Detroit Pistons: What are Jerami Grant’s odds for Most Improved Player?

The Detroit Pistons have the worst record in the Eastern Conference, so you would not expect them to be taking home many awards. However, Jerami Grant has improved so much that he has been a frontrunner for the Most Improved Player award for most of the season.

At one point in the season, Jerami Grant looked like a lock for the award, as he has nearly doubled his scoring output, has the highest assist and rebound totals of his career and has turned into an above average volume 3-point shooter while taking the reins as the team’s number one option.

But Grant has had to miss several games recently to injury and had a 10-game stretch where he struggled shooting the ball, so he has gone from “lock” to “possibility” in a matter of a few weeks.

Jerami Grant still has a chance at the award, but there are a couple of things standing in his way.

The first thing is that the Detroit Pistons are the third-worst team in the NBA, and it is hard to win awards when your team is bad as voters are not going to put as much stock in your statistics.

The second thing that will get in Grant’s way is Julius Randle, who is having a fantastic season for the Knicks, who currently have a winning record (barely) and are the 8th seed in the East.

So what are Jerami Grant’s chances?

Detroit Pistons: Jerami Grant’s odds for Most Valuable Player

According to WynnBET, Jerami Grant has the second-best odds (-108) of winning the award for Most Improved Player.

Julius Randle currently has the best odds at -425, so is the clear favorite to take home the award, while former Piston Christian Wood is a distant third at +850 to win MIP.

Randle is certainly having a fantastic season, averaging 23 points, 10.7 rebounds and six assists and when you factor in the Knicks’ improvement as a team, he has a strong case.

But his numbers were pretty good last season as well, so you could argue that Jerami Grant has actually improved more, even though the Pistons have a losing record.

If the Knicks collapsed down the stretch then voters might turn back to Grant, but if that doesn’t happen it is probably Randle’s award.

Jerami Grant has probably had more individual improvement than any player in the NBA this season but it’s hard for him to get noticed when his team has a losing record, especially when the guy he is chasing is on the Knicks, who have a nonstop media machine hyping their every move.