American media awards: Alexander MVP Amen defends a team James Curry Harden is the best three

As the 2024-2025 NBA regular season draws to a close, HoopsHype, a well-known American media, invited NBA experts to conduct year-end voting on the major awards and announced their results.

As is likely to happen in the actual voting process, the Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards are the most competitive, and the Sixth Man of the Year award has several convincing candidates who are evenly matched in the voting. Here are the results of HoopsHype's selection –

Most Valuable Player: Alexander

While we may share the general view that three-time MVP Jokic is still the best player in the world, the MVP award is given to the player who stood out in the regular season. For the 2024-2025 season, this person is none other than Oklahoma City Thunder star Alexander.

Alexander leads the league scoring list with 32.7 points per game this season, while averaging 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 51.9 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from three-point range and 89.8 percent from the free throw line. The former University of Kentucky standout also leads the league in free-throw shooting per night at 7.9. The high-end stats also speak highly of Alexander's performance this season, as he ranks first in Wins Per 48 Minutes Contribution (WS/48) and second in Positive and Negative (BPM) and Player Substitution Value (VORP).

Of course, naysayers may point out that Jokic is still impressive in the 2024-2025 season, finishing No. 1 in BPM and VORP, No. 2 in WS/48, and is on track to become the third player in league history to average a triple-double per game in a single season. The Serbian superstar averaged 29.8 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game, along with 1.8 steals, while shooting 57.5 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three-point range. Statistically, this is probably the greatest season performance outside of Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Even so, all things considered—team record, defensive performance, Alexander alone supporting the team's offense, and appearances (Alexander also played more games than Jokic)—the 2024-25 MVP should be awarded to Alexander.

Rookie of the Year: Castle

With Banyama out for the season with blood clots and the San Antonio Spurs struggling season, rookie Castle's strong rise as a key player for the Spurs late in the season was enough for our voters to name him Rookie of the Year for the 2024-2025 season.

Historically, when there was no obvious favorite for Rookie of the Year, voters would typically choose the rookie with the most outstanding data. This has provided strong support for Castle, who is averaging 14.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game this season.

Castle's stellar performance at the end of the season — the 20-year-old has averaged 19.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field in 23 games since Feb. 27 — will also impress voters, and we're confident that the Spurs' first-year player will lift the Rookie of the Year trophy this season.

No. 1 rookie Risachet also had a good rookie season, but it wasn't enough for him to win against Castle.

Defensive Player of the Year: Mobley

While Draymond Green did everything in his power to win another Defensive Player of the Year award, voters considered performances throughout the season and ultimately selected Cavaliers big man Mobley as Defensive Player of the Year for the 2024-25 season.

Mobley is averaging 0.9 steals and 1.6 blocks per game this season, and his Cavaliers defense ranks eighth in the league in points conceded per 100 possessions (111.9 points). Mobley's mobility at the No. 4 position, his ability to make steals and rim protectors with his reach, and his instinctive reflexes on the defensive end make him one of the most influential defensive players in basketball.

In addition to Green, the Hawks' Daniels and the Thunder's Dort also got some votes.

Most improved player: Dyson Daniels

The Most Improved Player award is often one of the most controversial of the NBA's annual awards, mainly because it is difficult to define a player's criteria for improvement. After all, it wasn't that long ago that two former top picks, Brandon Ingram and Ja Morant, won the Most Improved Player award despite their early career performances.

Daniels of the Eagles was selected by HoopsHype as the Most Improved Player of the Year.

Daniels was traded to the Hawks by the Pelicans, who have ranked second-to-last in the league in defense this season and are riddled with injuries. With the Hawks, Daniels had an outstanding season, averaging 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game to 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, and leading the league with 3.0 steals per game. Daniels' three-point shooting percentage has also improved from a career 31.2 percent to 34.6 percent in 2024-25.

Cunningham and Jerome also had some support from voters, but Daniels deserved it.

Sixth Man of the Year: Payton Pritchard

The Sixth Man of the Year award has always been given to the best substitute player on the team of the season for the best performance. Our voters selected Celtics guard Payton Pritchard as Sixth Man of the Year for the 2024-25 season.

Pritchard is averaging a career-high 13.9 points, plus 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game this season while shooting 40.6 percent from three-point range. His team, the Celtics, is second in the East.

The Pistons' Malik Beasley also made the competition for the award fierce, having had a stellar season off the bench with the Pistons, shooting 41.2 percent from three-point range and averaging 16.2 points per game. But in the end, our voters chose Pritchard.

Key Player of the Year: Nikola Jokic

For some reason, the key player title is often considered to belong to outside players, but Jokic's stats in crunch time this season are enough to dwarf those so-called key players.

According to the NBA's official website, Jokic has scored 47.4 points per 100 possessions while shooting 55.2 percent from the field (42.9 percent from three-point range), along with 16.5 rebounds and 11.6 assists in key moments this season.

Coach of the Year: Kenny Atkinson

In the Coach of the Year award, the top candidates deserve their name. The Pistons' Bickerstaff and the Cavaliers' Kenny Atkinson, two new head coaches, are very deserving of the accolade.

The HoopsHype vote was very close, with Atkinson leading Bickerstaff by just six points. Ultimately, the fact that the Cavaliers had the second-best record in the league in the regular season this season, and that they were nowhere near as good in the 2023-2024 season (ironically, under Bickerstaff) was enough to tip our voters toward Atkinson.

NBA Team of the Year

Best Formation: Alexander, Edwards, Tatum, Antetokounmpo, Jokic

Best Second Team: Brunson, Mitchell, Cunningham, Mobley, Downs

Best three teams: Haliburton, Curry, Harden, James, Shin Jing

Obviously, in today's NBA, age is just a number. Our top three team includes a number of veterans who are still going strong, including LeBron James (40), Stephen Curry (37) and James Harden (35).

It's worth noting that if James does make the All-NBA team this season, he will be selected to the All-NBA team as many times as Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain combined.

If our vote comes true, it will also be the first time that top picks Cade Cunningham, Mobley and Alperen Shinkyung have been named to the All-Star team.

Best Rookie Team

Rookie of the Year First Team: Castle, Wells, Reisachet, Missy, Zach Edie

Rookie of the Year Second Team: Kneckett, Bouzelis, Val, Sarr, Klingen

In the selection of the All-Rookie Team, the big man dominates. The likes of Yves Missey, Zach Edie, Matas Bouzelis, Caleb Weil, Alex Sarr and Donovan Klingen have had a great rookie season and we think they all deserve the Rookie of the Year award. Of the 10 selections, six are occupied by centers or power forwards.

Defensive Team of the Year

Best Defensive Team: Dort, Dyson Daniels, Amen Thompson, Draymond Green, Mobley

Best Defensive Second Team: Jalen Williams, Kamara, Antetokounmpo, Jaren Jackson Jr., Zubac

Our selection of the All-Defensive Team includes some of the best defensive players in the NBA today. Among them, the new faces are Amen Thompson, Jalen Williams and Toumani Kamara. In particular, 22-year-old Amen Thompson, who has excellent athleticism and competitive spirit, is expected to be the future Defensive Player of the Year.