2026 NBA Awards Ballot: All-NBA, All-Defensive, All-Rookie team selections

For the seventh straight year, the NBA asked me if I’d like to be one the media members with an official ballot for year-end awards. I said yes. On Thursday, we broke down MVP, Rookie of the Year and individual honors .

Let’s finish up with the team selections. Quick note: I’m writing this before I receive the link to my actual ballot, which won’t come until after the end of the regular season, when the powers that be make their final tabulations on who qualifies under the league’s 65-game threshold for awards consideration. As such, I might need to make a change or two before I click submit.

For the most part, though, here’s what my picks for the 2025-26 NBA regular season will look like: All-NBA • All Defensive • All-Rookie All-NBA First Team Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder Victor Wembanyama, Spurs Nikola Jokić, Nuggets Luka Dončić, Lakers* Jaylen Brown, Celtics Hey, look: it’s my MVP ballot. That’s tidy. (Again: Luka’s here pending the resolution of his challenge, and Cade would be here if he was eligible.

) Second Team Kawhi Leonard, Clippers Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers Kevin Durant, Rockets Tyrese Maxey, 76ers Chet Holmgren, Thunder I made the case for Leonard among the MVP candidates and in the aforementioned recent episode of The Big Number . I also discussed Durant there, as Ben Rohrbach did in a recent piece on older players having elite seasons . It’s frankly unbelievable that, at age 37, now nearly seven years removed from a ruptured Achilles tendon, has played the second-most minutes in the entire NBA .