Originated in 1986, the Most Improved Player award highlights the player who took the biggest leap in the respective season, clearly exceeding the expectations put onto them in the preseason.
In recent years, the award has begun to reward players for making the jump to star or superstardom rather than from a bench player to a high quality starter. Being an All-Star - or at least a borderline one - has started to become expected to qualify for the MIP award.
This year is no exception, as the battle for MIP seems to be coming down to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lauri Markkanen.
Right now, SGA is averaging 31.4 points and 5.5 assists on 62.4 TS%, seeing a scoring jump by nearly 7 points per game (on only one more minute per game) on nearly a 7 percent higher TS%. Not only that, but he has improved on the defensive side of the court and also could lead the Thunder to an unexpected play-in appearance.
Markkanen broke out to become an All-Star by averaging 25.7 points and 8.6 rebounds on 64.7 TS%, seeing a scoring jump of nearly 11 points per game (on 3 more minutes per) with a 6.5 higher TS%. Like SGA, Markkanen may bring the Jazz to an incredibly unexpected play-in game.
Both of these players are greatly improved, particularly in the scoring department. To me, however, Markannen deserves this award. No one expected him to be this good at all in his debut season with Utah. With SGA, flashes with his driving skill have been there, and a potential leap was expected; absolutely nobody had Lauri on the map. In fact, Collin Sexton was considered the central piece in the Donovan Mitchell trade, not Lauri.
While these are the clear-cut top two candidates, players like Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Tyrese Haliburton deserve their flowers for what they have done this season. Brunson has come to the Knicks and led an elite offense by scoring 23.8 points and dishing out 6.8 assists per. Bridges has flourished as a Net, flashing elite shot creation en route to averaging 25.4 points per as a Net whilst maintaining elite defense, pointing towards true stardom. Haliburton’s 20.8 points and 10.4 assists per game makes him one of the league’s premier pick and roll and offensive threats in the league, too. Shoutout these guys as well.
Charlie Spungin , NBA Analyst