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The NBA’s postseason begins in two weeks and as the regular season wraps up, the awards market start to become one-way traffic. Two awards that are still up in the air are Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player. Let’s break down the best bet for both awards. Odds are courtesy of DraftKings.
Most Improved Player: Nickeil Alexander-Walker (+100)
One of the most surprising rises of any player in this market is by far Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Not many people had him on their radar for this award, or any award for that matter, but after five consecutive seasons averaging under 10 points per game, Alexander-Walker has exploded for 20.4 points per game this season over a career-high 33.2 minutes.
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When you look at his shooting splits, not many players are achieving what he is right now with 45/39/90 splits. The Atlanta Hawks are also one of the most surprising teams on the season, especially the second-half of the year. After trading away Trae Young, the door was open for multiple Hawks to expand their games in increased minutes and Alexander-Walker did just that.
The 27-year-old started 66 games which shatters his previous record of 21 in 2021-22 with the Pelicans and Jazz. After seven years and playing for his fourth team, it appears Alexander-Walker is in his prime it looks like he will be rewarded for that. It’s not all about offense or games played though, Alexander-Walker has been outstanding on the defensive end and facilitating too. Alexander-Walker doubled his steals from 0.6 to 1.3 this season, marking his first year totaling more than 1.0 steal per game, plus his 3.8 assists per game is a career-high and the first time going over 3.0 per game.
Alexander-Walker credits a lot of his success to Hawks’ coach Quinn Snyder who has allowed him to develop after Snyder saw the potential in Alexander-Walker after a short stint in Utah together. “He saw a ceiling higher for myself than I did,” Alexander-Walker told NBA.com. “And that was really cool for me because I felt like in my career I’ve never had that before.”
Alexander-Walker scored a career-high 41 points against Orlando earlier…
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Publish date : 2026-03-31 21:12:00
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