By the numbers: Kia Most Improved candidates in 2025-26

Ryan Rollins (right) and Reed Sheppard are among the top Kia Most Improved Player award contenders this season.

There’s always some debate about what kind of player should or shouldn’t be considered for

the Kia Most Improved Player award

. Some voters may not consider second-year players, while some might not consider high-lottery picks.

Some players go from bad to good. Some good players become All-Stars. Some All-Stars turn into MVP candidates. Ultimately, some voters will value one of those transitions over the others. Last season,

10 different players

received first-place votes.

For this exercise, we’re keeping it simple: this season’s numbers vs. last season’s numbers.

Reminder:

The Most Improved Player award is one of the NBA’s awards that requires a player to have played at least 63 games of 20 minutes or more and two more games of at least 15 minutes.

That means the following candidates are disqualified …

Dillon Brooks, Phoenix:

Thanks to a huge jump in usage rate, he’s averaging 24.4 points per 36 minutes,

up from 15.9 last season

. But he’s played in only 51 games.

Keyonte George, Utah:

He’s averaged

23.6 points

on a true shooting percentage of 60.9%, up from 16.8 on 53.9% last season. But he’s played in just 54 games.

Kyshawn George, Washington:

He’s made

a huge jump

in per-minute numbers and ranks as one of the league’s most-improved 3-point shooters … but has played in only 48 games.

Daniss Jenkins, Detroit:

He’s seen huge jumps in

per-game

and

per-minute numbers

from last season (when he only played 23 total minutes) and has played in 66 games, but he’s played at least 20 minutes in only 30 of them.

Ajay Mitchell, Oklahoma City:

He’s become an important part of the Thunder’s rotation, but has played in only 53 games.

Some other candidates haven’t qualified yet, but can get there in the final 11 days of the season.

Here’s a look at the biggest improvements from 2024-25 to ’25-26 among players who qualify or

could

qualify for the Most Improved award by season’s end …

1. Per-game numbers

Here are the qualified (or potentially qualified) players who’ve seen the biggest jumps in points + rebounds + assists + steals + blocks per game …

Biggest jumps, points + rebounds + assists + steals + blocks per game

2024-25

2025-26

Improvement

Player

GP

MIN/G

PRASB/G

26-25

26/25

Ryan Rollins

56

14.6

11.1

72

32.1

29.3

+18.2

2.6x

Jaylon Tyson*

47

9.6

6.9

64

27.0

21.6

+14.8

3.1x

Reed Sheppard

52

12.6

8.3

76

26.4

22.2

+13.9

2.7x

Nickeil Alexander-Walker

82

25.3

16.4

74

33.2

29.6

+13.2

1.8x

Matas Buzelis

80

18.9

14.4

75

+12.1

Collin Gillespie

33

14.0

11.4

28.9

23.4

+12.0

2.1x

Neemias Queta

62

13.9

10.5

71

25.4

22.1

+11.6

Donovan Clingan

67

19.8

17.7

27.2

28.1

+10.4

1.6x

Deni Avdija*

30.0

61

33.1

38.9

+9.4

1.3x

Jaime Jaquez Jr.

66

20.7

16.7

70

28.2

25.8

+9.1

1.5x

PRASB/G = Points + rebounds + assists + steals + blocks per game

26-25 = 2025-26 stats – 2024-25 stats

26/25 = 2025-26 stats / 2024-25 stats

* Not yet qualified (see below)

Through April 1, 2026

While

Jaylon Tyson

has played in 64 games, he has only 59

qualified

games, 57 of at least 20 minutes, plus two more of at least 15. He would need to play at least 20 minutes in all six of the Cavs’ remaining games, but has missed the last six and has already been ruled out for their game at Golden State on Thursday. So he won’t qualify.

Deni Avdija

played less than a minute in one of his 61 games, so he has only 60 qualified games and needs to play in all five of the Blazers’ remaining games to qualify. He’d need to play at least 20 minutes in four of the five, and at least 15 minutes in the fifth.

2. Per-36 numbers

Jaylen Brown scores a team-high 43 points in the Celtics' road win over the Miami Heat.

