Jack Maloney Shares His 2026 WNBA Awards Ballot Picks

The 2026 WNBA playoffs got underway with a series of blowouts on Sunday, and the first two awards were announced Monday when Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was named Coach of the Year for the fifth time, extending her league record, and her point guard, Olivia Miles , was named the unanimous Rookie of the Year.

The league has not announced an awards schedule this year, so it's unclear when the other major honors, including MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and the All-WNBA teams will be announced.

I was once again honored to be selected as an official awards voter by the league, and as we wait to see which other players will earn some hardware for their efforst this season, I wanted to share my full ballot and my explanations in the spirit of transparency.

MVP: A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

Full MVP ballot:

- A'ja Wilson , Las Vegas Aces - Olivia Miles, Minnesota Lynx - Caitlin Clark , Indiana Fever - Kelsey Mitchell , Indiana Fever - Breanna Stewart , New York Liberty

I went in-depth on my MVP ballot in a separate article, which you can read here:

2026 WNBA MVP ballot: Why A'ja Wilson deserves record fifth trophy over Olivia Miles, Caitlin Clark Jack Maloney

Rookie of the Year: Olivia Miles, Minnesota Lynx

Miles won this award unanimously and I have a big feature on her historic campaign, so I'm not going to spend too much time explaining this one. She averaged 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, six assists and 1.3 steals on 49.2/38.8/87 shooting splits, led all rookies in scoring and assists, and finished eighth and seventh, respectively, in those categories.

Was Olivia Miles a better rookie than Caitlin Clark? Comparing the WNBA's two best rookie guard seasons ever Jack Maloney

Defensive Player of the Year: Angel Reese, Atlanta Dream

Defensive Player of the Year required far more deliberation than MVP or ROY. There were a number of candidates with strong cases, including Wilson, who was co-DPOY last season and led the league in blocks for the fifth consecutive season. Ultimately, I went with Reese.

You can pick at her lack of rim protection (0.8 per game, 24th in the league), but her versatility, rebounding and impact on one of the league's best defensive teams was impossible to ignore. The Dream finished third in the league in defensive rating (103.5) in large part thanks to Reese.

Reese was third in steals per game (1.8), seventh in stocks (steals plus blocks) per game (2.5), fourth in defensive rebounds per game (7.3) and first in defensive win shares (3.4). The Dream's defense was also 13 points per 100 possessions worse with Reese off the floor, and opponents' true shooting percentage was 6.4% worse with Reese on the floor.

Sixth Player of the Year: Janelle Salaün, Golden State Valkyries

This was another easy one, and it would not be surprising if Salaün wins unanimously. She led all bench players in scoring at 12.7 points per game, while shooting 39.2% from 3-point range, and was a huge part of the Valkyries ' success this season, as they won nine more games than last season and finished in second place with a 32-12 record.

Most Improved Player: Carla Leite, Portland Fire

Most Improved Player is always one of the most challenging awards, and there were once again a series of worthy candidates, including Dallas Wings forward Jessica Shepard and Washington Mystics forward Shakira Austin , both of whom had stellar seasons. I went with Portland Fire guard Carla Leite .

Leite, selected by the Fire from the Valkyries in the expansion draft, did enjoy a bigger role in Portland, where she was handed the keys to Alex Sarama's offense. But she didn't put up bigger numbers just because she played more minutes. She made tremendous strides as a shooter and a playmaker who could command an offense, and had one of the best high-volume pick-and-roll seasons in WNBA history.

On a per 100 possessions basis -- to create a more equitable comparison among other contenders for this award who had changes in playing time -- Leite averaged 8.9 more points and six more assists than she did last season, while raising her true shooting an astounding 10 percentage points. She had the biggest gain in all three categories between herself, Austin and Shepard.

Coach of the Year: Sydney Johnson, Washington Mystics

The league announced Monday that Cheryl Reeve had won Coach of the Year for a record fifth time after leading the Lynx to the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive season. She received 40 votes, compared to 20 for Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase and 14 for Mystics coach Sydney Johnson.

Johnson was my selection.

After a 16-win 2025, the Mystics entered this season with seven rookies and just two players with more than one year of experience. Johnson built one of the best cultures in the league and guided the youngest team in the league to the second-best defense (103.3 defensive rating), the No. 5 seed and the Mystics' first playoff appearance since 2023. At 28-16, the Mystics' 12-win improvement was the second-most by any team this season.

