Unlike the MVP award which LeBron James has a stranglehold on or the Rookie of the Year award which Damian Lillard appears to have raced away with, the list of candidates for Most Improved Player honours is long and varied.
There are players like Paul George and Jrue Holiday who stepped things up from being solid starters to playing at an all-star level this season.
Then there are players like Greivis Vasquez who surprised the league by emerging from a bench role to a leader on their respective teams. Vasquez has led a Hornets team that has missed Anthony Davis and Eric Gordon for large stretches but still sit around the middle of the pack in terms of offensive efficiency. Clearly that is the result of what Vasquez has done this season.
Then there are role players like Amir Johnson and Larry Sanders, who have got at in on the defensive end but their input can’t always be measured in traditional stats (although Sanders is second in the NBA in blocks and has spent the season near the top of the league in rebounds).
You could even make a good argument for a Canadian winning the award as Tristan Thompson has shown marked improvement from his rookie season.
But, if I were able to cast a vote for most improved player, I’d vote for Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic.
During the summer Vucevic was looked at as a bit piece in the trade which saw well-known big men like Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard change teams. However, with Bynum missing the season and Howard only playing like himself as of late, as crazy as it may sound, you could make an argument that Vucevic had the biggest impact of any of the big man involved in last summer’s blockbuster trade.
Last year as a rookie, Vucevic played in 51 games while averaging 15.9 minutes. This season in Orlando, he has started all 76 games he has played in while averaging 33.2 minutes. On top of that, he has nearly tripled his scoring (5.5 to 13.0 points per game) and more than doubled his rebounding averages (4.8 to 11.9). Last season he had two double-doubles but this year he is among the league leader with 45.
What’s impressive is that despite logging more minutes and getting more attention from opposing defenses, Vucevic has been able to raise his field goal percentage this season (.450% per cent to .516 per cent).
Also, as a point of comparison, Howard’s scoring more (17.1) but only has a slight edge in rebounding (12.4). Even their PER (Howard at 19.6 and Vucevic at 17.8) are eerily close.
Now, I’m not trying to say Orlando is better off with Vucevic than Howard, but the fact the two are posting comparable stats is remarkable. The growth Vucevic has shown this season is tremendous and warrants strong consideration for the NBA’s most improve player award this season.
Talented seven-footers don’t grow on trees so it’s impressive that Orlando’s general manager Rob Hennigan was able to deal the NBA’s best center while getting a talented young one back in return.
It makes you wonder if Philadelphis is questioning their decision to trade Vucevic and Andre Igoudala for Bynum.