Last time's ladder can be found here, by clicking on any of these words. Things are finally heating up again, so we're back for the second half of the season.
1. Jerami Grant, Detroit Pistons
2nd last time
ODDS: -250
2019-20 stats: 12.0 pts 3.5 reb 1.2 ast 0.7 stl 0.8 blk
75% ft 0.9 turnovers 27 minutes
2020-21 stats: 23.4 pts 5.3 reb 2.9 ast 0.8 stl 1.1 blk
89% ft 1.9 turnovers 57.1 ts% 36 minutes
Grant is the runaway favorite at this point in the season. He and Christian Wood were 1a and 1b before Wood went down with an ankle injury (Feb 4th). Grant has been Detroit's best player beyond a shadow of a doubt. Despite having the 29th best record in the NBA, Detroit has shown direction, courtesy of new GM Troy Weaver's youth movement.
Grant is averaging career highs in everything, is efficient, and improves Detroit's defensive rating when he's on the floor. That's really impressive for such a bad team, and for a player with the minutes and usage of Grant. He's one of the best finishers in the league already, and gets better as a primary ballhandler every night out. Worth nothing that while Shams Charania (The Athletic) reported that the Celtics are interested in acquiring Grant last week, but that does not indicate anything about Detroit's desire. Grant has shown some franchise player potential. It's evident that he was learning a lot from the now-moved on Blake Griffin. They're strikingly similar players, and that's a huge compliment to Grant.
2. Christian Wood, Houston Rockets
1st last time
ODDS: +600
2019-20 stats: 13.1 pts 6.3 reb 1.0 ast 1.4 stocks
21 minutes 1.4 turnovers
2020-21 stats: 22.0 pts 10.2 reb 1.3 ast 0.9 stl 1.5 blk
31 minutes 1.8 turnovers 63.4 ts% 61.8 efg%
Wood is who Grant took the odds-favorite title from. Despite an injury that has sidelined him for over a month (he'll be back within a week, reportedly), Wood is third-favorite in Vegas. His box score and efficiency numbers speak for themselves, as does his impact. Since that injury the Thursday before the Super Bowl, Houston has yet to win a game. 13 straight losses, and only 3 of them were by less than 11 points. This isn't the MVP award; I'm not sure splits without a player affect their Most Improved case, but Wood has vaulted to focal point in Houston in just 17 games. He's gone from bench spark to maybe the best Rocket scary quick.
3. Julius Randle, New York Knicks
3rd last week
ODDS: +500
2019-20 stats: 19.5 pts 9.7 reb 3.1 ast
46/28/73 shooting 53.8 ts% 49.2 efg 27.1 usage
2020-21 stats: 23.1 pts 10.9 reb 5.5 ast
48/41/81 shooting 58.6 ts% 53.5 efg 27.0 usage
Congratulations to the deserving first-time All-Star. The Knicks are the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference (the playoffs do not care if that's at 19-18). While Randle's usage seems large, it's the same as it was last season. Which means Randle and his teammates have just gotten way better in new coach Tom Thibodeau's system. It’s almost inexplicable how different Randle looks from last year.
The turnovers have gone up by 10%, but the assists have gone up by 77%. The shooting has gotten to crazy clips at all three levels. He's got a great chance at a 50/40/80 season. The rebounding has improved. The team has improved. The Knicks' defensive rating is 2nd in the NBA (108.0), and Randle improves that number by 1.1 when he’s on the floor. Because his volume has been unchanged - especially compared to Grant, Wood, and other candidates, I think he has “improved” the most. Three of our top five have seen double-digit minutes increases.
4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
9th last time
ODDS: +3300
2019-20 stats: 19.0 pts 5.9 reb 3.3 ast
47/35/81 shooting 51.4 eFG 56.8 ts% 1.7 ast:to
2020-21 stats: 23.2 pts 5.1 reb 6.2 ast
51/41/79 shooting 57.6 eFG 62.7 ts% 2.2 ast:to
SGA was the odds-on favorite to win this award at the start of the season. It made full sense. Oklahoma City was a playoff team last season, and a solid one. They lost Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder, and Danilo Gallinari. That's 3/4 of its big four. The lone remaining member was Gilgeous-Alexander, obviously the best one to keep. With all that out the door, the rising star's work load - and thus stats - were about to balloon. They've done just that. And he's gotten so much better that his efficiencies (not just shooting!) have soared. He's the 4th-best isolation scorer in the NBA this season. James Harden, Damian Lillard, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the only three ahead of him. The two immediately behind are Luka Doncic and LeBron James. All-caps ELITE territory. And like Julius Randle, 50-40-80 is a real possibility for Shai. That's a club that is not as vaunted because its membership is less strict, but it is absolutely a laudable accomplishment.
