Check out our top-four candidates to win the 2023-24 NBA Most Improved Player

With the current regular season coming to an end, we wanted to check out the candidates to perhaps one of the most important awards in terms of what it really means. The Most Improved Player Award doesn't necessarily goes to guys who have increased their performance just by their averages, but instead by how much impact they've had on their teams success. In many cases this honor propels these players careers, as we end up seeing them in the All-Star game locker rooms the following year. Giannis Antetokoumpo, Ja Morant and Julius Randle have won this award and taken their careers to new heights after that.

In a year that's been plagued with injuries, several players had to step up for their teams, and take their roles in their franchise to the next level. This is the case for example with Tyrese Maxey. With Joel Embiid's injury and James Harden departure to the Clippers, Maxey exploded as the Philadelphia 76ers' young leader.

Other example of a similar situation is the case of Chicago Bulls' Coby White, who's had a bigger role after a year full of injured players in Windy City. Jalen Williams, Jonathan Kuminga complete our list. These young talents have emerged this year with solid performances and playing crucial roles on their teams.

Jalen has been a rising star this season. Out of this four players, Williams is the only one who has a major role in one of the NBA's best teams. He's aguably the second best player in OKC after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He was a few games out with injuries, but he's back and he's delivering. He's averaging 19.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

Kuminga emerged this year, from being seen as a cheap trade piece to a reliable scorer for the Golden State Warriors. Jonathan averages 16.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists. However, this has been a challenging year for the franchise, and he's chances of winning the award could be diminished by his team's lack of success.

Just as Kuminga, Coby White has emerged as a solid candidate for winning this award despite being in a play-in team. Coby has embraced a bigger role in his team's offense after Zach LaVine's injury. White is averaging 19.3 points and 5.3 assists per game, shooting 45% from the field and nearly 39% from three. His chances of getting with the MIPOY trophy will depend on Chicago's success of stealing Philadelphia's 8th spot.

Tyrese has been the favorite almost since the season started. Being the second guy behind the reigning MVP Joel Embiid and assuming his team's leadership after the big man went down with a knee injury nearly two months ago evidence his as the strongest case in the MIPOY race. He was selected to be part of the Eastern All-Stars for the first time this year and he's averaging nearly 26 points per game. Right now, the Sixers are in the 8th seed, so Tyrese chances may be reduced if his team continues falling down the playoffs ladder.