Jan 25, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) celebrates in the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images Victor Wembanyama seems like a lock to win Defensive Player of the Year and get an All-NBA spot if he is eligible. Is there a chance he could also win MVP if the Spurs stay hot? Marilyn Dubinski: The MVP hype is definitely on the rise for Wemby, but I can’t see him winning both in the same season this early in his career for a few reasons.  One is that voters may fear future voter fatigue will eventually set in, so they don’t want to give him too much, too early.  I also believe many voters have a block against giving players more than one award per season.  (I believe this is the same reason Tim Duncan never won DPOY: voters already had him on their MVP ballot.)  This is not to say Wemby will never win both in one season, but he’d be just the fourth player to ever do it, along with Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, which leads to my final reason why it won’t happen this season. Knowing the media, they’ll want Wemby to prove himself in the playoffs before putting him in that esteemed group (even if they are regular-season awards). Bill Huan: I love Wemby to death, but MVP is out of reach. Shai has locked it up, and rightfully so: he’s been the best player in the league this year (and that’s also coming from a Jokic “glazer”) while also playing on the best team, and the narrative is on his side too after breaking Wilt’s 20-point streak. Wemby’s time will come, maybe as soon as next year, but for now, it’s Shai’s.  Devon Birdsong: As Marilyn has very accurately pointed out, the MVP- DPOY double has only happened thrice in the history of both awards existing. It’s incredibly rare to begin with. Does Wemby have an argument for both? Yeah, I think he does. But so did David Robinson and Tim Duncan, with 1995 and 2002 both serving as perhaps the most glaring examples of seasons deserving that distinction. You can call it media bias, you can call it voter fatigue, you can call it a certain degree of veiled pettiness, but I just don’t see it happening this season (unless the games-played threshold is exceeded by the frontrunners). And in all fairness, both of Dave and Tim’s seasons were better than this season for Wemby. I absolutely see it happening in the future, perhaps even more than once, but I think we’ll all have to satisfy ourselves with the knowledge that Wemby is already good enough on both ends to be having this conversation at all. Besides, with the way things are going, there’s a chance that Wemby could pull off an even rarer feat: becoming only the 2nd player to ever win DPOY and Finals MVP in the same season.  Jeje Gomez: I don’t think it will happen this season, unless he’s the only one out of the contenders to be eligible for the award. A lot of the conversation about the Spurs in the media, even among some apologists, is that their success is impressive, but they’ll need to show how good they are in the playoffs. I feel like they likely feel the same is true for Wembanyama. It’s not the most reasonable of takes, but I can understand the fear of anointing someone the most valuable player in the league only to see them flame out early in the postseason. Plus, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander actually does have a stronger case after putting together an even more efficient scoring season than last, while likely leading the Thunder to the league’s best record despite Jalen Williams’s long absence. Keldon Johnson has a strong case for Sixth Man of the Year, and Stephon Castle should get consideration for an All-Defensive team. Will they get the distinctions? Dubinski: While both are equally deserving, I think Castle stands a better chance at All-Defense than Keldon does at Sixth Man.  I’ve been hyping Keldon’s case all season, but his impact seems to go relatively unnoticed by outsiders, and the odds have consistently had him behind Naz Reed, Jaime Jaquez and even Reed Sheppard at times.  Probably the fact that the Spurs’ second unit is so deep, combined with players like Dylan Harper stealing some spotlight from intrigued viewers, is not helping his case, but the good thing is, like Manu Ginobili before him, he doesn’t care. Huan: I don’t think that there is any chance Keldon actually wins 6MOY, and I’d still bet on Castle getting on an All-Defensive team over Keldon being a finalist for 6th man. Currently, there are 12 names I’d say are fighting for 10 All-Defense spots, while Keldon seems to be behind the likes of Naz Reid, Isaiah Stewart, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and even Reed Sheppard for 6th man. Whether or not that’s fair is a separate discussion, but those are the reasons why I’d bet on Castle over Keldon.  