Per-game numbers can obviously be affected by minutes. It means something that a player has

earned

more minutes, but per-

minute

numbers can tell us more about his impact.

Here are the qualified (or potentially qualified) players who’ve seen the biggest jumps in points + rebounds + assists + steals + blocks per 36 minutes …

Biggest jumps, points + rebounds + assists + steals + blocks per 36 minutes

Diff.

MIN

PRASB/36

25-25

2,073

2,459

+8.7

1.4x

Jaylen Brown

2,158

35.8

2,305

44.4

1.2x

Kawhi Leonard*

1,180

36.8

1,926

45.3

+8.5

2,161

35.5

2,017

42.4

+6.9

Jalen Johnson

1,284

2,404

43.7

654

23.9

2,009

30.2

+6.4

Jalen Duren*

2,034

1,829

43.1

+6.3

Jamal Murray

2,418

2,533

39.3

+6.2

Victor Wembanyama*

1,527

47.6

1,784

53.4

+5.8

1.1x

820

2,310

32.9

+5.6

PRASB/36 = Points + rebounds + assists + steals + blocks per 36 minutes

Kawhi Leonard

probably isn’t going to get Most Improved consideration, but he would need to play in at least five of the Clippers’ six remaining games to qualify for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, All-NBA and All-Defense. He would need to play at least 20 minutes in three games and at least 15 minutes in two more.

See above regarding Avdija.

Though

Jalen Duren

has played in 65 games, he played fewer than 20 minutes in six of the 65, so he has only 61

games. He needs to play at least 20 minutes in at least four of the Pistons’ six remaining games to qualify for Most Improved consideration.

Victor Wembanyama

would need to play in at least four of the Spurs’ final six games to qualify for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved, All-NBA and All-Defense consideration. He would need to play at least 20 minutes in at least three games and at least 15 minutes in a fourth.

3. Efficiency

Per-minute numbers can be affected by usage, but every player is looking to be more

efficient

with their touches.

Here are the qualified (or potentially qualified) players who’ve seen the biggest jumps in true shooting percentage, which measures scoring efficiency …

Biggest jumps in true shooting percentage, 2024-25 to 2025-26

FGA

TS%

239

46.5%

882

56.5%

+10%

149

52.3%

639

61.4%

+9%

Wendell Carter Jr.

491

54.4%

593

61.8%

+7.4%

Tim Hardaway Jr.

680

56.7%

744

62.8%

+6.1%

Bruce Brown*

309

50.4%

485

56.0%

+5.7%

Jaden McDaniels

834

56.2%

774

61.7%

+5.6%

Kris Dunn

437

53.1%

448

58.6%

Stephon Castle*

988

52.2%

762

57.5%

+5.3%

Scottie Barnes

1,063

1,057

57.4%

+5.1%

Keldon Johnson*

770

57.2%

722

62.2%

+4.9%

TS% = PTS / (2 * (FGA + (0.44 * FTA)))

See above regarding Tyson.

Bruce Brown

would need to play at least 20 minutes in all five of the Nuggets’ remaining games to qualify.

Stephon Castle

would need to play at least 20 minutes in one more game and at least 15 minutes in another to qualify.

Keldon Johnson

has played in 76 games, but in only 62 qualified games (60 of 20-plus minutes). He would need to play at least 20 minutes in three of the Spurs’ six remaining games to qualify.

4. Candidate comparisons

Sheppard and Tyson are the only players in the top 10 in improved true shooting percentage who also appeared in either the per-game or per-36 lists. But Tyson isn’t going to qualify, while Sheppard is also a second-year player.

Here are some of the leading candidates for the Most Improved award, with their per-36 numbers and true-shooting percentage compared to last season …

Most improved candidates

57.9%

60.5%

+2.6%

59.8%

-0.7%

70.3%

68.6%

-1.8%

29.4

57.8%

29.2

58.2%

-0.2

+0.3%

56.9%

58.4%

+1.5%

67.4%

31.3

66.2%

+4.1

-1.3%

60.0%

58.1%

-1.9%

* Not yet qualified (see above)

* * *

John Schuhmann has covered the NBA for more than 20 years. You can e-mail him

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