All-WNBA

First Team

Player Team

Caitlin Clark

Fever

Olivia Miles

Lynx

Kelsey Mitchell

Fever

Breanna Stewart

Liberty

A'ja Wilson

Aces

Again, my MVP ballot doubled as my All-WNBA First Team selections.

Second Team

Player Team

Shakira Austin

Mystics

Paige Bueckers

Wings

Veronica Burton

Valkyries

Angel Reese

Dream

Jackie Young

Aces

As far as All-WNBA Second Team, Paige Bueckers, Jackie Young and Angel Reese were all locks. Bueckers averaged 20.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists on 51.2/41/87.1 shooting splits, while Young was at 18.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists on 48.8/38.3/92.8 shooting splits. Both finished in the top-10 in both scoring and assists, and were real contenders for a spot on the First Team. Reese was my choice for DPOY, led the league in rebounding and was one of two players who averaged a double-double at 16.4 points and 12.1 rebounds.

The last two spots were harder to finalize, which is a testament to the talent in the league right now. Eventually, I went with Veronica Burton and Shakira Austin. Burton's counting stats -- 12.2 points, 5.7 assists, 1.6 steals -- weren't gaudy, but she is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and finished in the top-10 in both assists and steals. She also finished second in the league in win shares (7.5) and was the most impactful player on the No. 2 seed. Austin, a leading contender for both Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year, had the best season of her career and led the Mystics to the playoffs for the first time since 2023 while averaging 17 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.

All-Defensive

First Team

Player Team

Shakira Austin

Mystics

Veronica Burton

Valkyries

Rhyne Howard

Dream

Angel Reese

Dream

A'ja Wilson

Aces

To no surprise, Reese headlined my All-Defensive First Team, and we've already covered how good Burton was defensively. Howard, meanwhile, led the league in steals at 2.3 per game and was another obvious selection. Wilson was a slight level below her usual standards on this side of the ball, but led the league in blocks (1.9) and stocks, a.k.a steals plus blocks, (3.3), and was also first in DVPM (+2.3). Austin was a monster rebounder and rim protector on one of the league's best defensive teams. Entering the final days of the regular season, she was limiting opponents to 49.1% at the rim, which was the best mark in the league.

Second Team

Player Team

Sonia Citron

Mystics

Kayla McBride

Lynx

Breanna Stewart

Liberty

Kiah Stokes

Valkyries

Gabby Williams

Valkyries

Valkyries teammates Williams and Stokes headlined my All-Defensive Second Team. They were key cogs on the league's best defense (99.1 defensive rating) -- Williams' 3.5% steal rate led the league, while Stokes' 8.3% block rate was third -- but neither played enough to make the First Team or be in serious DPOY discussions. Williams played 25.1 minutes per game, while Stokes was at just 22.3. The Liberty did not have a great defense this year, but Stewart was excellent as always. She was ninth in blocks (1.4), seventh in defensive rebounds (6.8) and seventh in defensive win shares (2.6). Both McBride and Citron flew under the radar even though McBride did finish fifth in steals (1.6). They both carried a tremendous burden as the best perimeter defenders on two of the league's best defenses, and the work they did, both on and off the ball to slow opponents' best scorers deserves to be rewarded even if it didn't show up in stats (at least not public ones).

All-Rookie

Player Team

Azzi Fudd

Wings

Flau'jae Johnson

Storm

Olivia Miles

Lynx

Kiki Rice

Tempo

Sydney Taylor

Sky

Finally, we've arrived at All-Rookie, which was arguably the most difficult group to figure out. Miles was obvious, but the last four spots could have gone to more than half a dozen players. It didn't help that Azzi Fudd and Kiki Rice missed significant time due to injury, and Sydney Taylor didn't hit her stride until the middle of the season. All three eventually made my list. Fudd averaged 13.1 points and 1.7 steals, and shot 39.1% from 3 before knee surgery ended her season; Rice put up 13.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists on 47.2/35.1/86.9 shooting splits on either side of her ankle injury; in 26 games as a starter, Taylor averaged 15.4 points, two rebounds and 2.3 assists. The fifth and final spot came down to Johnson and her Storm teammate, Awa Fam . While Johnson's role and usage rate presented her with more opportunities, it was hard to overlook her overall production: 14.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals.

Add CBS Sports on Google Join the Conversation comments

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/news/2026-wnba-awards-full-official-ballot/)._