Above the Break Awards: The 2025-26 Dumb Awards
Why do we even have a Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player, and Sixth Man of the Year?
I’m not opposed to awards, but I am opposed to dumb ones. For instance, handing out an award to the best player seems like a great idea. They’re the best, and the best should get awards, or at least, that’s my understanding of how awards work.
Conversely, giving out an award to a guy who doesn’t even start half of his games seems real stupid. I have nothing against bench players, but let’s be real, if you’re coming off the bench, you’re probably not that good, or else you’d be starting.
Also, what the hell is the Most Improved Player? Nobody knows. Why does no one know? Because it’s a dumb, vague, nebulous, stupid award that exists because the NBA didn’t like that guys coming back from drug problems kept winning Comeback Player of the Year.
Rookie of the Year feels the least stupid, but trust me, it is still silly. Remember when Ben Simmons and Blake Griffin won, and people were upset because, while it was their first NBA season, they had been drafted the year before and missed all of what would have been their rookie season with an injury. Also, remember how some players are 18 when they’re a rookie, and some are 25. Or how people want the rookie of the year to also have the brightest future, or maybe it should go to the guy who had the best season, and are we really giving this thing to Malcolm fucking Brogdon for averaging 10.2 points per game as a 24-year-old?
Why does the NBA have silly awards? I have no idea. But they do, so we have to deal with it. I guess they’re fun thought exercises, but wouldn’t it be a lot better if we just added a fourth All-NBA team and a third All-Defense team? Also, there does not need to be an All-Rookie second team! Anyways, let’s zoom through these dumb awards for the shits and gigs of it all.
Sixth Man of the Year
Keldon Johnson won the award last night. He is not in my top three, but he isn’t an awful choice, even if he wouldn’t be mine. As I alluded to, I don’t think people think too hard about these.
Reed Sheppard
I don’t think this should be much of a debate, but I haven’t actually seen Sheppard on a lot of fake ballots. Among eligible candidates, Sheppard posted the highest VORP thanks to his combination of excellent volume 3-point shooting and defensive playmaking, and it isn’t like 13.5 points, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game off the bench is anything to sneeze at. Now, Sheppard isn’t a great defender, as his steal and block figures would suggest, but he improved throughout the season at the fundamentals, and steals are mighty valuable. However, the carrying trait here is the 3-point shooting, and 7.0 attempts per game on 39.4% shooting off the bench is crazy stuff. Also, and this is just a weird personal preference for me, but I absolutely do not trust sixth men who never start. If you’re truly the sixth man, then you should start at least a few games, and Sheppard registered 21.
Cam Spencer
Did you know that Cam Spencer had the 24th highest offensive BPM in the league this season? I’m guessing you didn’t because why would you be paying attention to a guy coming off the Grizzlies bench? Spencer isn’t a great defensive player, but he had a borderline elite offensive season. In 23.8 minutes per game, he averaged 11.1 points, 5.6 assists, and only 1.3 turnovers per game on 44.9% shooting from three. In fact, Spencer being asked to run so much of the Grizzlies’ offense likely cut into his 3-point volume, as he only averaged 4.5 attempts per game. If Spencer were on a contender, I’d wager that he’d be the strong favorite for this award, but instead he’ll have to settle for second in the Above the Break ballot.
Sandro Mamukelashvili
I’m just gonna say it, what the fuck were the Spurs thinking? They had Mamukelashvili and let Toronto sign him away for two years and $5.3 million. All he did this season was average 11.2 points per game on a true shooting percentage (TS%) of 63.7%. Mamukelashvili would have been a perfect fit next to Victor Wembanyama and is comfortably on one of the best contracts in the league. Instead, the Spurs traded for Kelly Olynyk and his $13.4 million salary to produce 3.2 points per game to fill their stretch four void. Mamukelashvili has a player option for under $3 million for 2026-27, which he will certainly eschew to hit free agency and land a handsome raise. Mitchell Robinson also deserves a shout-out, as he might be the best per-minute reserve in the league, but 1,175 minutes is just a tad too slight.
Most Improved Player
Apparently, the 65-game rule applies to this award, which is dumb, almost as dumb as the award itself. I’m going to ignore that rule because I can. Some say I am drunk with power.
