5 breakout candidates for the 2023–24 NBA Most Improved Player Award

The NBA's Most Improved Player Award, also known as the George Mikan Award, is a trophy that gets handed out every year to a player deemed to have shown the most improvement in their game. Predicting a winner can be a bit tricky, though, given there are no actual parameters or criteria for the award.

However, the NBA implemented a new rule this year that requires a player to play at least 20 minutes in at least 65 games to qualify for most end-of-year honors, with the exception of Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie team. Tyler Conway of Bleacher Report does a good job explaining all the major rule changes for the 2023–24 season.

With the NBA game continuously evolving, the MIP award is a nice way to shine a light on some of the young up-and-coming talent in the league.  As a Knicks fan, I don't have much to look forward to or be excited about, so I enjoy tracking these young players' development as I fantasize about them suiting up in the blue and orange and playing in the Garden.

Here at Hoops Habit, we will release monthly updates tracking our top five candidates in the MIP race. Without further ado, let’s get into some rankings.