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Dylan Harper is the +900 favorite for 2026-27 NBA Most Improved Player. Brandon Miller is second at +1200 and Payton Pritchard third at +1400.
Those are DraftKings prices on ESPN’s 2026-27 futures board, read on September 24, 2026. The regular season starts October 20, and the board lists 94 players, the longest of the NBA award markets posted so far.
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2026-27 NBA Most Improved Player odds
| Player | Team | Odds | Implied chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Harper | San Antonio Spurs | +900 | 10.0% |
| Brandon Miller | Charlotte Hornets | +1200 | 7.7% |
| Payton Pritchard | Boston Celtics | +1400 | 6.7% |
| Kel’el Ware | Milwaukee Bucks | +1600 | 5.9% |
| Peyton Watson | Cleveland Cavaliers | +1800 | 5.3% |
| Collin Murray-Boyles | Toronto Raptors | +2200 | 4.3% |
| Ausar Thompson | Detroit Pistons | +2200 | 4.3% |
| Walker Kessler | Los Angeles Lakers | +2200 | 4.3% |
| Stephon Castle | San Antonio Spurs | +2800 | 3.4% |
| Donovan Clingan | Portland Trail Blazers | +3000 | 3.2% |
| Ajay Mitchell | Oklahoma City Thunder | +3000 | 3.2% |
| Zach Edey | Memphis Grizzlies | +3000 | 3.2% |
| Jaden McDaniels | Minnesota Timberwolves | +3000 | 3.2% |
| Naz Reid | Charlotte Hornets | +3000 | 3.2% |
Teams are as ESPN lists them for 2026-27. The implied chance is the price turned into a percentage before the book’s margin comes out. Add up all 94 and you get about 168%, so the margin on this market is wide.
This is next season’s market. ESPN files it under the season it labels 2026-27, and the 2025-26 award has already been handed out.
The 2025-26 winner: Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Atlanta Hawks won Most Improved Player for 2025-26. He averaged 20.8 points in 78 games, 71 of them starts, in 33.4 minutes a night.
The season before, he averaged 9.4 points in 82 games with 10 starts and 25.3 minutes. That is an 11.4-point jump, and it came with a starting job. It was also Atlanta’s second win in a row: Dyson Daniels took the award for 2024-25.
The top three
Harper is the favorite off a rookie season. He made the All-Rookie First Team with 11.8 points and 3.9 assists in 69 games, starting only 4, for a Spurs team that went 62-20 and reached the Finals. He scored 25 in Game 5 of those Finals and averaged 18.0 points across the five games. The price is a bet on minutes: 22.6 a game last season leaves room for a jump like Alexander-Walker’s.
Miller averaged 20.2 points in 65 games in 2025-26 against 21.0 in 27 games the year before. His shooting moved more than his scoring, from 40.3% to 43.5% from the field and from 35.5% to 38.3% from three. A healthy full season is his case.
Pritchard won Sixth Man of the Year for 2024-25 and then went from 3 starts to 50. His scoring rose from 14.3 to 17.0 and his assists from 3.5 to 5.2, across 79 games.
Rebounders near the top
Three players who averaged nine or more rebounds in their last season of 55 games or more sit between +1600 and +3000:
- Kel’el Ware (+1600): 11.1 points and 9.0 rebounds in 77 games, up from 9.3 and 7.4.
- Walker Kessler (+2200): 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 58 games in 2024-25, then only 5 games in 2025-26.
- Donovan Clingan (+3000): 12.1 points and 11.6 rebounds in 77 starts, up from 6.5 and 7.9 with 37 starts.
Kessler is the odd one. His price rests on a full season he has not played since 2024-25, not on anything from last year.
Where the award has gone
| Season | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | Nickeil Alexander-Walker | Atlanta Hawks |
| 2024-25 | Dyson Daniels | Atlanta Hawks |
| 2023-24 | Tyrese Maxey | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 2022-23 | Lauri Markkanen | Utah Jazz |
| 2021-22 | Ja Morant | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 2020-21 | Julius Randle | New York Knicks |
| 2019-20 | Brandon Ingram | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 2018-19 | Pascal Siakam | Toronto Raptors |
| 2017-18 | Victor Oladipo | Indiana Pacers |
| 2016-17 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks |
Ten winners in ten seasons, and no one has won it twice. The Hawks are the only team with two.
What the prices say
Harper at +900 is a 10% chance. Miller at +1200 is 7.7%, and Pritchard at +1400 is 6.7%. A futures bet is worth making only when you rate a player’s chance higher than the price does, and these prices will move as the season is played.
Compare prices before you bet: our sportsbook reviews show where the books differ. From October 20, our NBA predictions carry the nightly lines. For the other awards, see our NBA Sixth Man odds, NBA MVP odds and Defensive Player of the Year odds. For the season as a whole, start with our NBA betting guide.
