NBA Most Improved Player Ladder: Ja Morant Running Away in Most Improved Player Odds
By Peter Dewey
The NBA’s Most Improved player award is always one of the league’s most intriguing races, as several players almost always make a major leap from the previous season.
This season, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant has taken the leap to stardom in a big way, leading the Grizzlies to the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference at the All-Star break.
He leads the odds at WynnBET Sportsbook by a wide margin, but is there anyone who can catch him?
Let’s break down a few of the candidates and their potential path to the MIP award.
Latest Odds to Win NBA’s Most Improved Player Award
- Ja Morant: -400
- Miles Bridges: +600
- Darius Garland: +1000
- Dejounte Murray: +1500
Ja Morant, Guard, Memphis Grizzlies (-400)
What more can we say about Ja Morant?
The third-year guard is averaging 26.8 points (career-high), 5.8 rebounds (career-high) and 6.9 assists per game while shooting 49.5 percent from the field and 33.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Morant has led the Grizzlies from a play-in tournament team last year to a bonafide top team in the West, and that’s key in the MIP award race. More often than not, the award goes to a player on a playoff-caliber team. Only Brandon Ingram in the 2019-20 season has won the award for a non-playoff team since 2013.
This is Morant’s award to lose, and I’m not sure there is much he can do to lose it.
Miles Bridges, Forward, Charlotte Hornets (+600)
Miles Bridges is having a fantastic season, averaging 20.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game (all career-highs) while shooting 48.1 percent from the field.
Bridges has seen his efficiency from 3 drop throughout this season (currently 30.8 percent after shooting 40.0 percent last season), but it’s mainly because he’s seen increased volume.
He’s going to get himself paid very well as a restricted free agent this offseason, but Bridges isn’t the best player on his team (that honor goes to LaMelo Ball) and simply hasn’t carried the Charlotte Hornets the way Morant has Memphis.
You can take a shot on him at +600, but the Hornets would need to really surge in the standings after the All-Star break for this to happen.
Darius Garland, Guard, Cleveland Cavaliers (+1000)
I think Darius Garland may have more value than Bridges, as he’s taken the Cleveland Cavaliers from a team with a top-3 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft to a top-four seed in the East so far this season.
Garland has been terrific without Collin Sexton in the lineup, posting career-highs in points, assists, rebounds and field percentage.
He has the best “winning team” argument after Morant, and the Cavs’ turnaround may be more impressive than the Grizzlies. The issue for Garland is Morant is crushing him in points per game (26.8 vs. 20.3) and still is on the better team with the higher seed in their respective conference.
I like Garland more than any longshot on the board, but this is Morant’s award at the moment.
Dejounte Murray, Guard, San Antonio Spurs (+1000)
Dejounte Murray is nearly averaging a triple-double this season (19.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 9.3 assists per game), but his candidacy is likely doomed by the San Antonio Spurs’ standing in the Western Conference.
Murray has kept the Spurs afloat, but their trade of Derrick White at the league’s trade deadline signaled they aren’t going all in to make the play-in tournament, which would likely end Murray’s chances.
However, if he took a Spurs team most people expected to be in the bottom of the league through the play-in and into the playoffs, his odds may rise a bit to challenge some of the other players mentioned.