It’s taken Cooper Flagg some time to acclimatize to the NBA, but the No. 1 pick of the 2025 NBA Draft finally appears to be getting comfortable. Increasing his average metrics across the board over the last two weeks and delivering a strong 35-point performance against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Dallas Mavericks forward is showing why he was the league’s most-coveted rookie. 2K Games awarded him an upgrade to 81 OVR in NBA 2K26’s third ratings update, allowing Flagg to regain some of the point losses he incurred earlier this season.
Scottie Barnes, who won Rookie of the Year in his own debut season, may well be on course to earn himself a second All-Star appearance with the way he’s been playing for the Toronto Raptors. The latest update has him move to 88 OVR in the basketball sim.
Daniss Jenkins is the most improved player overall in this round of updates, adding a staggering nine points to his tally. The Detroit Pistons guard isn’t the only one with impressive gains: Ryan Nembhard increased his rating by eight points, while Derik Queen raised his by six.
The Pistons and the Mavericks both gained 19 points across their rosters, jointly becoming the most improved teams in this round.
Here are the changes made to NBA 2K26’s player ratings in the season’s third update:
Atlantic Division
Toronto Raptors
Central Division
Detroit Pistons
Southeast Division
Northwest Division
Pacific Division
Los Angeles Clippers
Southwest Division
Dallas Mavericks
