2026 CSL Season Awards - LEAGUE VOTED

[emplep7]

Thanks to everyone for participating! We had every single GM vote this year for the first time in a few years so again to everyone for getting these out!

*Note: 5 points given to a 1st place vote, 3 points given to a 2nd place vote, and 1 point given to a 3rd place vote. First place votes are in parentheses.

Additionally, only those selections who received a First Place vote (OR) at least 10 total points are displayed below.

MVP

Winner: Ben Simmons, MIA - 97 pts (15)
Runner Up: Jayson Tatum, DEN - 59 pts (7)
3rd place: Terry Rozier, SAS - 21 pts (2)


Others receiving first place votes or at least 10 total points: Isaiah Taylor, PHX - 19 (1), Anthony Davis, ATL - 15 (2), Donovan Mitchell, UTA - 8 (1)

Notes: Myles won't be pleased, but Simmons did it again and this time by a hefty margin. Its starting to become silly for the rest of the league to try and compete, but once that Mavs team turns its up I expect this to be a battle between Simmons and Luka. Surprisingly, Malik Monk didn't get a single first place vote and not even enough to crack 10 total points. This also only had 28 GMs vote and one GM skipped this question.

DPoY

Winner: DeAndre Ayton, BRK - 52 pts (6)
Runner Up: Justice Winslow, HOU - 44 pts (6)
3rd place: Kaiser Gates, DET - 28 pts (4)

Others receiving first place votes or at least 10 total points: Otto Porter, ATL - 27 pts (4) , Elfrid Payton, CLE - 27 pts (1), Lonzo Ball, PHI - 26 (2), Rui Hachimura, LAC - 16 (1), Marcus Smart, POR - 12 (1), Tryggvi Hlinasin, BOS - 7 (1), Daniel Gafford, MIL - 5 (1)

Notes: A new big man has taken this throne from AD as DeAndre Ayton cemented himself as a defensive wizard this season. I won't say anything about Winslow getting more votes than Gates, but both players are relatively similar. OP, Payton, and Lonzo round out the top end of this award as all top defenders at their positions. And for those wondering, Dennis and Manu did not vote for their own players there...

Rookie of the Year

Winner: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, BRK - 129 pts (24)
Runner Up: Ky Bowman, LAL - 56 pts (3)
3rd place: Bruno Fernando, MEM - 38 pts (0)

Others receiving first place votes or at least 10 total points: RJ Barrett, OKC - 15 (1), Mattise Thybulle, SAC - 14 (1)

Notes: This award is typically very one-sided and this year is no different. SGA was the top pick for a reason and proved his worth from year one. Bowman is one of the best offensive players in the league already and Fernando is already a top 5 big man IMO. A very solid rookie class indeed, but the separation from the top is apparent.

Most Improved Player

Winner: DeAndre Ayton, BRK - 47 pts (6)
Runner Up: Jake Layman, GSW - 39 pts (5)
3rd place: Moritz Wagner, PHI - 32 pts (5)

Others receiving first place votes or at least 10 total points: Terry Rozier, SAS - 25 (3), Laurynis Birtutis, CHI - 22 (1), Cam Johnson, MIN - 16 (1), Isaiah Hartenstein, DAL - 16 (1), Robert Williams, DET - 13 (2), Jalen Brunson, POR - 13 (1), Dennis Smith Jr, MIA - 11 (2), Jaren Jackson Jr, NY - 10 (1), Donovan Mitchell, UTA - 7 (1)

Notes: This was a very even contest, but the big man takes home award number two here with his improved season that was ALMOST enough to put the Nets in the playoffs. Layman came out to play this season and it showed and Wagner did enough to play himself into a MAX contract offer from Day 1.

6th Man of the Year

Winner: Dennis Smith Jr, MIA - 81 pts (12)
Runner Up: Michael Young, ATL - 77 pts (10)
3rd place: DJ Wilson, UTA - 51 pts (3)

Others receiving first place votes or at least 10 total points: Clint Capela, CHI - 15 (1), Ivica Zubac, NOP - 9 (1), Kevin Love, CLE - 6 (1), Dion Waiters, DET - 6 (1),

Notes: Miami always finds a way to have one of their top contributors come off the bench and they did it again this year with DSJ. It was a battle at the top between him and the young big man Michael Young, who had an equally impressive year off the bench while DJ Wilson continues to shine no matter where he's playing.

GM of the Year

Winner: Ocons - 46 pts (5)
Runner Up: Flaming Homer - 41 pts (7)
3rd place: cb4raptorscb4 - 33 pts (3)

Others receiving first place votes or at least 10 total points: Silogical - 23 (4), GreenBear - 18 (1), emplep7 - 17 (2), drumr - 16 (2), Marcos_Beck - 12 (2), Dylan - 11 (1), KW - 10 (2),

Notes: Who would have thought that Kevin would take the crown, but he did have a hell of a year putting that team together. He turned Donovan Mitchell into a future MVP candidate when other GMs couldn't and has that team setup for the forseeable future. Andre went for it this season with two major moves for established vets and it almost paid off, and Ryan...well we all know what Ryan did. If these votes happened at this point I'm assuming Ryan would have been higher.

Coach of the Year

Winner: Silogical - 48 pts (8)
Runner Up: GreenBear- 44 pts (4)
3rd place: cb4raptorscb4 - 32 pts (6)

Others receiving first place votes or at least 10 total points: drumr - 26 (3), Flaming Homer - 16 (1), bt - 16 (0), emplep7 - 16 (0), Ocons - 15 (3), mgtr81 - 8 (1), wms02a - 6 (1), Marcos_Beck - 6 (1), KW - 5 (1).

