all bad defenders,” he responded.
The Nuggets had the league’s best offensive rating during the regular season but ranked just 21st in defensive rating, behind sub-.500 teams like Dallas and Golden State. After holding the Wolves to 105 points in Game 1, Denver surrendered 119 in Monday’s loss. We’ll see if McDaniels’ bulletin-board material provides the Nuggets with a spark for Game 3 back in Minnesota.
Here’s more on the two division rivals and their best-of-seven series:
- Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, wasn’t thrilled about not being a finalist for the award this year. Gobert, who finished fourth in DPOY voting, used the perceived snub as motivation in Game 2, holding Jokic to 1-of-8 shooting while he was guarding him, per Anthony Slater of ESPN. After the game, Gobert suggested with his tongue in cheek that he got “lucky” since only a “top-three defender” could’ve slowed down the Nuggets star like that. “Not the first time I’ve gotten disrespected,” Gobert added. “Probably not the last. If you want to disrespect greatness, take it for granted, whatever, soon they’ll realize the impact.”
- The 40 minutes that Anthony Edwards played in Game 2 represented his highest single-game total in over three months, but he grimaced and grabbed at his sore right knee a few times in the second half of the game, Slater notes. Still, Edwards downplayed the issue after the win and suggested he didn’t score his 30 points very efficiently. “I missed 15 shots tonight, two free throws,” he said after going 10-of-25 from the floor. “I’ll be better.”
- Jason Quick of The Athletic profiles Hardaway, who signed with the Nuggets on a one-year, minimum-salary contract and has been an invaluable jack-of-all-trades as the team dealt with a series of injuries to starters and other rotation players throughout the season. Nuggets executive VP of player personnel Jon Wallace referred to the veteran swingman as having “immense value for us,” and head coach David Adelman agreed. “Beyond what I expected,” Adelman said of Hardaway. “He is one of the main, main reasons why we survived this season. The guy won us games. Flat out. Just really, really impactful.”