ESPN votes Alex Caruso to win surprising NBA award in 2025-26 season

Considering where we're at in the NBA calendar, it's the perfect time to prepare for the 2025-26 regular season. The offseason is mostly over as teams are a little over a month away from the start of training camps.

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to enjoy their NBA championship. As they run it back with mostly the same roster, they're the popular title favorite. Hard to blame folks, either. They had one of the greatest years ever with a 68-14 regular-season record and a Larry O'Brien trophy.

To get ready for the upcoming season, ESPN recently published its NBA Summer Forecast. A panel of NBA experts, including reporters, editors and analysts, voted on topical subjects, such as who will win the annual awards. One is about Sixth Man of the Year.

Surprisingly enough, ESPN voters went with Alex Caruso as the popular answer for the 2025-26 Sixth Man of the Year award winner. He had 66 voting points for first place. For context, Naz Reid was runner-up with 52 voting points.

This is a little surprising, as Caruso isn't your traditional Sixth Man of the Year candidate. The Thunder load-managed the 31-year-old last season to keep him fresh for the playoffs. He only played in 54 games and averaged just 7.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

Those numbers don't scream a Sixth Man of the Year. Usually, the trophy goes to the player who puts up loud scoring numbers with decent volume. That doesn't really describe what Caruso does and would go against most trends.

"This honor traditionally goes to a player who provides instant offense off the bench. It has been three decades since the Sixth Man of the Year averaged single digits in points, which has happened only three times in the history of the award," ESPN's Tim MacMahon wrote. "Caruso's impact in his first season in Oklahoma City, particularly during the playoffs, is indisputable. But he averaged only 7.1 points per game during the regular season."

The Thunder should have a candidate for most of the major awards next season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should contend for another MVP award. But picturing Caruso as a Sixth Man of the Year winner is tough to see, considering how he was managed in his first year in OKC.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: ESPN votes Alex Caruso to win surprising NBA award in 2025-26 season