Keyonte George
I did not believe, but in my defense, no reasonable person did either. Keyonte George was coming off a season where he averaged 16.8 points and 5.7 assists on a TS% of 53.9% and an OBPM of -0.2. Throw in bad defense, and you have yourself a third or fourth guard on any team not actively trying to lose. Allegedly, he had a come-to-Will-Hardy exit meeting moment last summer and converted to ethical hoops because he was an absolute menace in 2025-26. He pulled off the rare feat of increasing his usage and efficiency and now looks like a legitimate borderline All-Star, or at least that’s what 23.6 points and 6.1 assists per game on a TS% of 60.9% is telling me. Unfortunately, George didn’t hit 65 games, so he won’t be on any of the real ballots, but fuck that, he was the most improved player.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
If I got a nickel for every person who votes Nickeil Alexander-Walker for MIP, I’d have probably well over two dollars. He boosted his scoring from 9.4 points per game to 20.8 while improving his efficiency. That’s massive, incredible, and it’s probably going to be the reason he wins the award. Now, if you want to pick a nit in his candidacy, that’s basically the only way he improved, and despite a massive spike in usage, his assists per 36 minutes were practically unchanged. Fortunately, he has long been a great defender, so he went from a great role player to an above-average starter.
Neemias Queta
Queta had always been a “good” player on a per-minute basis, but the league is full of guys who post solid metrics in 12 minutes of game action, only to crumble under the weight of 20 full NBA minutes. I always assumed Queta was one of those players, but it turns out you can more than double his minutes, and he’ll keep on keeping on. He went from playing 863 minutes to 1,926 and starting six games to 76, and his TS% stayed an identical 67.4%, while anchoring one of the league’s best defenses. Queta was legitimately awesome and was integral to the Celtics surprising season. I doubt he’ll land many votes, but he has a case to win this silly award.
Rookie of the Year
Kon Knueppel
If you want a more detailed breakdown of my Rookie of the Year thoughts, then click this LINK. Look, I know Knueppel struggled a bit down the stretch, while Flagg surged against lottery teams, but the funny thing about seasonal awards is they’re for the entire season, not the final month. Knueppel just had one of the greatest offensive seasons for a rookie in NBA history. He led the fucking NBA in 3-pointers! As a rookie! If he had played on a worse team, his efficiency would probably be a bit worse than the 63.3% TS% he managed, but his counting stats would be better, and his counting stats– 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists per game– were really freaking good. He should be the runaway Rookie of the Year, and if you don’t vote for him, you’re not actually comparing seasons, you’re doing something else.
Cooper Flagg
In 95% of seasons, Cooper Flagg saunters to the Rookie of the Year. However, as noted in a prior paragraph, Knueppel had a historic season, which makes this not a normal year. The counting stats do favor Flagg, but not by much. He averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game, but his efficiency was miles off. Now, a TS% of 54.8% for a rookie with a 26.9% usage is incredible, but it’s nowhere near as insane as a TS% of 63.3% on a usage of 22.3%. So much of the Flagg-humping has centered around how much heavier a lift he had, but when you look at the numbers, they favor him, but it wasn’t like Knueppel was exclusively a spot-up guy. Now, there’s a very good chance that Flagg is better than Knueppel next season, but predicted 2026-27 production should not be factored into a 2025-26 award.
Dylan Harper
I think most people have VJ Edgecombe locked into third on their Rookie of the Year ballot, which is completely reasonable and fair. Edgecombe was awesome, played a ton of minutes for a playoff team, and looks likely to be a solid starting shooting guard– I’m a bit more trepidatious of his All-Star upside, but it’s definitely there. For as great as Edgecombe was, Dylan Harper was flat-out better when he was on the court. His blend of 2-point efficiency and playmaking was absurd for a rookie. Rookie guards simply do not shoot 56.5% on twos with any regularity, and he paired that with a 2.7:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. In NBA history, only 14 qualified rookie guards have shot over 55% from two in their rookie season. Harper was one of three 19-year-olds and took the third most 2-point attempts. It wouldn’t be out of bounds to say he had a historically efficient season when you factor in age, experience, volume, and position. Unsurprisingly, he got into the paint at will, which bodes very well for his long-term development. Honestly, this is one of the best rookie classes I can remember. If Harper had landed on a team that wasn’t gunning for a championship, he could have easily had counting stats that rivaled Flagg and Knueppel. Instead, he’ll have to settle for making the playoffs and being marooned on a perennial contender.
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