Orlando, Fla. — The NBA announced Friday that Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker beat out Pistons center Jalen Duren for the league's Most Improved Player of the Year award for the 2025-26 season.
Alexander-Walker earned the honor by raising his scoring average from 9.4 points per game last season to 20.8 points this year, an increase of 11.4 points. He was the fifth player in the last 35 seasons to record a year-over-year increase of 11 points from one season to the next.
Duren finished second in voting, while Portland Trail Blazers' Deni Avdija placed third.
Duren was vital in helping the Pistons put together the third-best record in franchise history at 60-22. He notched career highs across the board with 41 double-doubles, averaging 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in 70 games.
Duren was named to his first All-Star team in February, a recognition for his outstanding season. However, after the team returned from the All-Star break, he further elevated his performance. In his final 26 games, he averaged 22.6 points with a remarkable 67.8% shooting efficiency from the field, along with 10.7 rebounds per game. His dominance contributed to the Pistons' impressive 18-8 record during that stretch.
In March, Duren became the third player since the NBA-ABA merger to record multiple games in a season with 30 or more points while missing no more than one field-goal attempt and grabbing nine or more rebounds. He joined Hall of Famers Dwight Howard (2006-07) and Charles Barkley (1988-89), who also achieved the feat.
"From JD’s ability to dominate both ends of the floor, the stretches where he’s had to carry us offensively and have big nights scoring the basketball, facilitating the basketball, growing to be a hub for this team where we can just throw him the ball and he can make decisions, make reads, make plays from there," Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said in March.
"Then defensively how he dominates the defensive boards, how he protects the paint and then just the impact that he’s had on winning, which I think ultimately is the most important thing. You can have hollow numbers on a bad team, but if you can do what he’s done and help a team win, I think you’re deserving of it all."
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Pistons' Jalen Duren misses out on Most Improved Player award