Ajay Mitchell is the +600 favorite for 2026-27 NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Dylan Harper is second at +750 and Payton Pritchard third at +1000.
Those are DraftKings prices on ESPN’s 2026-27 futures board, read on September 24, 2026, with the regular season starting October 20. The board lists 88 players, and the 2025-26 winner, Keldon Johnson, is one of them at +3000.
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2026-27 NBA Sixth Man of the Year odds
| Player | Team | Odds | Implied chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ajay Mitchell | Oklahoma City Thunder | +600 | 14.3% |
| Dylan Harper | San Antonio Spurs | +750 | 11.8% |
| Payton Pritchard | Boston Celtics | +1000 | 9.1% |
| Ayo Dosunmu | Minnesota Timberwolves | +1200 | 7.7% |
| Anfernee Simons | Philadelphia 76ers | +1600 | 5.9% |
| DeMar DeRozan | Denver Nuggets | +1800 | 5.3% |
| Anthony Black | Orlando Magic | +2000 | 4.8% |
| Collin Sexton | Los Angeles Lakers | +2500 | 3.8% |
| Ace Bailey | Utah Jazz | +3000 | 3.2% |
| Reed Sheppard | Houston Rockets | +3000 | 3.2% |
| Jared McCain | Oklahoma City Thunder | +3000 | 3.2% |
| Jaime Jaquez Jr. | Milwaukee Bucks | +3000 | 3.2% |
| Keldon Johnson | San Antonio Spurs | +3000 | 3.2% |
Teams are as ESPN lists them for 2026-27. The implied chance is the price as a percentage, before the book’s margin comes out. All 88 prices add up to about 180%, which is a wide margin.
This is next season’s market. ESPN files it under the season it labels 2026-27, and the 2025-26 award has already gone to Johnson, who is priced again on this board.
The 2025-26 winner: Keldon Johnson
Johnson played all 82 games for San Antonio and started none of them. He averaged 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 23.3 minutes, on 51.9% shooting, for a Spurs team that went 62-20, second in the West.
The winner before him fits the same shape. Pritchard won for 2024-25 with 3 starts in 80 games, so the last two winners started 3 games between them.
The top three
Mitchell averaged 13.6 points and 3.6 assists in 57 games for Oklahoma City, with 16 starts. That is up from 6.5 points in 36 games the year before. The Thunder went 64-18, the best record in the league.
Harper came off the bench in 65 of his 69 games as a rookie and averaged 11.8 points. He made the All-Rookie First Team, then scored 25 in Game 5 of the Finals. He shares the Spurs bench with Johnson, who is +3000.
Pritchard is the hard one to price. After his 2024-25 award he started 50 of 79 games in 2025-26 and averaged 17.0 points. At +1000 the market is asking whether he goes back to the bench.
Starters priced as reserves
Beyond Pritchard, four names in the top eight started most of their games last season or the one before:
- DeMar DeRozan (+1800): started all 77 of his games in 2025-26, at 18.4 points.
- Anfernee Simons (+1600): started 70 of 70 in 2024-25, then 5 of 55 in 2025-26, at 14.3 points.
- Collin Sexton (+2500): started 61 of 63 in 2024-25, then 22 of 68 at 15.4 points.
- Anthony Black (+2000): started 40 of 64, at 15.0 points.
Simons and Sexton have already made the move to a bench role. DeRozan has not, and his price depends on it.
Two more worth a line
Ayo Dosunmu (+1200) shot 43.9% from three last season. He averaged 14.8 points in 69 games, 19 of them starts.
Reed Sheppard (+3000) played all 82 games and started 21. His scoring went from 4.4 points to 13.5, a jump of 9.1 points a game.
Recent Sixth Man of the Year winners
| Season | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | Keldon Johnson | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2024-25 | Payton Pritchard | Boston Celtics |
| 2023-24 | Naz Reid | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 2022-23 | Malcolm Brogdon | Boston Celtics |
| 2021-22 | Tyler Herro | Miami Heat |
| 2020-21 | Jordan Clarkson | Utah Jazz |
| 2019-20 | Montrezl Harrell | LA Clippers |
| 2018-19 | Lou Williams | LA Clippers |
| 2017-18 | Lou Williams | LA Clippers |
| 2016-17 | Eric Gordon | Houston Rockets |
Lou Williams is the only repeat winner in these ten seasons. Three former winners are on the 2026-27 board: Pritchard at +1000, Johnson at +3000 and Jordan Clarkson at +15000.
What the prices say
Mitchell at +600 works out to a 14.3% chance. Harper at +750 is 11.8%, and Pritchard at +1000 is 9.1%. A futures bet is worth making only when you rate a player’s chance higher than the price does, and these prices will move as rotations are set.
Before you bet, compare the books in our sportsbook reviews, and from October 20 our NBA predictions carry the nightly lines. For the other awards, see our Most Improved Player odds and NBA MVP odds, and for the whole season, our NBA betting guide.