Notes: The eventual champ wins out for coach of the year over two great coaches in Doug and Ryan. Josh rounded out the top 4 who set themselves apart from the rest for turning a team many had doubted early in the year into a playoff team.

Congrats to all of the winners, especially Ocons for taking the GM of the Year Award and Silogical for taking the Coach of the Year Award!

Thanks again to everyone for voting!

[hardenwithnod]

Congrats to all the winners!

[Marcos_Beck]

Congrats to all the winners!

I’m happy to see Kevin win GMOTY, well deserved after all the moves he did and it paid off, the Jazz are in a very good spot for the future!

[KW]

Good lord, 29ppg on 70 TS% doesn't even get you a single first place vote for MVP. Simmons deserved to win but sheeeeeesh

Congrats to all the winners!

[wms02a]

Congrats!

[hardenwithnod]

If the post season was included, then Ryan from the warriors would have won GMOY.

[Ramcus]

Something's up when the MIP/DPOY isn't in the playoffs. Also, shout-out to that one random dude who gave Ivica Zubac a 1st place vote for 6MOTY.

I would've voted for cb4 if the voting happened now, that was an amazing playoffs with one heartbreaking finals.

[GreenBear]

I never thought I'd see Kevin win GMotY lol, but it's certainly deserved. I had Andre winning it because of his moves for AD and Porter, but I know I know I had Kevin in my top 3.

Disappointing that Shaq got zero love in the DPoY race. He shouldn't have won it (that correctly went to Ayton with Winslow a close 2nd), but he's apparently an underrated defender.

On the other hand, I'm a bit surprised Taylor finished as high as he did in the MVP race. He was very good in the regular season, but I didn't really unleash him until the playoffs. So I'm assuming most of his votes came from the later voters.

Congrats to all the winners!

[GreenBear]

Good lord, 29ppg on 70 TS% doesn't even get you a single first place vote for MVP. Simmons deserved to win but sheeeeeesh

Congrats to all the winners!

He should've been on the podium, but it was his missed games that hurt him for me and why I put him 3rd. It was a tight race between the 3, and that was my deciding factor. I get why he was rested, and I applaud the strategy, but it does have an effect on the post-season awards for some voters.

That being said, shame for everyone that voted for Rozier!

[emplep7]

Yeah, I was surprised by the lack of support for Monk. I expected a handful of 1st place votes and a good chunk of 2nd/3rd place votes depending on where GMs placed Simmons and Tatum. That type of efficiency alone should have put him well ahead of Rozier in GMs minds.

[Myles]

Congrats to all the winners

[andrei]

Congrats dudes

[Myles]

Heat record in games that Ben Simmons missed (8 games): 7-1, average point differential of 15 points per game, which is three points per game better than their season-long numbers. The Heat were also +5 when Simmons was off the court for the season.

Nugget record in games that Jayson Tatum missed (6 games): 0-6, average point differential of -13.5, which is 14 points worse than our season-long numbers. We scored 90 points per game in games that Tatum missed, 15 points fewer per game than our regular season numbers. The Nuggets were -7.9 when Tatum was off the court for the season.

The Heat without Ben Simmons (+5 point differential) were similar to the following teams: Atlanta (6.4 point differential, 57 wins), Sacramento (4.5 point differential, 55 wins), Utah (3.4 point differential, 47 wins), and Golden State (3.3 point differential, 50 wins). No team with at least a +2 point differential had fewer than 45 wins.

The Nuggets without Jayson Tatum (-7.9 point differential) were similar to the following teams: Toronto (-6.6 point differential, 30 wins), Oklahoma City (-7.4, 24 wins), and Dallas (-8.7, 22 wins). No team with a lower than -3 point differential won more than 33 games.

Is Ben Simmons the more complete and probably better player? Yes. Most Valuable Player though? Not a chance. The Heat are a title contender without Ben Simmons. The Nuggets are a bottom 5 team in the league without Tatum.

Clown Show League is right

[Flaming Homer]

Congrats to Kevin and Silo.

Regarding Monk. He had an amazing offense season no question, but with Simmons, Smart and Tatum there are 3 player I think were more valuable to their team this season.
Simmons was it clear cut for me, after that it is close.

[Andrewu91]

Surprised to see JJJ not getting any love or even Zion

[Jestor]

Congrats to winners.

[Stockton12]

congrats to the winners ..bowman getting second place

[Ocons]

Lol, for real? Get the fuck out of here! I'm genuinely shocked and humbled. Thanks for the love guys. I get myself active for a full season and it paid off I suppose.

I'm really excited for what this team will do in a full season.

Thanks again. Congrats to all the winners!

[emplep7]

Lol, for real? Get the fuck out of here! I'm genuinely shocked and humbled. Thanks for the love guys. I get myself active for a full season and it paid off I suppose.

I'm really excited for what this team will do in a full season.

Thanks again. Congrats to all the winners!

Commish privilege...

[Silogical]

Heat record in games that Ben Simmons missed (8 games): 7-1, average point differential of 15 points per game, which is three points per game better than their season-long numbers. The Heat were also +5 when Simmons was off the court for the season.

5 of those games were against non playoff teams
2 were against playoff teams that rested their entire squad, I only rested simmons.
1 was against a playoff team that didnt rest their entire squad and that was the game we lost.

This year simmons only missed the last 8 games due to rest

last year simmons got injured so we played normal random opponents and we won 20% of our games without simmons. Kuzma and DSJ are way better players this year compared to last so we are probably a 60% winrate team without simmons. it is way harder to go from 60% to 80% than from 30% to 60%.


So in conclusion Ben Simmons is the GOAT.