Predicting which Sacramento Kings players will win awards this season

Most Improved Player of the Year (MIP): Keegan Murray

This is the biggest long shot of them all. According to BetMGM, Keegan Murray's odds of winning the MIP award are tied with guys like Taylor Hendricks, Trey Murphy III, Patrick Williams, Devin Vassell, and Trayce Jackson-Davis at +6600. As it stands, there are 34 players with odds higher than Murray.

The reason Murray could defy the odds, though, is because he doesn't actually need to improve that much for people to start viewing him as a serious candidate.

Last season, Murray took a major leap (particularly on the defensive side of the ball), going from being in the 61st percentile in Estimated Plus-Minus (EPM) to the 86th percentile (per Dunks & Threes). People just didn't realize he grew so much because he was having a subpar shooting season (he shot 35.8% from three one year after shooting 41.1%). However, it is not atypical for great shooters to have down seasons sprinkled into their career, and Murray is a great shooter.

If Murray's shooting can get back to being close to that 40% mark and he improves his off-the-dribble game, he instantly becomes one of the best role players on the planet. And that type of leap would easily give him a shot at taking home the MIP award.