Now that we’ve looked at the MVP candidates, let’s turn our attention to this season’s Most Improved Player candidates.
Crowning which player has improved the most can be a difficult task. Whereas there are a number of ways to measure how valuable a player is to a team’s success — whether it’s on offense, defense or as the first player off the bench — determining how much someone has improved is often more subjective.
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A bump in statistics is an obvious indicator, but there’s far more to being a better player than averaging a couple more points, rebounds or assists per game, especially if those improvements don’t make that player's team more competitive.
With that in mind, let’s go through the leading MIP candidates for the 2017-18 season and break down the specific changes they’ve made to their games to understand why they could win the award. There is a clear frontrunner, but there are a number of players deserving of attention.
Victor Oladipo, Pacers
What James Harden is to the MVP award this season, Victor Oladipo is to the MIP award.
Oladipo has improved in every category this season. Following a disappointing campaign with the Thunder, he is scoring 7.9 more points per game, dishing out 1.7 more assists per game, grabbing 1.1 more rebounds per game and generating 1.0 more steals per game with the Pacers. Oladipo has also improved across the board as a shooter, boosting his field goal percentage from 44.2 percent to 47.4 percent, his 3-point percentage from 36.1 percent to 36.8 percent and his free throw percentage from 75.3 percent to 80.1 percent.
Oladipo’s improvements as a 3-point shooter have had the greatest impact on his game. While his 3-point attempt rate has actually decreased since last season, he’s gone from attempting a total of 49 pull-up 3-pointers with the Thunder to making 60 pull-up 3-pointers (and counting) with the Pacers, which has helped him become one of the best pick-and-roll scorers in the NBA. Not only does Oladipo now score as many points out of the pick-and-roll as Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook, he ranks in the 82.9 percentile with 0.95 points per pick-and-roll possession.
Nobody saw this sort of production coming from Oladipo heading into the season. Acquiring him and Domantas Sabonis for Paul George was supposed to kickstart the Pacers’ next rebuild, not give them the push they needed to fight for home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference. Based on how important he’s been to their success — the Pacers collapse on both ends of the court when he is on the bench — it’s hard to imagine anyone stealing this award from Oladipo.
Spencer Dinwiddie, Nets
Spencer Dinwiddie’s basketball journey is unlike anyone else on this list.
A second-round pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Dinwiddie became a mainstay on the Pistons’ bench before he was traded to the Bulls in 2016 for Cameron Bairstow, a second-rounder from the same draft who spent two seasons in the NBA before going back to Australia. The Bulls then waived Dinwiddie twice within a four-month period, paving the way for him to join their D-League team at the start of the 2016-17 season. Nine games with the Windy City Bulls later, the Nets signed Dinwiddie to a three-year contract that was only partially guaranteed.
Dinwiddie got an opportunity to play in his first season with the Nets, coming off the bench for 41 games and putting up 7.3 points, 3.1 assists and 2.8 rebounds per contest. He came into this season as the backup to D’Angelo Russell and Jeremy Lin, but he was promoted into the starting lineup on Nov. 14 when both Russell and Lin went down with injuries.
While Dinwiddie hasn’t shot the ball as well over the last six weeks, he’s proven that he belongs in the NBA with averages of 13.8 points, 7.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game as a starter this season.
More telling is how the Nets — a team with a 21-45 record — actually outscored opponents by an average of 0.3 points per 100 possessions with Dinwiddie on the court in games played between Nov. 14 and Jan. 5. They are no longer a positive with him on the court for the season, but they are a whopping 7.3 points per 100 possessions better with him in the lineup.
That’s a remarkable turnaround for someone who was basically cut by two different teams not long ago.
Andre Drummond, Pistons
Andre Drummond made two noticeable changes to his game this season. First and foremost, he is no longer the worst free throw shooter in the NBA. After making 38.6 percent of his free throw attempts last season, Drummond has made 62.1 percent of his free throw attempts this season. It only puts him ahead of five qualified centers — DeAndre Jordan, Willie Cauley-Stein, Clint Capela, Steven Adams and Dwight Howard are each shooting free throws at a slightly worse rate than Drummond — but it’s by far his most successful season yet from the foul line.
The second change Drummond made this season comes in the post. Even though he ranked in the 19.5 percentile with 0.73 points per post-up possession, Drummond attempted more shots out of the post than all but four players last season. He is still one of the worst post-up scorers in the league, but Drummond is not posting up nearly as much this season. He’s instead spending far more of his time around the elbows, which has helped him become one of the best passing big men in the league.
Those improvements make Drummond a much easier player to build around. He’s unlikely to ever be the type of center who can be a scoring threat outside of the paint, but his limitations aren’t as noticeable if he’s making free throws at a decent rate and moving the ball on offense. Because of it, the Pistons are back to scoring at a higher rate with their franchise player on the floor. And for that, he deserves some recognition.
