Victor Wembanyama joined former winners Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic as a finalist for this season’s Most Valuable Player award, the league announced Sunday night.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, is averaging 31.1 points and 6.6 assists on 55 percent shooting while Wembanyama is averaging 25 points and 11.5 rebounds on 29.2 minutes per game. Jokic, already a three-time winner, is the first player to lead the NBA in assists and rebounds. He averaged a triple-double while scoring 27.7 points per game.
Gilgeous-Alexander is also a finalist for the Clutch Player of the Year, along with Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards and Denver’s Jamal Murray.
Edwards is a finalist even though he fell short of the league’s 65-game minimum in most cases for award eligibility. The Timberwolves guard wasn’t on the ballot for MVP, All-NBA and other honors, but was on the Clutch ballot because those nominees were selected by the league’s coaches.
Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham also fell short of the 65-game minimum but were both on the ballot for all awards after appealing to the league under the “extraordinary circumstances” clause. While neither cracked the top three in voting for MVP, they are in line for All-NBA honors.
Wembanyama, who leads the NBA in blocked shots per game for the third straight season, is also a finalist — and the favorite — to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. The other finalists are Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Detroit’s Ausar Thompson, who leads the league in steals.
Thompson’s teammate Jalen Duren is a finalist for Most Improved Player, as Duren’s scoring jumped to 19.5 points from 11.8 last season. Atlanta’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker is also a finalist, as he doubled his scoring from last season (9.5 to 20.8). Portland’s Deni Avdija is the third finalist after making the All-Star team for the first time while averaging 24.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists.
The rookie of the year finalists are Dallas’ Cooper Flagg, Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel and Philadelphia’s V.J. Edgecombe.
Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson and Boston’s Joe Mazzulla are the finalists for coach of the year.
The award winners will be announced starting this week before the evening’s games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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