Community Shootaround: Most Improved Player Race

In recent years, media voters responsible for determining the NBA’s Most Improved Player on an annual basis have frequently favored a specific kind of player. From 2020-24, each of the five winners of the award entered the season as an already solid starter and made the leap to stardom over the course of the year, earning his first All-Star nod a few months before being named the league’s Most Improved Player.

While Brandon Ingram (2020), Julius Randle (2021), Ja Morant (2022), Lauri Markkanen (2023), and Tyrese Maxey (2024) all met this criteria, voters deviated from their usual habits in 2025, rewarding Dyson Daniels of the Hawks for his improvement following a trade that sent him from New Orleans to Atlanta.

Daniels, who made modest contributions off the bench in his two seasons as a Pelican, took a major step forward during his first year as a Hawk, but he wasn’t named an All-Star and wasn’t an impact player on the offensive end, where he averaged 14.1 points and 4.4 assists per game with a .340 3PT%.

In 2026, it appears likely that voters will once again reward a player making the jump from “very good” to “star,” with three intriguing candidates to choose from in that group.

The current betting favorite to be Most Improved Player is Pistons center Jalen Duren. He has been Detroit’s starting center since midway through his rookie year in 2022/23, but has been more impactful than ever for one of the league’s best teams in ’25/26, increasing his scoring average from 11.8 points per game to 19.0 PPG and making his first All-Star team.

Like Duren, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson and Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija are first-time All-Stars this season and are considered strong contenders for Most Improved Player honors.

While it’s true that Johnson (22.9 PPG, 10.5 RPG, and 8.1 APG) and Avdija (24.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 6.7 APG) have never been this good for a full year, the Hawks forward wasn’t far off from this level during the first half of 2024/25 before a shoulder injury ended his season prematurely, and the Trail Blazers forward is in a similar boat — he wrapped up last season by averaging 23.3 PPG, 9.7 RPG, and 5.2 APG with elite shooting numbers after the All-Star break.

If voters believe the gap between what Johnson and Avdija were in 2024/25 and what they are now isn’t all that big, they may favor a player like Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker or Bucks guard Ryan Rollins. Neither player was an All-Star this season, but each of them has impressed in his first extended run as a starter.

Zach Harper of The Athletic believes Alexander-Walker should be leading the MIP race, pointing out that the 27-year-old, who has always been a solid defender, has taken on far more offensive responsibilities without sacrificing his efficiency. Alexander-Walker’s scoring average of 20.3 points per game is nearly double his previous career high (11.0 PPG), but his true shooting percentage of 59.4% is also a career best. He has continued to knock down his three-pointers at a 39.0% clip, well above his career rate, despite launching 8.1 per game.

As for Rollins, the former second-rounder is playing 32.3 minutes per game in Milwaukee this season after averaging 11.9 MPG in his first 81 NBA outings, but like Alexander-Walker, his efficiency hasn’t dropped off as his usage increased. Rollins has increased his per-game averages from 6.2 PPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.9 RPG last season to 16.8 PPG, 5.6 APG, and 4.6 RPG in ’25/26 while hitting a career-high 41.2% of his three-pointers. The Bucks have also been six points per 100 possessions better when Rollins is on the court, one of the best marks on the team.

We want to know what you think. Do you favor one of the league’s new stars like Duren, Johnson, or Avdija in this year’s Most Improved Player race, or do you think a non-star like Alexander-Walker or Rollins has made more substantial strides? What would your three-man ballot look like at this point?

Head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts!