According to sportsbooks, the leading candidates for NBA Most Improved Player are Jalen Johnson, Jalen Duren, Deni Avdija, and Keyonte George. One name that doesn't appear anywhere on those lists is Moussa Diabaté - and in my view, he should at least get strong consideration for the award.

The French center's numbers don't jump off the page the way his fellow candidates' do: 8.4 points and 8.7 rebounds in 25.5 minutes, an improvement over his 2023-24 line of 5.7 points and 6.2 rebounds — but the kind of improvement that could easily be chalked up to increased playing time. Last season, Diabaté averaged just 17.5 minutes off the bench, playing behind Mark Williams, Nick Richards (first half of the season), and Jusuf Nurkić (second half).

This season, Charlotte opened the season with only two centers in rotation: Diabaté as the backup and Ryan Kalkbrenner, who started the year at the five. Most analysts dismissed this duo, and the Hornets were widely expected to be lottery-bound again.

Then Kakkbrenner got hurt. Diabaté stepped into the starting lineup. And that was one of the central catalysts for Charlotte's turnaround.

After going 11-22 through the end of December 2025, the Hornets currently sit 9th in the East with a 32-31 record - above .500, and threatening to leapfrog Miami, Orlando, and Philadelphia for a top-6 seed. Do the math: Charlotte is 21-9 in 2026.

When the Hornets are fully healthy - which has mostly been the case since the new year - and take the floor with their starting five of Diabaté, Miles Bridges, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, and LaMelo Ball, their record is an astonishing 28-3, a 90.3% win rate. That lineup's offensive rating of 134.9 is the highest in the league.

Per Cleaning the Glass, when that group is on the floor together, it posts a net rating of +31.2 points per 100 possessions. With Diabaté, of course. He is making his team dramatically better, and that is the central reason he deserves to be in the Most Improved conversation.

There are other factors in Charlotte's rise: LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller both started the year with minute restrictions as they worked back from injuries; Grant Williams returned from injury; and head coach Charles Lee has done excellent work. But you can't ignore Diabaté's presence.

Start with offense, even though it's the secondary part of his game. In Charlotte's blowout win in Boston two days ago (118-89), the opening play of the game was an inverted pick-and-roll, with LaMelo setting a rare ball screen for Diabaté (a set that usually concludes with a zoom action where Knueppel or Miller receives a handoff from Diabaté). This time, Diabaté finished at the rim. Watch the play here:

To be clear, that play isn't typical. Per Synergy, the Michigan product's shot diet reflects a player who molds himself to the four teammates around him: 24.2% of his points come from cuts, 21.4% from offensive rebounds, 20% as the roll man in pick-and-roll, and 14% in transition. Post-up scoring accounts for just 4.5% of his offense. And that's perfectly fine - Knueppel, Miller, Ball, and Bridges can all create for themselves and shoot from three. Given the spacing and gravity those four provide, Diabaté's particular skill set is exactly what the lineup needs.

But his contribution goes well beyond adaptability. Per Sportradar, his on/off differential is +11.7, placing him in the 96th percentile league-wide. Kalkbrenner, who started the season in his spot, sits at -14. The reason is Diabaté's exceptional defense, which could, in time, make him a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

At 6'10" with a 7'2.5" wingspan, he's capable of altering shots as a help defender, but his defining trait - what makes him a true Swiss Army knife - is his ability to switch. Against the Celtics this week, he picked up Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard in switches and forced them into difficult shots and turnovers. He also came up with two steals on pure instinct, one of which he converted into a dunk going the other way. Watch his defensive highlights against Boston:

Diabate’s ability to guard all five positions, at a time when players his size are typically confined to drop coverage schemes, makes him a center who can stay on the floor in the playoffs - unlike, say, Rudy Gobert. That's another reason why, if Charlotte reaches the postseason, they'll be a team nobody wants to face.