NBA Most Improved Player Odds

The new NBA season is just around the corner as teams prepare to open up training camps for the 2022/23 campaign. Each player works their butt off during the summer to improve and the league rewards those who do so the most with the MIP award. Let’s look at some of the candidates for this year’s Most Improved Player of the Year award!

• Anthony Edwards (+1100)
• Tyrese Haliburton (+1700)
• Jalen Brunson (+1900)
• RJ Barrett (+2300)
• Zion Williamson (+2400)
• Cade Cunningham(+2700)
• LaMelo Ball (+3000)
• Tyrese Maxey (+3000)
• Keldon Johnson (+3000)
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+3000)

It’s really hard to ignore Anthony Edwards at +1100 odds for this award. After posting averages of 21.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists on 44.1% shooting from the field and 35.7% from three, Edwards is expected to make another leap in his game this season. At just 21-years old, Edwards is still young and prone to making mistakes (as we saw this offseason), but during last year’s postseason run by the Timberwolves I saw something special in him. The addition of Rudy Gobert should also be a plus for him as he will be able to get out in transition a lot more with the paint being clogged on defense. If he continues putting up big numbers and improves his efficiency while making the playoffs for a 2nd consecutive season, I can definitely see Edwards running away with this one.

A lot of people forget just how good Zion Williamson was during his 2nd season with the Pelicans when he averaged 27/7/4 on 61% shooting from the field. Granted, it would be hard to improve on those numbers, but I don’t think Zion has to do that to win this award. A lot of things are often decided by the narrative in the NBA and him coming back after missing a whole season with injury while putting up All-Star type numbers would put him in the running to win Most Improved. Head coach Willie Green is also very eager to finally use his young superstar and after the Pelicans signed him to that big contract extension in the offseason, it is up to Zion to prove his doubters wrong once again. At +2400 odds he is a long-shot, but I think he is able to put together a solid season for New Orleans.

After a slow start to his rookie year with the Pistons, Cade Cunningham was able to put together a solid run in the 2nd half of the year and almost won Rookie of the Year honors. The No. 1 pick put up 18.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists in his final 49 games of the season and with the first season jitters and the rookie wall out of the way he could be in for a big year with success hungry Detroit Pistons. After trading away Jerami Grant to the Portland Trail Blazers I am expecting even more ball dominance by Cunningham this year which should result in even better numbers. The Pistons are one of 9 teams in the NBA to never have a player win this award which could be added incentive for Cunningham and at +2700 odds I think he deserves a small wager.

Even though he upped his point average by 7.8 points per game last season, Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons wasn’t even considered by the voters for this award. His 17.3 points in 29.5 minutes per game were impressive from an individual standpoint, however there was very little team success as the Blazers struggled with their key players missing most of the season with injury. With a rejuvenated Damian Lillard back and a healthy roster, Portland could be a dark horse to make a deep run in the post season and I think Simons has the potential to be a very important player once again on offense. And, if things go sideways and Lillard gets traded, Simons could easily become the number one scoring option on the team which would dramatically improve his chances to win the Most Improved Player award. Odds for him to win it are massive at +3600 though, so I wouldn’t recommend going big on him.

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