Who’s The Most Improved Player In The NBA?

We are a little more than a month into the NBA season and it has been a good one so far. The NBA season so far has been pretty exciting in my opinion. I do see this season being one of the more entertaining seasons that we have had in years past. Their are so many great teams right now and there could be a case made for those teams on why they could win the title this season. Today though we are going to talk about who has been the most improved player in the NBA as of right now.

This is a solid award to look out for in my opinion, because it gives a player recognition for working on their craft and showing it by having a much better season than they did the season before. With that being said here are the five players I am making a case for as why they should be considered the most improved player in the NBA right now.

5.) Collin Sexton 

Collin Sexton has taken a huge step forward this season for the Cavaliers. He is currently averaging a career high in PPG, APG, and is shooting better than he has in any season in his young NBA career. Sexton has upped his scoring by a little over 4 points per game, which doesn’t seem like a lot but he has gotten better. Just looking at the way he has played in every game this season; you can tell he is a completely different player. He worked a ton on his game this off-season and boy has it payed off for the 22 year old guard.

At the beginning of the year people didn’t have high hopes on the Cavaliers, but with the way Sexton and the team is playing they are currently sitting in a playoff spot. They are currently sixth in the Eastern Conference and have put together a nice little squad. Cleveland hasn’t been this high in the standings since they last had LeBron James. So from the looks of things it looks like we are seeing the start of something in Cleveland. If Sexton and the Cavaliers continue to play this way look for Sexton to shoot up the board for Most Improved.

4.) Chris Boucher

Chris Boucher was looked at to take a big leap with the Raptors losing Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka in free agency. He has taken on a bigger role and is slowly thriving in it at the moment. Boucher is averaging 14.1 PPG to go along with 6.4 RPG as well and is adding 2.2 BPG to go along with it. All of these numbers are career highs because he is getting more minutes which leads to more opportunities.

Boucher is making the most of his opportunities and in some people’s eyes; he has a realistic shot at winning Most Improved and Sixth Man of the Year as well. It just seem like it is only a matter of time before Boucher cracks the starting lineup for the first time in his career. He has yet to start a game in the NBA, but the way that Aaron Baynes is playing for Toronto his time for his first career start could be sooner rather than later. I am curious to see if Boucher is one of those players that are better off the bench than they are starting. We will have to wait and see but keep an eye out on Boucher in Toronto.

3.) Jerami Grant 

Talk about a guy that is off to a career year, Jerami Grant has been one of the more intriguing stories of the season so far. Grant has upped his scoring by 11.8 PPG to go along with adding a little less than three more rebounds per game as well. Back in 2018-2019 when Grant started for the Thunder he looked like he was getting ready to be a talented starter. After going to Denver and seeing his role diminish he was looking to prove that he is a starting caliber forward in this league.

Boy has he done that so far in Detroit. Grant has been the bright spot for that bad Detroit team and now people are seeing why they payed them the contract that they did this past off-season. Now with how bad the Pistons are people are speculating how good his actual game is. Well I am here to tell you that the 26 year old is ready to take the next step. I do think his numbers overall by the end of the season will decrease, but for right now he is in my top three in most improved voting at this very moment.

2.) Christian Wood

What a jump that Christian Wood has made since signing a contract with the Houston Rockets. Wood has upped his scoring over 10 points per game and is averaging 4.5 more rebounds per game as well. Wood is finally getting his chance to be a big impact player night in and night out and it is working out for him right now. Houston hasn’t been as good as people had hoped this year, but Wood is definitely a big time bright spot for the Rockets. The real question for Wood is “Will he be able to keep up the stats all year long?”

I do believe that his rebounding will stay around the 10-11 RPG while his points might take a little bit of a dip. I do still think Wood finishes this season averaging more than 20 PPG, but I don’t know if I see him being able to surpass the amount he is currently at. Houston is going to be an interesting team for the rest of the season and it is nice to see that no matter if you get drafted or not; that if you continue to work hard anything is possible. Christian Wood has worked extremely hard to get here and is not taking any moment for granted.

1.) Jaylen Brown

Now we are looking at the most improved player right now in the NBA and it is none other than Jaylen Brown. Brown has taken an incredible step this season, and it isn’t getting talked about as much as it should. He has solidified himself as a top two option on a championship caliber team so far this season. He is currently leading the Celtics in scoring and he is having career highs in his shooting as well. 52/44/77 is his shooting splits right now which are big time improvements than they were a season ago. Jaylen is also taking more shots, and is slowly becoming one of the most efficient scorers in the league today.

He is still a very talented wing defender that could guard any positions from 1-4, but adding the offense that he has added this season he is becoming a more all-around complete player. Jaylen Brown is an all-star this season, and should be an absolute lock for Most Improved Player of the Year. Boston fans are excited because this former top three pick has the best valued contract in the league right now with the way he is playing. He can only get better and if you are a basketball fan you have to watch out for the name Jaylen Brown.

-Chris Jones (@cjoneswho1212)