Victor Wembanyama

The Victor Wembanyama MVP train will be full steam ahead in 2025-2026. Wembanyama showed major growth in the first half of his second season before being sidelined for health issues. The 7’3 Frenchman increased his true shooting percentage and nearly doubled his offensive box plus-minus, all while decreasing his turnover percentage. Wembanyama also looked evermore comfortable on an NBA floor and continued to dominate the paint on the defensive end.

Comfortability may be Wemby’s biggest reason for a possible MVP jump in 2025-2026. Yet another year in the Spurs system, this time fully under coach Mitch Johnson, will give Victor the keys to the castle, this time surrounded by even more guard weapons in the forms of De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper. 

Wembanyama is more than capable of running away with the DPOY trophy well before March, and small growths in offensive efficiency could simultaneously catapult Wembanyama into a 30 PPG scorer. More specifically, Wembanyama took 14% more threes last year while shooting 2.5% better on those attempts. If the Spurs fully click, a 29+ PPG double-double machine who is also the league’s best defender on a playoff team sounds like a real compelling case for the league’s most prestigious individual award.

Onyeka Okongwu

Since Okongwu was drafted in 2020, he has consistently grown his minutes and points until eventually becoming the Hawks’ primary starting big. Even while posting a career low in True Shooting % last year, Okongwu replicated his quality 2022-2023 season as he put up more than 7 win shares and a career best in VORP on career-high usages. Last year, Okongwu continued to thrive on defense and did a fantastic job of taking over for former Hawks center Clint Capela on both ends of the floor. A career high in assists and assist percentage while keeping a low turnover percentage shows even more depth in Okongwu’s game. 

The main thesis for Okongwu is his increased role that will come in the form of a full season as a Hawks starter. Also, Okongwu has shown serious strides in comfortability and game flow since his early years in the league. “I feel overall I’ve always had the tools, but since I became a starter, it’s just putting it all together,” said Okongwu during the Hawks’ exit interviews. The eye test speaks volumes to this too. Okongwu thrived in the 2025 second half, mostly due to his increased defensive feel that made him a serious defensive paint threat who is more than capable of defending the short-roll, plus being mobile enough to hedge wings and bigs at multiple levels. Okongwu, who averaged nearly 2 STOCKS per game last year, looks to continue to flesh out his defensive game in a growing Hawks system that also boasts Defensive Player of the Year finalist and Steals Champion Dyson Daniels. 

With Clint Capela out the door, Okongwu’s usage will once again skyrocket, opening the door for the former USC Trojan to have a breakthrough season. The Hawks did some very intriguing retooling over the offseason, drafting Asa Newell and picking up Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Luke Kennard. Pair those newcomers with Jalen Johnson, who had another fantastic year of growth, and Trae Young, who continues to improve his playmaking game to an all-world level, and Okongwu will no doubt benefit from his teammates’ successes while building plenty of his own.

Jamal Murray

Murray has been the ultimate beneficiary of the meteoric rise of Nikola Jokic. Yet, because of this, many of his offensive successes have gone unnoticed by many NBA constituents. Murray has boasted some of the best non-All-Star seasons in recent history and has consistently been a wonderful playmaker and scorer on a Western Conference contender. Murray had no problems with efficiency in 2024-2025, shooting 39.3% from deep in 67 games for the Nuggets, but the Canadian’s passing numbers didn’t quite pop like in 2023-2024. This can likely be chalked up to the loss of go-to running mate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and a regression year from former Nuggets wing Michael Porter Jr. Comparing 2023 and 2024, Murray had very similar potential assists (10.8 vs 10.1), yet the lack of completion from teammates caused his OWS, AST %, and OBPM all to fall from the year prior. 

Jamal Murray is a tough shot taker and a tough shot maker; yet his playmaking has made serious strides and nearly fully rounded out his offensive game. Murray consistently nears the 50/40/90 club while being one of the very best at running the pick-and-roll offense that he and Nikola Jokic have become known around the league for. I would be remiss to not mention Murray’s lackluster defense, but this year he looks to be surrounded by high-motor young guys who can play defense behind him. Assuming David Adelman continues the Nuggets’ patented pick-and-roll offense with Murray and Jokic/Gordon, a lethal corner shooter like Cam Johnson, who shot nearly 44% from corner threes last season, will do wonders for Murray’s playmaking numbers. 

Jamal Murray has all the tools to be a high-end point guard. If the Nuggets are humming in January, be ready for Murray to get his flowers. 

Jamaree Bouyea

Jamaree Bouyea is a tough sell to make; that is, until you watch him play. Bouyea spent five years at the University of San Francisco, leading them to a tournament appearance in 2022 and nearly singlehandedly defeating the Murray St. Racers. Despite being ranked as the 43rd overall prospect according to NBADraft.net, Bouyea went undrafted and has since bounced around the league. Yes, Bouyea is 26 years old and generously listed at 6’2″, but what he lacks in commonly used NBA intangibles he makes up for in IQ and shot-making ability. Last year in the G-League, Bouyea was an offensive torch, shooting 37% from three and averaging 19.5 points. Before posting an impressive summer league that included a game-winning triple, Bouyea posted an offensive rating of 118.8 and a defensive rating of 109.1 while doubling his assist-to-turnover rate in four games with the Bucks G-League squad. 

Bouyea can shoot the lights out and has shown playmaking flashes and a high defensive motor. For a Bucks squad that is lacking guard depth and a league that has become evermore open to older and smaller guards that can score at will, I can see Bouyea find his footing in this league. His game is a bit reminiscent of Fred VanVleet and Jalen Brunson, where he can score at all three levels as an undersized guard in the modern NBA. As of August, Bouyea is listed as Milwaukee’s PG5; let’s see where that sits come March.

From Professional Sports to College Athletics, The J has it all