5 NBA players to watch in the 2023-24 Most Improved Player race

One of the most underratedhonors in all of basketball is the NBA’s Most Improved Playeraward.

The league is full of young,developing talents, so being selected as the player who made thebiggest strides is an incredible accomplishment. This award canalso be a testament to getting your career back on the right track,as was the case with last year's recipient Lauri Markkanen. Manypeople were ready to give up on Markkanen becoming a star-caliberplayer, but a change of scenery allowed him to emerge as anAll-Star and post career-highs across the board with the UtahJazz.

The race for this year's MostImproved Player award will be very interesting, as the last fewdrafts featured a plethora of talent. Here are my top-fivecandidates for the Most Improved Player award entering the 2023-24NBA season:

1. Mikal Bridges, Brooklyn Nets

Mikal Bridges' play became oneof the most fascinating storylines during the second half of lastseason. Bridges was known as an elite second or third option, buthe stepped up as the Brooklyn Nets' No. 1 scorer after theyacquired him from the Phoenix Suns as part of the Kevin Durantblockbuster trade. Whenever a team is trading one of the bestplayers of all-time, it's difficult to get equal value in return.However, this deal ended up being a win-win. As soon as Bridges was traded to Brooklyn, hemade an immediate impact on both ends. The Nets were projected to fall in thestandings and miss the playoffs. However, Bridges had something tosay about that.

In 27 games with Brooklyn,Bridges averaged 26.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.5 threesand a steal, while shooting 47.5% from the field, 37.6% from threeand 89.4% from the free-throw line. These are elite numbers. On theseason, Bridges played 83 games and averaged 20.1 points, 4.4rebounds and 3.3 assists. These are still great numbers, but it'sclear that he took his game another level during the small samplesize we saw of him in Brooklyn. If he can produce at that levelover a full season and continue to thrive as the Nets' firstoption, he will, without a doubt, win the Most Improved Playeraward. DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars and BetMGMcurrently have Bridges as the favorite to win the award.

2. Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets

One of the most underratedcandidates for this award is the young Turkish star Alperen Sengun.In just two seasons, Sengun has become one of the better offensivecenters in the league. The Houston Rockets big man was veryproductive in 28.9 minutes per game, and he could take a massiveleap this season. He finished last year averaging 14.8 points, 9.0rebounds and 3.9 assists, which is already very solid for a youngcenter. However, his per-36 averages were 18.4 points, 11.2rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.2 steals – fantasticnumbers for a second-year player.

With his minutes likelyincreasing and Sengun continuing to develop, he could be in for ahuge season. The Rockets are looking to climb up the WesternConference standings after adding Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson andDillon Brooks this summer, and Sengun could play a major role intheir turnaround. Sengun has the fourth-best odds in the MostImproved Player race on FanDuel.

3. Austin Reaves, Los Angeles Lakers

Despite entering last season asa role player for the Los Angeles Lakers, Austin Reaves has becomea household name among NBA fans. Prior to his game being on displaywith Team USA as they compete for the World Cup, Reaves put on ashow in the postseason for the Lakers. During the regular season,Reaves averaged 13.0 points, 3.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3threes on 52.9/39.8/86.4 shooting splits.

Then, in the playoffs, Reavesmade a huge leap and averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 assists, 4.4rebounds and 2.4 threes on 46.4/44.3/89.5 shooting splits. Hedisplayed abilities that were far beyond those of a role player,and he will prove to be a very important piece for this Lakers teamnext season. Reaves’ success didn’t go unnoticed, as the Lakerssigned him to a four-year, $53 million contract this offseason.Reaves has the fourth-best Most Improved Player odds onDraftKings.

4. Shaedon Sharpe, Portland Trail Blazers

It’s pretty rare to see a playerwin the Most Improved Player award in their second season. In fact,it has only happened seven times in NBA history, and the lastsophomore to win the award was Monta Ellis back in 2007. That said,if any of this year's sophomores can do it, it’s Portland TrailBlazers guard Shaedon Sharpe. With all of the drama surroundingDamian Lillard's trade request this summer, the Blazers aren’texactly in the best position heading into next season.But Sharpe might be able to thrivein this environment, especially if the Blazers' impending rebuildleads to significantly more playing time.

Sharpe played just 22 minutesper game last season, and his per-36 numbers were impressive for arookie: 16.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 threes and 1.9 assists.Sharpe should absolutely play 30 minutes per game next season, andhe will have an opportunity to join the 20 points-per-game club. Hecould make a leap similar to what we saw from Tyrese Maxey in hissecond season. Sophomores have a tough time winning this award,especially if they were drafted very high, since drasticimprovements are expected in their second season. Sharpe was theNo. 7 overall pick in last year's draft, so he'll need to reallyturn heads in order to win this award.

5. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons

While Cade Cunningham has thesecond-best odds to win the Most Improved Player award on FanDuel, he is a very hardplayer to evaluate in this context. Cunningham has already playedelite basketball in his young NBA career, but he appeared in just12 games last season, leaving us with a very small sample size toanalyze. The Detroit Pistons have certainly made improvements totheir roster, but it remains to be seen whether they'll helpCunningham's stats (since he'll be surrounded by more weapons todistribute to) or hurt them (since they'll take away some of histouches).

That said, he will likely be anelite scorer regardless of his supporting cast. Having him listedthis low isn’t a slight; he'll very likely emerge as a star nextseason. It’s just hard to imagine him showing more improvement thanother players on this list, partially because he's already lookedso good at times. It's also worth noting that just one No. 1overall pick has won the Most Improved Player award in NBA history:Pervis Ellison in 1992. Cunningham’s biggest concern in terms ofimprovement this season should be games played.

Honorable Mention: Josh Giddey, Scottie Barnes, PaoloBanchero, Tyrese Maxey, Jordan Poole