NBA Award Predictions: Most Improved Player

The NBA Most Improved Player Award is an interesting one  where the criteria is not set very well. Generally it goes to a player who is coming off either a down year, an injury, or has just finally progressed from the young years. Our staff makes their predictions.

The Most Improved Player in the NBA is someone who has made a vast improvement from his previous season(s) in the league to new, league-wide recognizable heights. A number of players have made these jumps, and probably at least a dozen deserve to be in the discussion, but only one can take it home.

For possibly the first time in all the award discussions we have talked about here at The Smoking Cuban, Dallas Mavericks players will rightfully have their name in the discussion. Unlike with any of the other awards, some of the Mavs players really made vast improvements to their game this year.

Dallas Mavericks

Harrison Barnes is the first one that comes to mind. Barnes made the jump from the 4th best player on the Golden State Warriors to arguably the best player in Dallas in a year and he transitioned very well. His time in Dallas has been well received and an All-Star appearance doesn’t seem to be too far out of reach at this point.

Next we have Seth Curry. Curry went from being mostly nobody other than a great shooter’s brother to a legitimate scorer and threat in the league from all over the court in one season. Although his irregular play will probably keep him out of the running, Curry could easily be in the conversation.

Lastly, one could make an argument for Nerlens Noel. Although his stats probably won’t jump out of the page, he made obvious strides in his game once being traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Not enough to win the award, but maybe his name will come up somewhere in the conversation.

Will any of the Mavs be mentioned by our staff as their pick? Find out in the slides ahead.

Next: Giannis Antetokounmpo