My Way WAY Too Early Award Predictions for the 2026-27 NBA Season

The Spurs are finally done with the developmental, ‘let’s see what we have’ phase of their rebuild. The roster is finally set to help their generational French alien with elite playmaking and spacing. San Antonio is poised to make a massive vault directly into the upper tier of a highly competitive Western Conference. Wemby puts together a regular-season campaign so undeniable that voters have no choice but to hand a 22-year-old the highest individual honor in the sport. Not only because of his monster stats, but I also think Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle will help the Spurs get the number one seed and get 65+ wins. Even if SGA has another incredible year, voter fatigue is bound to get him. That’s what happened to Jokic, after all.

In my opinion, Darryn Peterson should have gone number one overall. Utah gets the ultimate steal at number two. I have no concerns about his injuries at all. At worst, he’ll be a Derrick Rose-tier player. With Walker Kessler traded to the Lakers, the Jazz are fully leaning into their fast-paced, high-IQ youth movement, and Will Hardy has quietly built one of the most balanced, offensively imposing rosters in the Western Conference around Peterson. Peterson completely takes the league by storm. Boasting a highly polished perimeter game that earns him immediate Anthony Edwards comparisons, Peterson steps in as the Jazz’s primary engine. He commands the offense with a veteran’s poise and claims the Rookie of the Year trophy by a comfortable margin over a stacked rookie class featuring AJ Dybantsa and Cam Boozer.

Must I really explain this one? Wemby is going to win four straight Defensive Player Of The Year awards from now because he is just like that. He just anchors the paint so well. If you're a guard under 6 foot 6, you're not trying to shoot over Wemby. At all. What’s more to say?

With the team’s depth chart shifting after a busy offseason, Ajay Mitchell completely locks down the role of the ultimate secondary sparkplug. Leading the bench unit with absolute poise, Mitchell provides a lethal combination of efficient perimeter shooting and high-IQ playmaking. Another perk is that he’s on a small contract and can help prevent the Second Apron from snatching players from teams. It already took Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins. He completely torches opposing second units, consistently closing out tight games in the fourth quarter and giving his squad a massive luxury at the backup point guard spot.

Now that the front office has FINALLY embraced the youth movement by moving off the old guard, Matas Buzelis has the ultimate green light to show why he was considered a blue-chip talent. After a sophomore year spent flashing his unique, versatile tools in limited bursts, year three is a complete breakout party. Buzelis adds some necessary muscle to his frame over the summer without losing a single bit of his fluid perimeter creation. Operating as a hyper-versatile forward alongside Caleb Wilson and Josh Giddey, he transforms into a mismatch nightmare, locking down the perimeter defensively and knocking down catch-and-shoot looks at a premium clip. His massive jump in scoring and efficiency makes him the landslide choice for Most Improved.

Even with the roster looking completely different after massive re-tooling over the years, one thing in the NBA hasn’t changed: nobody terrifies an opposing arena in the final two minutes like Stephen Curry. With secondary playmakers and elite defenders now taking the physical burden off him during the first three quarters, a fully energized Curry turns clutch time into absolute theater. The Warriors consistently find themselves in tight battles down the stretch of games (we all know why), and Steph responds by dialing up his legendary isolation scoring. Whether it’s a cold-blooded stepback over a switching big or moving without the ball to drill a signature game-winning triple, he delivers the most efficient, cold-blooded fourth-quarter execution in the league to run away with his second Clutch trophy.

Despite the media screaming about the massive health risks of an older rotation with a thin bench, Darko Rajaković pulls off an absolute coaching masterclass. And yes, I know that I am counting against Toronto, but that’s because I’m counting against Kawhi Leonard, not the team. Instead of running his starting unit into the ground, Rajaković completely modernizes the team’s halfcourt execution by using Scottie Barnes as a highly dynamic point-forward hub. He coaxes elite defensive effort from aging veterans and turns their lack of depth into a strength by implementing a highly disciplined, mistake-free system. Steering Toronto completely clear of the fumbled play-in and directly into home-court advantage territory in the East, Darko earns the hardware for keeping a high-risk roster perfectly balanced.