Amidst the 2025-26 NBA season's first-week overreactions, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell received serious consideration for this year's Most Improved Player award from Yahoo Sports' Chris Mannix, who's calling the race early. Mitchell continues to make headway for the Thunder in a secondary scorer/playmaker role amid All-Star Jalen Williams and Isaiah Joe's absence throughout the regular season.
Mitchell, who was on a two-way deal last season, earned coach Mark Daigneault's trust throughout training camp, preseason, and two double-overtime wins for the shorthanded defending champions, and thrived. Mitchell scored a career-high 26 points in a 141-135 victory against the Indiana Pacers.
For Mannix, Mitchell's journey coupled with his production, which is sustainable as the Thunder's leading bench scorer this season, should make the second-round pick the favorite to win the Most Improved Player award, he said, per Sports Illustrated's Rachel Nichols & Chris Mannix.
“He is my first that's a wrap for the award — he's Most Improved [Player],” Mannix said. “He's most improved. He's a second-round pick. I'm not the guy that votes for the lottery pick that gets a lot better — I hate that. These guys are supposed to get better. It's the second-round pick that played 36 games a year ago on a two-way deal. That is now looking like a fringey All-Star guy early on.
“Not that he's gonna get there. But if he's averaging like 15 and 5 on Oklahoma City, which means he could be averaging like 20 and 10 on Washington or Utah, c'mon, that's a shoo-in,” Mannix concluded.
Mitchell is averaging 18.3 points on 47.5% shooting, 4.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.0 steals in 27.3 minutes per game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drops Ajay Mitchell Thunder revelation
For Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder second-year guard Ajay Mitchell's intensity as a competitor stood out most since training camp. Gilgeous-Alexander says he recognized Mitchell's hunger before the start of the regular season, making Ajay's breakout week not much of a surprise for the league's reigning MVP.
“He’s such a competitor that you can see by his intensity in practice — how he walks around the building,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “He competes and wants to go out there and play. We’ve seen that since the beginning of the season. Stepped into a big role. He’s been like a second ball-handler for us. He’s been huge in some really big games against really good teams, and it’s no surprise that he’s shown up in those moments.”
The Thunder will shoot for 6-0 when it hosts the Wizards on Thursday.
