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Ryan Rollins, Milwaukee Bucks.
Morgan Dubey.
Ryan Rollins has been one of the biggest surprises of the 2025-26 NBA Season – posting career-highs in key categories like PPG, APG, RPG, and SPG – and should garner some recognition in Most Improved Player (MIP) of the Year voting.
At 23 years old, Rollins is one of the most promising young players in the league. But it was only two years ago when it seemed like Rollins’ NBA journey would be over before it even really started.
A Difficult Start To His NBA Career
Back then, Rollins was with the Washington Wizards. As a tanking team, you’d think the Wizards would be eager to give the unproven guard out of Toledo some time to shine. Alas, that simply was not the case.
"I thought playing for [the Wizards] would be my opportunity to show what I can do," Rollins explained in an exclusive interview with me for Forbes. "Unfortunately, that just didn’t really happen."
"I was back and forth between the G-League and the NBA, and I wasn’t really playing well in the G-League. That was the lowest point of my career. I didn’t know what my path would be. I didn’t know if I would ever really get the opportunity to break through."
In total, Rollins appeared in 10 games for the Wizards, playing a grand total of 66 minutes. He was eventually let go by them before being signed by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Rollins Finally Gets The Chance He Was Waiting For
Things didn’t change overnight for the then-sophomore guard. He only played three games for the Bucks to close out the 2023-24 season. Two years with very little production from a second round pick is usually a death sentence in this cutthroat league. But Rollins isn’t your run-of-the-mill player. No matter how low he got, he never stopped working. He never stopped waiting for his chance.
"It was a tough time in my life, for sure," Rollins told me over the phone. "But all I could do was put my head down and stay persistent."
Persistence paid off for Rollins in a big way during his third season. Injuries and a need for an influx of youth on an aging roster led to Rollins being inserted into the nightly rotation. Rollins played 56 games (19 starts) for the Bucks, even earning his first postseason start.
Rollins hit open shots (40.8% of his threes), embraced difficult perimeter assignments, and used his speed and quick reflexes to generate turnovers (89th percentile in steal rate). Milwaukee rewarded Rollins for his services by signing him to a three-year, 12 million contract during the Summer of 2025.
Then, something unexpected happened. After carving out a role for himself as a "three-and-D" off-ball guard (think Lonzo Ball, De’Anthony Melton, Patrick Beverly, etc.), Rollins took it a step further this season.
Circumstances (which we will get to in a moment) enabled Rollins to showcase his game in a way we had never seen at the NBA level before. Rollins demonstrated that he could not only operate within a system, but also serve as its catalyst.
He nearly quintupled his pick-and-roll volume from the season prior (per NBA.com), more than tripled his drive rate, and started attempting self-generated shots at a volume normally reserved for star players.
Not only did he attempt those high-difficulty shots, but Rollins also showed he could hit them at a high mark. Of the 70 players who have attempted at least 100 pull-up threes this season, Rollins is tied for eighth among them in 3-point percentage (40.2%). For reference, that number is higher than all-time shot-makers like Kevin Durant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kawhi Leonard, and James Harden.
We alluded to it a second ago, but what most people don’t understand is that these leaps don’t come from a single offseason of training. They come from skill and hard work meeting that wonderful thing called opportunity. Rollins always had these gifts. He just needed someone to give him the platform to demonstrate them.
"It really comes down to opportunity. I’ve always been able to create for myself and my teammates, but since I was young and not a top-five pick, I had to do whatever I could to fit in and make a role for myself. That is where that 'three-and-D’ label comes from," Rollins explained. "As I played better, the coaching staff gained more trust in me. Then, Kevin Porter Jr. was hurt to start the season, so I had the chance to start at point guard for us right away. I was able to play well, and then I had that huge game on national television against the Golden State Warriors, and the rest is history."
MIP Candidacy
When a second-round pick bursts onto the scene after a quiet start to their career, it will almost always lead to some MIP consideration. Looking at the numbers, Rollins has as good a case as anyone.
For better or worse, people often judge player improvement by how much their PPG output increased from one season to the next. Rollins – who went from averaging 6.2 PPG last year to 16.9 this season – is right up there with the best of them, ranking second among legitimate MIP candidates (according to FanDuel betting odds) in PPG improvement, with a 10.7 PPG increase (as of March 23).
And while Rollins is solely focused on wins and losses at this stage of his career, being recognized for his individual excellence would go a long way for both the young guard and his family.
"It would show that all the hard work and dedication was worth it," Rollins reflected. "I’d also love for my parents, who worked so hard for me to get to this point, to be able to see the award and hold it in their arms."
Regardless of whether or not he ultimately wins the award, Rollins has proven that he is here to stay. Over the last few months, much has been made about two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee.
Will he stay or will he go? We probably won’t know the answer to that question until a little while down the road. But one thing is for certain, though, and that is that the Bucks have a real building block in Rollins.
Not bad for a former second round pick that everyone overlooked.
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