We’ve entered the long December, which means it’s time to celebrate excellence in fantasy basketball during the month of November and give out a handful of awards. In fact, since the season started in late October, we’ll count those games as part of November too. The players will be evaluated based on their overall performance in category fantasy leagues.
Fantasy Basketball Awards November 2025
Most Valuable Player – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Stats: 21 GP, 33.4 MIN, 19.7 FGA, 0.545 FG%, 2.1 3PTM, 10.1 FTA, 0.887 FT%, 32.5 PTS, 4.8 REB, 6.6 AST, 1.5 STL, 0.7 BLK, 1.8 TO
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander picks up where he left off as the top fantasy player. What’s even more impressive is that he’s doing it whilst playing the fewest minutes since his rookie season with the Clippers. But, to be fair, the gap to the second-best player, Nikola Jokic, is minimal, and Gilgeous-Alexander only beat him out by playing two more games. In December, it could be anyone’s game. Out of these two guys, at least.
All-Fantasy First Team
PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder)
SG: Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers)
SF: Mikal Bridges (New York Knicks)
PF: Scottie Barnes (Toronto Raptors)
C: Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets)
Rookie of the Month – Kon Knueppel (Charlotte Hornets)
Stats: 20 GP, 33.4 MIN, 13.5 FGA, 0.47 FG%, 3.5 3PTM, 2.5 FTA, 0.898 FT%, 18.4 PTS, 5.7 REB, 3 AST, 0.8 STL, 0.2 BLK, 2.3 TO
Young Kon Knueppel is already drawing comparisons to John Havlicek. For those unaware, Havlicek is a Boston Celtics legend from when the NBA had nine teams in total. High praise indeed. In any case, Knueppel ranked as the 37th best player overall, while the second-best rookie, teammate Ryan Kalkbrenner, ranked 47th.
All-Fantasy All-Rookie First Team
PG: Cooper Flagg (Dallas Mavericks)
SG: Cedric Coward (Memphis Grizzlies)
SF: Kon Knueppel (Charlotte Hornets)
PF: Derik Queen (New Orleans Pelicans)
C: Ryan Kalkbrenner (Charlotte Hornets)
Sophomore of the Month – Kel’el Ware (Miami Heat)
Stats: 20 GP, 25 MIN, 9.1 FGA, 0.536 FG%, 1 3PTM, 2 FTA, 0.805 FT%, 12.3 PTS, 10.7 REB, 0.6 AST, 1 STL, 1.4 BLK, 1 TO
Kel’el Ware has taken another step toward becoming an elite player. How elite? He’s ranked as a top 20 player for the year in 9-category fantasy leagues. There is a lack of points per game, which keeps him under the radar a little bit, but all the other big man stats are there – rebounds, blocks, fg%, and a lack of turnovers if you care about that.
All-Fantasy All-Sophomore First Team
PG: Reed Sheppard (Houston Rockets)
SG: Ajay Mitchell (Oklahoma City Thunder)
SF: Jaylon Tyson (Cleveland Cavaliers)
PF: Alex Sarr (Washington Wizards)
C: Kel’el Ware (Miami Heat)
Most Improved Player – Mikal Bridges (New York Knicks)
Stats (2024-25): 68 GP, 36.3 MIN, 14.2 FGA, 0.487 FG%, 1.8 3PTM, 1.4 FTA, 0.823 FT%, 16.8 PTS, 3.2 REB, 3.8 AST, 0.8 STL, 0.5 BLK, 1.6 TO
Stats (November): 19 GP, 35.1 MIN, 11.9 FGA, 0.527 FG%, 2.2 3PTM, 1.7 FTA, 0.788 FT%, 16.1 PTS, 4.5 REB, 4.4 AST, 2.1 STL, 1.3 BLK, 1.1 TO
Mikal Bridges is getting it done for the Knicks after having a largely disappointing 2024-25. What is surprising is that nearly all of the improvement is coming on the defensive end. He is top-5 in the league in steals and second in blocks among guards. Perhaps the way it works is that he’s taking fewer shots on offense, which increases his shooting percentage and leaves him more energy for defense. Could that be how it works?
Most Declined Player – Brook Lopez (Los Angeles Clippers)
Stats (2024-25): 68 GP, 31.9 MIN, 9.7 FGA, 0.509 FG%, 1.8 3PTM, 1.9 FTA, 0.828 FT%, 13.2 PTS, 5.1 REB, 1.9 AST, 0.7 STL, 2 BLK, 1.1 TO
Stats (November): 17 GP, 14.5 MIN, 5.5 FGA, 0.404 FG%, 1.4 3PTM, 0.6 FTA, 0.727 FT%, 6.3 PTS, 1.9 REB, 0.5 AST, 0.3 STL, 0.8 BLK, 0.8 TO
It is not going well for the Clippers – on or off the court. Maybe signing all the old guys isn’t the best strategy for team-building. In any case, Brook Lopez has seemingly fallen out of the rotation and hasn’t stepped onto the NBA floor in about two weeks. Could this be it for old Brook?
Best Single-Category Player – Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) – FG%
Stats: 19 GP, 34.8 MIN, 16.4 FGA, 0.637 FG%
Jokic gets the prize for his field goal shooting impact, but it could just as well be for rebounding or assisting, in both of which he leads the league. The win, perhaps, is helped by Victor Wembanyama missing games and Dyson Daniels not getting 3+ steals per game anymore.
Performance of the Month – Austin Reaves (Los Angeles Lakers) – 2025-10-26 @ SAC
Stats: 39 MIN, 22 FGA, 0.545 FG%, 6 3PTM, 22 FTA, 0.955 FT%, 51 PTS, 11 REB, 9 AST, 2 STL, 0 BLK, 2 TO
Out of all the 50-point games so far, this Austin Reaves gets the win, but it could have just as well been the performances by Nikola Jokic, Tyrese Maxey, or Aaron Gordon. I was so wrong about Austin Reaves before the season – I only expected him to be the second-best Lakers player. Now, that is a joke, but it is surprisingly close between Reaves and Luka Doncic.
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