Vaughn Dalzell shares why he thinks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can win the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year Award.
NBA Most Improved Player of the Year
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+320)
It’s a two-player race for Most Improved Player between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lauri Markkanen.
Markkanen is currently out with a wrist injury and missed the past two games and listed as doubtful for Utah’s next contest as well. With the Jazz at odds of missing the postseason and Markkanen’s wrist injury possibly costing him the remaining eight games, then that makes the time to buy SGA stock now.
SGA currently ranks top 10 in usage rate, field goals attempted and total steals, plus top five in field goals made, overall points, points per game, free-throws attempted, made and percentage.
The Thunder’s guard has missed nine total games all season and played the most since 2019-20. He’s averaging a career-high in minutes (35.5) and increased his scoring from 24.5 to 31.3 points per game over the past year.
With that scoring increase, SGA also upped his field goal percentage to 51% and his free-throw percentage to 90.5%. On the defensive end, SGA is posting a career-high in steals (1.7) and blocks (1.0) per game
There are six teams total in the hunt for the four-game play-in tournament and if the Thunder can grab a spot and the Jazz do not, then SGA has another leg up on Markkanen.
Oklahoma City sits in the No. 10 and final play-in tournament spot at 36-38 and a chance to climb as high as No. 7 (37-37). Dallas is tied with Oklahoma City for the final spot and Utah is in the mix at 1.0 game back.
I grabbed SGA at +320 odds to win the Most Improved Player Award and would go down to +200. I expect this to close much shorter if Markkanen is out Monday.
Pick: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1u)
NBA Player Futures Already Locked In
2u: Immanuel Quickley 6-Man (-105)
1u: Bam Adebayo DPOY (+700)
1u: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander MIP (+320)
1u: Tyrese Haliburton MIP (+460)
0.25u: Tyrese Maxey MIP (+1200)
0.25u: Anthony Edwards MIP (+850)
0.25u: Malcolm Brogdon 6-Man (+1600)
I preseason bet Anthony Edwards (+850) and Tyrese Maxey (+1200) to win the MIP by splitting a half-unit but after injuries and early season struggles, I pivoted to Tyrese Haliburton (+460) before his injuries started to pile up. With 1.5 units out on MIP, SGA is the last hope to get in the positive for that award.
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT OUR BETTING TOOLS:
Live Odds: NFL | NBA | MLB | CFB | CBB | NHL Player Props: NFL | NBA | MLB | CFB| CBB | NHL
Top Trends: NFL | NBA | MLB | CFB | CBB | NHL Predictions: NFL | NBA | MLB | CFB | CBB | NHL