Birdsong: Keldon was arguably the frontrunner for the first two-thirds of the season, but his performances have been more uneven since his shoulder injury, and it’s been noticeable in the games the Spurs lost against the Knicks and Nuggets. The reality is that now more than ever, you really need a narrative to sell for awards, and Keldon’s isn’t the flashiest of sells. He’s not leading the other candidates in scoring and the Spurs are still really good without him, whereas the Heat and Timberwolves are more visibly dependent on Jaquez and Reid.  The sixth-man award has long been a scoring award, which is part of why Manu had so few. Like Manu, Keldon has some advanced stats that show his value, but they’re no longer obscene, so my guess is that it goes to Reid, especially if Minnesota secures a Top 4 seed in the West. Castle, on the other hand, should be a lock for All-Defense. The only question (in my mind) is whether it’s first team or second. My guess is he lands on the second, though it should arguably be the first. Good luck getting two Spurs on the first team, though, since it’s only ever happened once (Duncan and Bowen in ‘07), which feels insane.  Gomez: I think the fact that 10 guys make the All-Defensive Teams while only one player gets 6MOY gives Castle a clear advantage. He definitely deserves a spot, and I’d be shocked if he wasn’t picked, assuming voters have been paying attention, which is not a given considering how some in the media still mispronounce Wembanyama’s name. Since Wemby is going to be in the first team, I feel like Castle is likely going to be on the second team. For Keldon to get some hardware, he would have to go on a tear in this last stretch, and he might have the opportunity with the Spurs resting some players. But I doubt Johnson would force the issue, and he might be getting rested as well at some point. Hopefully, he’ll at least be one of the finalists. Mitch Johnson is leading the Spurs back to the playoffs while surpassing expectations. Can he win Coach of the Year, or do others have better cases? Dubinski: I certainly think he has one of the best cases, but again, from what I’ve seen from the media, it might go to the Celtics’ Joe Mazzula for the job he’s done keeping them near the top of the East after most figured it would be a “gap” year, with Jayson Tatum missing most of the season and Boston having to salary-dump a lot of key players from their 2024 championship team. Is he more deserving than Mitch?  I don’t feel like it since they’re already a proven commodity and still have another MVP-level player in Jaylen Brown and a borderline All-Star in Derrick White, but I would understand the logic if Mazzula won over Mitch.  Huan: I’d firmly place Johnson in the second tier of Coach of the Year candidates, with Joe Mazzulla and JB Bickerstaff fighting for first. Johnson is up against the likes of Charles Lee, Jordan Ott, and Mark Daigneault for that third and final spot, and there are credible arguments for each of them to be nominated. Even with my Spurs bias, I think Mazzulla is the obvious choice given what he’s accomplished with an undermanned Celtics roster this year, so Johnson won’t (and shouldn’t) win. Like Wemby, though, his time will come. Birdsong: I certainly think that he *can*, but I’m not sure it’s likely unless the Spurs go on another prolonged tear. Most of the conversation seems to favor Mazzula in Boston and Jordan Ott in Phoenix. I think all three are deserving, but Ott’s is perhaps the most shocking, and Mazzula’s features the most well-known injury. If Mitch had, for instance, gotten the team to 50+ wins with Victor out most of the season, that probably would have earned him the award, but that’s just the kind of season it is. Consider that Pop only won three, and two of them came in championship seasons. The national media always wants the flashiest story, and that’s almost never the Spurs. My guess is that Ott is going to take it, especially if the Suns manage to get close to 50 wins and avoid the play-in. Gomez: All awards are about narratives, and Johnson has been, fair or not, almost a footnote in what has been Wembanyama’s big comeback season after the deep vein thrombosis. It seems that Mazzula and Ott are getting rewarded for overachieving without a top player, and that doesn’t fit what Johnson has done, which is keep a young group engaged on both ends and playing selflessly despite this being just his first year as a head coach. Bickerstaff, meanwhile, will get consideration if the Pistons finish first, which is not something that the Spurs are likely to replicate in the West. It just doesn’t feel like it will happen for Mitch, unfortunately, but he at least got to coach an All-Star team. ...read more read less