NBA Most Improved Player – Season Awards Content Request

How does NBA MIP work?

The MIP award is, in theory, pretty self-explanatory. The award is handed to the player who showed the most improvement throughout the NBA season. However, what complicates it is that everyone has the same values when making the NBA’s most improved list. But often, that is not the case.

Sometimes, it is all based on how much your stats increased. A great example of that is Pascal Siakam. The winner of the 2018-19 season award, Siakam was a pivotal member of the Toronto Raptors that won the NBA Finals. In his prior two seasons in the NBA, Siakam averaged six points, four rebounds and 1.3 assists over 18.7 ministers per game. Then, in the 2018-19 season, Siakam won the MIP by averaging 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 31.9 minutes. That is a quantifiable improvement.

However, it does not always work like that. Ja Morant won MIP for the 2021-22 season, the same season he was an All-Star and two seasons after winning Rookie of the Year in 2019-20. His scoring stats did improve from 19.1 points to 27.4 from the 2020-21 season to 2021-22. However, the issue is that everyone already knew Morant was good.

Instead, he just went from a rising star to a Most Valuable Player candidate. He even won the award over fellow teammate Desmond Bane, who finished fifth in the MIP voting and had an excellent case for the award, going from 9.2 points to 18.2 per game. Based on how Siakam won the award, Bane was the perfect candidate that season.

Those two recent examples explain why MIP finalists in the NBA can be complicated and challenging to bet on. But if you do some thorough studying, there is a chance to try to predict the next winner of the award.

NBA Betting Strategy

The primary betting strategy for MIP is determining what players could have a big season that others might not expect. Before Siakam made an impact for the Raptors, he was on their G-League team, dominating in the NBA’s developmental league. When he started to start for the Raptors and got regular minutes, it was clear he would have success, impacting NBA game odds.

In the case of Morant, it’s more about being a young player who rose to immediate success. He was already on the rise as a player, but Morant became an All-Star in the 2021-22 season, leading the Memphis Grizzlies to second place in the Western Conference. The improvement was more about going from a potential All-Star to an MVP candidate.

Anther thing to keep track of when looking for MIP finalists in the NBA is a change of scenery. Three of the last six recipients – Lauri Markkanen, Brandon Ingram and Victor Oladipo – were traded in the offseason before winning MIP honors. Furthermore, Julius Randle won in 2020-21 in only his second season with the New York Knicks. Often, it takes a player to be empowered to reach their full potential, and all of these players were given those opportunities in a new situation.

Player Props

Betting on awards is inheritably a player futures prop. You can bet on the award before the season to maximize your winnings or place the wager during the season, doing so with much more information.

The sportsbooks will create a NBA most improved list, with odds for many players with a chance of winning the award.

NBA Betting Guide

1. Picking a Young Star

Betting on a rising young star might be the best option for NBA lines. It is often easier to predict with a high draft pick that has put together two or three solid seasons and is now blossoming into an All-Star.

The most recent example of that is Morant, but it has happened to players such as Giannis Antetokounmpo (2016-17), Paul George (2012-13) and Kevin Love (2010-11). All three players went from looking like the league’s future in the first two or three seasons to cashing in on those predictions by winning the MIP.

In 2023-24, a prime candidate fits that mold and is an early favorite. In his fourth season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Tyrese Maxey has emerged as one of the league’s stars. He made his first All-Star appearance in 2023-24. This is not the first time Maxey was on the NBA’s most improved list, finishing sixth in 2021-22 after going from 8.0 points per game in his rookie season to 17.5.

However, with the 76ers set to trade away James Harden during the 2023-24 season, that opened the door for a big season from Maxey. Now, as the team’s main point guard, his points and assists jumped from 20.3 and 3.5 to 25.9 and 6.4 at the All-Star break.

2. Betting on the Rise of a Player

The second most reliable option when looking at MIP finalists in the NBA, is betting on a player improving from the back of the bench to becoming a significant role player. This is sometimes harder to predict because it involves hoping that a player gets the right opportunities and has shown flashes of improvement.

Siakam is, again, the perfect example of that. If you were paying attention to the Raptors’ G-League teams, you obviously knew once Siakam got some NBA minutes, there was a chance he could capitalize on that. Other examples could be CJ McCollum (2015-16) and Jimmy Butler (2014-15).

When McCollum won the award, he averaged 34.8 minutes and 20.8 points per game. The previous season, he averaged 15.7 minutes and 6.8 points. Butler was a little different, averaging 38.7 minutes but putting up only 13.1 points per game in the season before he won the MIP. In the season that Butler won the award, he played the same amount of minutes but got better offensively, averaging 20 points.

Two players fall into that mold for 2023-24: Coby White and Jonathan Kuminga. In the 2023-24 season, White was averaging 19.3 points at the All-Star break, compared to 9.7 in 2022-23. A big reason for his success has been his minutes jumping up to 36.6 per game, which was 23.4 the prior season.

Kuminga, in his third season with the Golden State Warriors, is finally starting to be trusted. He played 25.7 minutes per game before the All-Star break and solidified himself as a starter, leading to 15.5 points per game.

Neither is favored in 2023-24 NBA Most Improved Player odds to win the award, but both fall into the category of a style of player that has won before.

3. New Place, New Player

No player in the 2023-24 season stands out in this category. Unlike with Markkanen in 2022-23, none of this season’s favorites have gone through a trade or joined a team that has opened up more opportunities for them on the court.

However, it is still something that has happened enough times to become a pattern. Markkanen spent his first five seasons in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers, being a solid player who averaged 15.4 points and 6.8 rebounds.

When Markkanen was traded to the Utah Jazz, something clicked. In the season that he won the MIP, Markkanen averaged 25.6 points and 8.6 rebounds and became an All-Star. For some reason, the Jazz were able to unlock something in Markkanen’s court production to get him to reach another level of play. Where you are is vital within the NBA, so a player struggling for one coaching staff could succeed on a different team.

FAQ NBA Most Improved Player