It's a battle of the Jalens atop the betting odds leaderboard for 2025 NBA Most Improved Player honors, with Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder (+500) and Jalen Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks (+550) currently the only two players greater than 10-to-1.
Here's a look at all contenders with greater than 30-to-1 odds vying for the George Mikan trophy.
2025 NBA Most Improved Player Odds
| Player | Team | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Jalen Williams | Oklahoma City Thunder | +500 |
| Jalen Johnson | Atlanta Hawks | +550 |
| Norman Powell | Los Angeles Clippers | +1000 |
| Cade Cunningham | Detroit Pistons | +1100 |
| LaMelo Ball | Charlotte Hornets | +1100 |
| RJ Barrett | Toronto Raptors | +1400 |
| Gradey Dick | Toronto Raptors | +1800 |
| Christian Braun | Denver Nuggets | +2000 |
| Jalen Green | Houston Rockets | +2200 |
| Dyson Daniels | Atlanta Hawks | +2200 |
| Ivica Zubac | Los Angeles Clippers | +2200 |
| Victor Wembanyama | San Antonio Spurs | +2500 |
| Evan Mobley | Cleveland Cavaliers | +2500 |
| Bennedict Mathurin | Indiana Pacers | +2500 |
| Franz Wagner | Orlando Magic | +2500 |
| Jalen Suggs | Orlando Magic | +2500 |
| Jaden Ivey | Detroit Pistons | +2500 |
Odds as of November 15, 2024 at BetMGM
NBA Most Improved Player Betting Favorite: Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder (+500)
Statistically, Williams' leap from his sophomore year in Oklahoma City to what he's contributed early in the 2024-25 regular season isn't vast. He's currently averaging 20.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.2 assists through 12 appearances, which isn't much more than last year's 19.1 points, four rebounds, and 4.4 assists.
This upcoming stretch of games over the next few months should boost his production even further, though, what with teammate Chet Holmgren out of the starting lineup due to a pelvic injury. Voters tend to look at numbers more than anything in these debates, yet here Williams remains with the shortest odds despite other players having made more noticeable improvements.
NBA Most Improved Player Darkhorse: Norman Powell, Los Angeles Clippers (+1000)
Norman Powell is perhaps the strongest example of what this award should be all about, being a 31-year-old veteran in his 10th year in the league putting up the best numbers of his career. He's moved out of the second unit and is now the leading scorer on a .500 team in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, while also ranking 13th amongst all players at 24.9 points per game.
Kawhi Leonard forever being on injury reserve and Paul George joining the Philadelphia 76ers has cleared the runway for Powell to take off and put himself into All-Star consideration. His points aren't empty either, as he's converting better than 50 percent from the field with nearly half of his 8.1 3-point attempts falling through.
Past 10 NBA Most Improved Player Winners
| Year | Player | Team | Opening Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Tyrese Maxey | Philadelphia 76ers | +1050 |
| 2023 | Lauri Markkanen | Utah Jazz | N/A |
| 2022 | Ja Morant | Memphis Grizzlies | +3000 |
| 2021 | Julius Randle | New York Knicks | +2000 |
| 2020 | Brandon Ingram | New Orleans Pelicans | +4000 |
| 2019 | Pascal Siakam | Toronto Raptors | N/A |
| 2018 | Victor Oladipo | Indiana Pacers | +2500 |
| 2017 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks | N/A |
| 2016 | CJ McCollum | Portland Trail Blazers | N/A |
| 2015 | Jimmy Butler | Chicago Bulls | N/A |
Most Improved Player winners tend to come out of nowhere, and the opening odds never lean heavily in favor of one player because it's such a crapshoot in the end.
As seen here with winners from the last decade, Tyrese Maxey in 2024 was the only player to win after opening with odds greater than 11-to-1.
NBA Most Improved Player Winners By Team
| Awards | Team | Years | Most Recent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Indiana Pacers | 2000, 2002, 2009, 2013, 2018 | Victor Oladipo (2018) |
| 5 | Orlando Magic | 1991, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2012 | Ryan Anderson (2012) |
| 3 | Washington Wizards | 1992, 1994, 1996 | Gheorghe Muresan (1996) |
| 3 | Phoenix Suns | 1989, 2006, 2014 | Goran Dragic (2014) |
| 3 | Portland Trail Blazers | 1988, 2004, 2016 | CJ McCollum (2016) |
| 2 | Miami Heat | 1990, 1997 | Isaac Austin (1997) |
| 2 | Golden State Warriors | 2003, 2007 | Monta Ellis (2007) |
| 2 | Philadelphia 76ers | 1995, 2024 | Tyrese Maxey (2024) |
The Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic currently share the record for the most winners of this honor at five apiece, although neither franchise has won since 2018.
NBA Most Improved Player Winners By Position
| Position | MIP Wins |
|---|---|
| Power Forward | 10 |
| Point Guard | 9 |
| Shooting Guard | 8 |
| Small Forward | 7 |
| Center | 5 |
There's no massive gap between any two positions as far as which has had more winners of Most Improved Player, with power forward leading the way at 10 players and point guard right behind at nine.
NBA Teams With Zero Most Improved Player Winners
The following teams have never had an NBA Most Improved Player winner: Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, and Sacramento Kings.
How To Read NBA Most Improved Player Odds
When you visit your NBA betting site of choice, you’ll notice 2024-25 NBA Most Improved Player odds laid out like this:
- Jonathan Kuminga +1000
- Evan Mobley +1100
It's like a moneyline bet where favorites are shown by the minus sign (-) and underdogs have a plus sign (+). In this scenario, Jonathan Kuminga is favored despite being at plus money. If you were to bet $100 on Kuminga in the NBA Most Improved Player betting odds and it hits, you would win $1100 – your $100 is returned and you would get $1000 in profit.
If you were to bet on which player will be named Most Improved Player, you would make a futures bet.
What Is A Futures Bet?
This is a bet made on events that will happen in time. In this case, it’s Most Improved Player. To make a futures bet, you would first use the handicapping info on this page to make your decision. Our Odds Calculator can give you an idea of how much you’d win based on the Most Improved Player odds and the amount of money you bet.
