2022-23 NBA Midseason Awards Media Poll: Most Improved Player
With just over six weeks left in the 2022-23 NBA regular season, not only will the race for who will and who will not make the playoffs heat up, but so will the race for this season’s awards.
Will Nikola Jokic be dethroned as the back-to-back recipient of the Most Valuable Player award? Is the race for the Most Improved Player award a two-man race between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lauri Markanen? With all the great teams this season, who will ultimately be named the league’s Coach of the Year?
Fastbreak on FanNation polled 25 different NBA media members, some who cover the league as a whole and some who cover an individual team, asking them these specific questions and gathering their results.
Below are the results from the voting that took place for the 2022-23 NBA Most Improved Player award at the All-Star break:
Media Members Pick To Win 2022-23 NBA Most Improved Player:
Lauri Markkanen - Utah Jazz (17 votes)
There are a lot of players that are worth mentioning in the Most Improved Player race this season that did not necessarily receive votes outlined above. Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), Kyle Kuzma (Washington Wizards) and De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings) have all taken sizeable jumps in their respective careers, but Lauri Markkanen is being viewed as the favorite for the 2022-23 NBA Most Improved Player award right now.
Traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Utah Jazz this past offseason in the deal that saw Donovan Mitchell go to the Cavaliers, Markkanen has been having a sensational season.
The Jazz were expected to be the worst team in the league this year, but Markkanen has made sure that his team is competitive every single game they play and playing for Finland in the EuroBasket 2022 tournament this past summer was a massive part of his development.
At 25-years-old, Markkanen was named a first-time All-Star, representing the Jazz in Salt Lake City, and his numbers speak for themselves.
His 24.9 points per game average is a 68.2 percent increase from a season ago, his 8.6 rebounds per game average is a 50.9 percent increase and Lauri Markkanen has increased both his field goal percentage and three-point shooting percentage by 6.7 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively, this season.
Going from a stretch big man who can occasionally knock down shots from the perimeter, Markkanen has very quickly ascended into being his team’s best scoring option and someone who is capable of hitting numerous three-point jumpers a game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the Oklahoma City Thunder is also a very worthy candidate for this award and he was viewed as the front-runner for the award through the first month or two of the regular season.
We saw glimpses of Gilgeous-Alexander’s potential a season ago before he got hurt and now this season, he has continued to transcend himself into one of the league’s best scorers, as his 30.8 points per game average ranks fifth in the NBA and his 1,635 total points ranks third.
Shai also ranks second in the league in 30–point games this year (33 games) and second in 25-point games this year (42 games). The 17 votes for Markkanen versus the 5 votes for Gilgeous-Alexander will likely be closer when the actual voting occurs, but Markkanen is still being viewed as the gravy favorite over the Thunder guard for this award.
Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers) and Nic Claxton (Brooklyn Nets) have all made significant improvements in their games as well, which is why they each received a vote for the award.
