Noah Rubin's 2025 Unconventional Fantasy Basketball Awards

This ain't your Uncle's awards list!

With only a few days left in the regular season, everyone is handing out their awards. Giving you their take on the fantasy season. Well, I’ll be doing the same, but with an original twist. There are enough people telling you who their fantasy MVP and fantasy Rookie of the Year are (which I have also done for other platforms), so I’ll be handing out eight superlatives that are a bit more fun than your typical end-of-season awards. Apologies in advance for including three Hawks and a former Hawk. I promise it is only partially my personal bias.

Fan Favorite: Dyson Daniels

Daniels was the favorite late-round target among many fantasy analysts, and he ended up being one of the biggest steals of the season, pun intended. Daniels has had at least one steal in all but three games this season, which most recently happened in December. He has led the league in steals (3.0) and also averaged 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.1 threes per game, all of which are career highs. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be getting him in many leagues next season since it will take a much earlier pick to nab him.

Biggest Headache: Lauri Markkanen

This award should include the entire Jazz team, but Markkanen was the headliner. Of course, the front office won’t care at all if it lands them Cooper Flagg and will happily do it again next season if it gets them a chance at one of the top prospects in 2026. Still, it was beyond frustrating for managers who took him in the third and fourth rounds. From January on, Markkanen never played more than five games in a row, and the one time he did was split up around the All-Star break. When he was on the floor, he was disappointing, as his points, rebounds, and field goal percentage all took massive hits from last season. The lack of clarity around his availability when everyone knew what Utah was doing was really annoying. It’s going to be interesting to see how far Markkanen and other players from tanking teams fall in drafts next season

Get Well Soon Award: Joel Embiid

Sure, it’s easy to just be frustrated with Embiid’s injury-riddled season, but at this point, I just feel bad for him. He had to go to ownership just to get shut down for the season because of how much trouble his knee was giving him. The exact details of the situation aren’t clear, but Embiid is set to have another surgery. Hopefully he’ll be able to play at some point next season and remind us all just how good he can be when healthy.

Heartbreak Award: Jalen Johnson

While his teammate is the current betting favorite to win the Most Improved Player award, Johnson would have had a strong case for it if he didn’t have to have season-ending shoulder surgery. Johnson’s season ended in January after he played just 36 games, but he averaged 18.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.0 blocks, all of which were career bests. Had Johnson been healthy all season, he would’ve been one of the best players in fantasy basketball and potentially had the Hawks above the Play-In Tournament. Hopefully, he can take another step and have a healthy 2025-26 season, so I don’t have to deal with another broken heart.

See, You Should’ve Been Traded Award: Nikola Vucevic

Everyone knew that Vucevic’s early-season success wasn’t sustainable. He wasn’t having a breakout season at 34. Still, Chicago opted to keep him through the deadline, and his production took a dramatic hit after that. Before the trade deadline, Vucevic averaged 19.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while shooting 54.6 percent from the floor. Since then, he has averaged 16.6 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting 49.6 percent. It was a predictable drop-off, though to his credit, it took longer than I expected. Who knows what Chicago could’ve gotten for him at the trade deadline, but the price has clearly dropped if they intend to trade him this summer.

Wait, He Finished How High? Award: John Collins

While he wasn’t one of the top storylines in Utah, Collins quietly had the second-best statistical season of his career, though he played in a career-worst 40 games. That was intentional, of course, but his production on the floor was impressive. Two years removed from a terrible final season in Atlanta that ended with him being traded for Rudy Gay and a second-round pick that was clearly a move to get his contract off the books. Hopefully, Collins will either be traded to a winning situation, or the Jazz will actually make a postseason push next season so JC can play more than 40 games.

I Knew I Was Right About You Award: Onyeka Okongwu

I have long said that Okongwu would be a fantasy stud as soon as he overtook Clint Capela as the starting center. I know I wasn’t alone in that sentiment, but it finally happened this year, though it was probably a season or two later than we hoped. In 38 starts so far this season, Okongwu has averaged 15.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.9 blocks, and 0.9 threes in 31.2 minutes per game. He took the role in late January and hasn’t looked back. He is coming off hitting a career-best four threes against Orlando on Tuesday, and his improvement as a floor spacer will make Atlanta’s offense more dynamic and Okongwu even more valuable heading into drafts next season.

I’m Gonna Have to Overdraft you Next Year Award: Amen Thompson

Thank you Amen Thompson. I drafted you in the later rounds this season, and you gave my teams a major boost. Unfortunately, you played a little too well, and I’m now going to have to take you in the early rounds to get you on my fantasy teams. Even if I do, you still could play so well that it works out for me. I will miss getting you outside the top 100 as I did this season. I’m excited to watch you turn into a true superstar in the playoffs this season and make your first All-Star Game next year. I just hope I can get you before the managers I’m drafting against do. If this is farewell, thank you Amen Thompson.

Noah Rubin - NBC Sports Rotoworld

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Robbin Marx

NBA Fantasy Analyst

Experience: NBC Sports - Rotoworld, HashTag Basketball, Bleav Network