If you thought Ajay Mitchell broke out onto the scene last season, just wait for what the OKC Thunder have set him up to do in 2026-27.
After surprising the masses and establishing himself as a regular within coach Mark Daigneault's rotation right out of the gate during his rookie season, the Santa Barbara product took a major leap forward in year two by serving as Oklahoma City's top weapon off the pine.
In this role, Mitchell posted new career-high averages of 13.6 points, 3.6 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals on 48.5 percent shooting from the field and finished fifth in the running for Sixth Man of the Year.
Now, with the departures of guys like Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and Lu Dort this summer, many expect the rising star guard to have an even better shot at snagging the top second-unit honor once and for all, with BetMGM's oddsmakers placing him right behind San Antonio's Dylan Harper as the second-favorite to do so.
However, assuming he does manage to level himself up to be in such serious contention for 6MOY, there's no reason to believe he shouldn't also be highly regarded for the Most Improved Player Award as well.
In fact, in some ways, it may be more realistic for him to take home this latter accolade.
Offseason Thunder moves have Ajay Mitchell primed for legit MIP push
As seen on multiple occasions throughout last year's regular season and during their deep playoff run, Mitchell is highly capable of bringing his play to impressive heights when there are fewer mouths to feed around him.
From his averages of 15.2 points on 46.8 percent shooting from the floor while guys like All-Star Jalen Williams were out of the lineup to dropping 18.4 points and 4.7 assists on a league-best plus-14.6 plus-minus while thrust into the postseason's starting lineup, it's clear that the more opportunities Mitchell is given, the better he is, both from a counting stats and advanced metrics standpoint.
Now, with all the player departures the Thunder have seen this summer, particularly those who were fixtures in the club's bench rotation, the belief is that Mitchell should get the kind of usage he did during these aforementioned spurts on a much more consistent basis.
In the event that he ends up posting numbers similar to these for a full season, while bringing his long-range shooting efficiency back to his 2024-25 rate, as he seems to currently be trying to do, there should be no reason that a third-year former second-round pick producing at such a level shouldn't be a serious contender to take home Most Improved Player honors.
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