DeMar DeRozan, Raptors
Like Drummond, DeMar DeRozan has made a couple of notable changes to his game this season.
Following a season in which almost half of his field goal attempts came from midrange — a big reason why he was the most polarizing player in the league heading into this season — DeRozan has extended his shooting range out to the 3-point line to encouraging results.
With 18 games remaining in Toronto’s season, DeRozan has already set career-highs in 3-point makes and 3-point attempts. He’s made only 31.9 percent of those opportunities, but his success from distance has suffered by him making only 25.8 percent of his pull-up 3-point attempts. (DeRozan has been much better on catch-and-shoots, converting 35.3 percent of those looks).
DeRozan has also improved as a passer this season, going from averaging 3.9 assists per game to 5.2 assists per game. It’s the difference between him assisting on 20.6 percent of his teammates’ made baskets when he’s on the floor to 25.2 percent. The combination should help the Raptors overcome some of the issues that have plagued them in the playoffs in the past. In which case, the improvements DeRozan has made to his game might have the greatest impact on how things shake out in the Eastern Conference this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
Whereas Giannis Antetokounmpo proved himself to be an All-Star last season, he has proven himself to be an MVP candidate this season. The numbers alone are impressive: Antetokounmpo has gone from averaging 22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.6 steals per game last season to 27.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game this season, all while shooting the ball at an almost identical rate and turning the ball over at a slightly lower rate.
What’s even more impressive is the impact that has had on the Bucks. With Antetokounmpo on the bench, the Bucks are being outscored by 9.2 points per 100 possessions this season. With him on the court, they’re outscoring teams by 4.4 points per 100 possessions. That’s as big of a swing as anyone in the league, which explains why Antetokounmpo is both an MIP candidate and an MVP candidate this season.
Antetokounmpo still has room to grow, too. It’s clear he doesn’t need an outside jump shot to be one of the best players in the NBA — half of his field goal attempts have come within the restricted area, and he’s shooting less than 35.0 percent from midrange this season — but it’s the only part missing from his game. If he’s able to add that to his repertoire, don’t be surprised if Antetokounmpo finds himself back in the MIP and MVP discussion next season.
Clint Capela, Rockets
Clint Capela has improved each season he’s been in the NBA, to the point where he’s become James Harden and Chris Paul’s dream center. With the amount of outside shooting they have at other positions, Harden and Paul don’t need Capela to do much more than set hard screens, roll to the basket, make himself available for drop-off passes in the paint and attack the offensive glass.
Where Capela begins to separate himself from other players at his position is with how accepting he is of his role and well he does each of those things. According to NBA.com, he is averaging 1.36 points per possession as the roll man, 1.32 points per possession on cuts and 1.17 points per possession on putbacks this season. Not only are each of those marks good enough for him to rank near the top of the league in efficiency, they make up over 70.0 percent of his offense on the season.
Capela showed signs of being able to do each of those things well last season, but he’s now doing it at a higher level and in more minutes on the best team in the NBA. (Capela is making strides as a passer and a defensive anchor as well. He’s a capable rim protector who is comfortable switching onto guards when needed, allowing the Rockets to run a switch-heavy defensive scheme built to compete with the Warriors).
The fact that the Rockets have only lost one game with Harden, Paul and Capela in the lineup this season is a testament to how well he complements two of the league’s best playmakers.
Steven Adams, Thunder
When the Thunder lacked the 3-point shooting needed to open up the paint for Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams last season, Adams stretched the limits of his range by attempting more shots than he ever has before outside of the restricted area. Now that the paint has opened up again with the additions of Carmelo Anthony and Paul George, Adams is back to dunking everything in sight — although last season’s foray outside of the restricted area has only helped him become a more complete player.
To make himself a better fit on this version of the Thunder, Adams is hitting the offensive glass in ways we haven’t seen before. He currently trails only Andre Drummond with 5.0 offensive rebounds per game, putting him in position to become the first player in NBA history to average at least 5.0 offensive rebounds per game and less than 10.0 total rebounds per game.
That’s not to say Adams is a bad defensive rebounder, either. While he doesn’t record many, he’s a box out machine that enables Westbrook to be the force he is in transition.
Adams’ dominance on the offensive boards is a huge source of his own offense and of the Thunder’s. With Adams on the court this season, the Thunder are averaging 17.5 second-chance points per 100 possessions. That number drops to 10.7 points per 100 possessions when he goes to the bench, the difference between the Thunder ranking No. 1 and No. 26 in that category. As George explained to the Norman Transcript’s Fred Katz earlier in the season, Adams’ offensive rebounding makes him feel like he can take any shot. There's a good chance Adams will find his way to a miss.
Take that off the Thunder, and it’s no surprise that their offense falls apart.
Other candidates: Bradley Beal, Jrue Holiday, Aaron Gordon, Jaylen Brown, Josh Richardson, Gary Harris, Joe Ingles, Dario Saric and Brandon Ingram
