We’re nearing the end of awards season, which means we’ve got the annual selections for the All-NBA teams. As a reminder, these teams are now very young, the top five vote getters get First Team honors, the next five get Second Team and the last five make Third Team. As with many other prestigious NBA awards, All-NBA teams are subject to a minimum of 65 games to be eligible.
With that in mind, here are the 2025-26 All-NBA teams.
NBA First Team
All-NBA Second Team
The NBA’s Third Team
Although the All-NBA has important historical implications, its most practical purpose within the collective bargaining agreement is to determine which players are eligible for maximum contracts through the use of the Derrick Rose rule or the veteran statute. The Derrick Rose rule allows players in the middle to receive 30% of the cap at the start of their next contract rather than the usual 25%, while the designated veteran or “supermax” rule applies the same to players between 7-9 years of experience from 30% to 35% of the cap.
To be eligible for these large contracts, a player must meet one of the following criteria:
- Has been selected All-NBA in two of the last three seasons, or the most recent season.
- He has been selected as the Defensive Player of the Year in two of the last three seasons, or the most recent season.
- Won the MVP award in any of the last three seasons.
So, who does this really affect? Let’s go through some of the notable cases.
There is no contractual effect
We’ll start with the players who are, for now, unaffected:
- Although Victor Wembanyama was selected as both All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year this year, he technically hasn’t earned Rose Rule eligibility yet. To gain eligibility for your rookie extension, you need to do so in either your second or third season, or, alternatively, your fourth season. That means that Wembanyama will probably sign an ext rookie extension that will make him reach 30% if he is indeed selected for the All-NBA next season as we expect. The same principle applies to everyone from the 2023 draft class. No one has earned Rose Rule eligibility, but they could make themselves eligible based on their performance next season.
- No player from the 2024 draft class was an All-NBA selection last year or this year, meaning none could reach eligibility next season. Anyone from that class hoping to achieve Rose Rule eligibility will need to earn it in their fourth season, the 2027-28 campaign.
- Players from the 2021 draft class who signed five-year rookie extensions, like Cunningham and Johnson, are so far from being eligible for All-NBA status in 2026 that he doesn’t care. They will have to come in 2027 and 2028 to ensure eligibility in 2028, or do it in subsequent years to get it later.
- Players with 10 or more years of experience, either currently (like Jokić) or after their current contracts expire (like Mitchell or Dončić) are financially affected by these options. They have already qualified for a 35% cap on their next deals for experience alone.
So those are players whose status is not dependent on their All-NBA status this season. Below are a few that did.
Duren deserves big money … will the Pistons move up?
If a player is eligible for the Rose Rule, they almost always get it. Evan Mobley and Cade Cunningham went two-for-two last season. Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton both got their 30% last year. The chance to have an All-NBA player after his fourth season is usually a strong value proposition, even at 30% of the cap, that teams are eager to pay.
But in all four of those cases, the players in question signed rookie-scale extensions with the Rose Rule language built into it. They were considered high-level players, it was just a matter of how many of them they were getting. That was not the case with Pistons big man Jalen Duren. He did not sign a rookie extension of any kind last season. As his fourth season progressed, it appeared that he would benefit from the wait. At the end of the regular season, he looked like a great player.
Well, we saw what happened in the playoffs. Duren cratered. His parity with Ausar Thompson is now in question. And on top of that, Duren is now an All-NBA player. That means you deserve 30% of the title. We don’t know what Duren will ask for, and we don’t know how far the Pistons are willing to go to re-sign him, but in general, there’s a big gap between that player. it can be he does and what the team is willing to pay him, it becomes difficult to make a deal.
Only the Pistons can give him 30% of the cap. Other teams are limited to 25%, and can only give him four years while Detroit can give five. Otherwise, Detroit can match any offer sheet. If the Pistons want to keep Duren, it is within their power to do so. But this All-NBA selection just added another wrinkle to the complicated upcoming restricted free agency. Duren’s camp will likely position him as a proven All-NBA talent. The Pistons will probably take issue with the fact that he didn’t play at that level when it counted. And if that creates any tension in their relationship, it only increases the chances that someone will come in with an offer sheet or a sign-and-trade offer to try to swipe him.
Anthony Edwards (and Tyrese Haliburton) will have to wait
Obviously, we knew that coming into the season that Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton would not be named to the All-NBA Team. He was recovering from a torn Achilles and would not play. Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards played most of the season, but fell short of the 65-game limit due to an injury last season. Despite their different circumstances, they both stay in the same boat.
Both Edwards and Haliburton were drafted in 2020. Both signed massive rookie extensions in 2023 that became Rose Rule maxes while making All-NBA teams in 2024. Both would technically be eligible for an extension in the third year of their last contract, but it makes sense for both to wait until 2027. Why? Because by making the All-NBA team in 2025, they can guarantee supermax eligibility in 2027 with another All-NBA selection in 2026.
Now, both are still eligible to make the All-NBA next year, but with the 65-game rule in place, all it takes is one injury to throw a wrench in those plans. Indiana should feel relatively confident in its ability to expand Haliburton either way. The Pacers made it to the NBA Finals, and because of Haliburton’s injury history, he may not be handling his contracts well. Edwards is a complicated case. He has never made the playoffs and is on a downward spiral, at least relative to Western Conference giants Oklahoma City and San Antonio. The supermax was Minnesota’s best weapon in keeping him long. Without it, if he starts getting antsy about Minnesota’s title hopes, things start to get ugly.
We’re still three years away from either Edwards or Haliburton becoming free agents, so there’s plenty of time to sort this all out. However, when it comes to players of this type, teams tend to expand first, ask questions later. You want your real stars locked up as quickly and as long as possible. Minnesota, in particular, is losing Edwards who missed the 65-game limit.
Tyrese Maxey begins his path to supermax
Speaking of players from the 2020 draft class, we have Tyrese Maxey, the only player from that year who ended up making All-NBA this season. His circumstances were very different from Edwards’ and Haliburton’s. He didn’t sign a rookie extension at all, instead getting a new deal in restricted free agency that didn’t include the Rose Rule bump because he wasn’t eligible.
However, his All-NBA selection here puts him on the path to a big jump in his next contract. Now he’s in the same boat as Edwards and Haliburton: the 2027 All-NBA pick away from supermax eligibility has three total years left on his existing contract.
Now, if Maxey continues on his current path, Philadelphia will likely give him that much larger extension. However, it should be noted that the last two contracts for 35% of Philadelphia went to Joel Embiid and Paul George. And they don’t age well. On top of this, Maxey’s new deal coincides with a potential rookie extension for VJ Edgecombe. Just as Philadelphia is getting out of Embiid and George’s contracts, it may be looking down at 60% of the cap to its two guards, so the 76ers have no financial relief coming in the near future.
