NBA Roundtable: Most Improved Player Best Bets

The 2021-2022 NBA season is less than a week away, and our team at BetSided is here to get you set with a total predictions for each team and best bets in the Futures market. 

Here are our team's best bets for Most Improved Player, with odds courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook!

OG Anunoby, Toronto Raptors (+1700)

I'm high on the Raptors this season and think that they are a stealth playoff team. There is going to be plenty of opportunites for Anunoby to continue his ascent with Kyle Lowry in Miami and Pascal Siakam on the shelf with a shoulder injury for a portion of the season.

Anunoby saw an uptick in his volume last season, taking four more shots, which led to nearly 16 points per game on 48/39/78 shooting splits. If the Indiana product can take his scoring to the next level with Siakam out, he's going to see some serious buzz, especially if Nick Nurse can find the right pieces in the rotation to get the Raps back into the playoff mix.

The situation sets up nicely for Anunoby to finally break out in 2021-2022. -- Reed Wallach

Lonzo Ball, Chicago Bulls (+3000)

Since the 2012-13 season, all but one player who has won the Most Improved Player award has done it on a playoff team.

Only Brandon Ingram in the 2019-20 season has won the award for a non-playoff team since 2013. That means I’m going to choose a player that has a chance to also improve his team’s outlook, as Julius Randle did for the New York Knicks last season. Lonzo Ball is joining a Chicago Bulls team that appears to be one of the up-and-coming rosters in the Eastern Conference.

Ball has steadily improved since he was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He has seen his field goal and 3-point percentage rise every season in the NBA, and I think he’s in the perfect spot to break out in Chicago.

With volume scorers like Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and DeMar DeRozan on the roster, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ball puts up a career-high in assists this year. Chicago has needed a point guard for several years, and if Ball comes into the fold and shoots close to 40.0 percent from deep and helps lead the Bulls to the postseason, he is a sneaky bet to come away with the Most Improved Player award. -- Peter Dewey

Dejounte Murray, San Antonio Spurs (+2500)

Folks in NBA circles know how good and complete player Dejounte Murray is in San Antonio, but with DeMar DeRozan now in Chicago, Murray's statline and usage rate should go to the moon.

To win MIP, you need minutes. Plenty of them, and while Jordan Poole and Michael Porter Jr. are the sexy picks, none of them are the go-to options on their team. Murray gets that opportunity in his sixth season, although he missed all of 2018-19 with a torn ACL.

Via Sports Illustrated's Michael Pina, Murray was just one of eight players in the league to average 15+ points, 7+ boards, and 5+ assists per game. He'll do that again and then some. -- Ben Heisler