California Posts NBA Awards predictions: Luka or Wemby? Spurs or Lakers?
After an exciting offseason with a lot of movement, the NBA season opens this week. Giannis Antetokounmpo was traded to the Heat.LeBron James took his talents to the 76ers.
Luka Doncic is now the head of the snake for the Lakers.The Knicks are poised to try to repeat as NBA champions after breaking a 53-year title drought.
Victor Wembanyama hopes to put his 7-foot-4 body in the way. There’s a lot of intrigue.A lot could happen.
But in the meantime, here are our very early NBA awards predictions:Doncic has taken over the Lakers after James left in free agency following an eight-season stint in Los Angeles.Last season, Doncic led the league in scoring (33.5 points) and was third in assists (8.3).
This offseason, he put his fingerprints all over the roster, including urging the Lakers to acquire Walker Kessler at center.Doncic then hosted a minicamp in Slovenia for the first time in his career to build chemistry.
Doncic is all in.He wants to win his first championship.
He wants to carry the 17-time championship Lakers back atop the league.And he feels wronged after finishing fourth in the MVP race last season despite his eye-popping stats.
Here’s to guessing we’re going to see the best out of him yet.Did you see what Mitchell did to the Lakers in the second round of the 2026 playoffs when the Thunder swept LA? Mitchell looked like a star.He averaged 22.5 points.
He met the moment.Rob Pelinka, Lakers general manager and president of basketball operations, brought him up unprompted as the type of player the Lakers need to find in the draft. In his third season expect him to make even more leaps. No one will compete with Wembanyama for this award for the foreseeable future unless he somehow fails to meet the 65-game threshold.
Wembanyama is a beast on defense.He alters shots.
He blocks shots.He can run the floor.
His 7-4 height and 8-foot wingspan leave stars looking like G League players against him. The hype is real, folks.Boozer might be the N...