By definition, it's hard to argue that any player had a more significant year-over-year jump than combo guard Ryan Rollins did for the Milwaukee Bucks this season. In his third season with the Bucks organization and fourth as a pro, Rollins displayed tremendous growth in every single per-game stat category. He did so while maintaining elite-level efficiency despite taking nearly three times as many shots as in the season prior.
To Wisconsin sports fans and those tapped into the NBA at a deeper level, he appeared to be the most obvious candidate in the league for this year's Most Improved Player award. He went from averaging six points, two rebounds and two assists a game, to 17.3 points (+11.1), 5.6 assists (+3.7), 4.6 rebounds (+2.7) and 1.5 steals (+0.7), which mark career-highs across the board.
Furthermore, Rollins was one of the most effective clutch scorers in the league, ranked fourth in total deflections, guarded the opposing team's best guard or wing every game, and evolved from a fringe backup guard to a full-fledged NBA starter at just 23 years old.
Yet because of the media circus surrounding his team — largely imposed by national conglomerates trying to push Giannis Antetokounmpo out of Milwaukee — Rollins was steamrolled in official voting and ultimately landed fifth in Most Improved Player contention. He finished with only three first-place votes and received only 15 total votes of the hundred ballots submitted.
Credit to the winner, Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, for a fantastic debut season in Atlanta, but if we're looking at the NBA landscape more broadly, Rollins is the definition of Most Improved and got snubbed without good reason.
Ryan Rollins' Most Improved Player snub proves the NBA doesn't get how important he is to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Merriam-Webster defines "improve" as follows: to enhance in value or quality, make better. That's straightforward enough, right?
Apparently not for NBA Awards voters, who completely missed the mark on Ryan Rollins this season. He went from playing about 14 and a half minutes per night and barely shooting the ball to literally leading the Milwaukee Bucks in points, assists and steals over an 82-game season.
During a year in which the team posted the sixth-worst Net Rating in the NBA at -6.1, Rollins had a +8.5 on/off differential per 100 possessions. For those who aren't up on their NBA advanced stats, it basically means that the team was significantly more effective with Rollins on the floor this season.
For stretches, Rollins single-handedly put the team on his back this year, and the numbers prove it. The only player on the Milwaukee Bucks with a better on/off differential than Rollins was Giannis Antetokounmpo himself.
Rollins was also left off the NBA's All-Defensive teams for the 2025-26 season despite holding opponents to 45.1% from the field, which ranked ahead of some excellent perimeter defenders, including Alex Caruso, Stephon Castle, Mikal Bridges and the reigning DPOY, Dyson Daniels.
He forced opponents into difficult shots, hounded them off the 3-point line, met them at the point of attack and clawed at the ball with the intensity of a starved hawk. What more could you possibly ask of the guy?
He assumed a massive role vacated by Damian Lillard, and although the veteran star was undoubtedly the better scorer during his time in Milwaukee, there's an argument that the season Rollins just put together was more impactful than either of Dame's two seasons in the Brew City because of his two-way impact.
The Most Improved Player Award is starting to feel like a lost cause. Maybe they should rebrand it to the 'Most Popular Player to Improve Award,' because since the turn of the 2020s, that's what it's starting to feel like more so than a true reflection on which player made the biggest jump.
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