5. Chris Boucher, Toronto Raptors
4th last time
ODDS: +3300
2019-20 stats: 6.6 pts 4.5 reb 0.4 ast 0.4 stl 1.0 blk
47/32/78 shooting 0.5 turnovers 13 minutes
2020-21 stats: 13.1 pts 6.5 reb 1.0 ast 0.6 stl 2.0 blk
52/44/76 shooting 64.9 ts% 61.6 efg% 0.7 turnovers 23 minutes
Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol both bolting for Los Angeles has opened Toronto's frontcourt wide open, and Boucher has flown sky-high. He's fourth in blocks despite playing only 24 minutes. And he's not just a defensive guy; he can really do it all effectively on offense. His shooting is off the charts, and he's doing it on nearly 4 three-point attempts per game. He's been a bright spot in the Raptors' up and down season.
6. Dejounte Murray, San Antonio Spurs
ODDS: +10,000
14th last time
2019-20 stats: 10.9 pts 5.8 reb 4.1 ast
2.2 ast:to +0.9 DRTG (bad) -2.5 ORTG (bad) -3.4 net impact
2020-21 stats: 15.8 pts 7.0 reb 5.4 ast
3.3 ast:to -2.2 DRTG (good) +1.5 ORTG (good) +3.7 net impact
In 2017-18, Murray became one of the youngest all-defense players ever: a second-year 21 year old. The next season, he didn't play a game. Torn ACL. Since, his development has shown he's the same guy, just along a more scenic route. This year, he's putting it all together.
The formerly afraid-to-shoot point guard with a lot of touch is now letting it fly from all three levels. He's gone from 0.5 3PA pre-ACL to 3.3 this year. He isn't hitting them well yet (32.4%) but it's a symbol of where his game is now at, and it makes teams respect/guard him differently. Murray plays above his size, runs point the exact San Antonio Spurs way (which is beautifully terrifying), can score, and is an all-world defender. He's become one of the most rounded hoopers alive. You'd be hard-pressed to find a single player more welcome on all 30 teams, especially if you exclude the superstars.
7. Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls
N/A last time
ODDS: +3300
2019-20 stats: 25.5 pts 4.8 reb 4.2 ast 31.2 usage
45/38/80 shooting 52.6 eFG 56.8 ts%
2020-21 stats: 28.7 pts 5.2 reb 5.1 ast 30.4 usage
52/44/86 shooting 61.5 eFG 65.3 ts%
Zach LaVine last year was the poster child for empty calories. He was getting high volume buckets on a piss-poor team. Don't buy in to the fallacy that points mean more than others; the phrase that scoring like LaVine's or Bradley Beal's "doesn't impact winning" is nonsense. 25 points is 25 points. Your teammates are responsible for the other 80ish.
This year, though, LaVine's scoring efficiency is through the roof, and it's impacting winning even more. The NBA has officially noticed the first-time All-Star. The hardest scoring hump is getting from the 25 ppg range to 30. LaVine has added 3.2 ppg from last season on less field goal attempts. He's shooting almost 10% better from 2 and 6% better from 3 and the line. He's added an assist, and his usage has gone down. When you see that big a jump without an increase in volume, that's what this award is all about. Oh, and the Bulls have 73% of last season's win total, less than halfway through the year. Their offensive rating is 15th overall, but LaVine's 113.4 ORTG would make them the second-best O in the league. And he plays 35.6 minutes a night. Get that man some relief.
8. Coby White, Chicago Bulls
6th last time
2019-20 stats: 13.2 pts 3.5 reb 2.7 ast
39/35/79 shooting 23.5 usage
2020-21 stats: 16.1 pts 5.1 reb 5.0 ast
42/35/90 shooting 21.9 usage
I don’t really love second-year players being considered for Most Improved Player. They’re going to improve no matter what, and year one to year two is traditionally the biggest leap by a lot. Not to mention they are coming off of what is almost always the worst season of an NBA career.
Still, White has been a different player entirely, and anyone who isn’t a rookie qualifies for the award. He’s more than doubled his assists while getting his shooting out of worst-in-the-league territory. That free throw percentage is almost too good to be true. He only shoots 2.3 a game, so getting more freebies should be a focus for him.
Usage going down from last season has proven that he really did just get better, though. The game has slowed down for him. He takes what’s there, and actually looks like a point guard instead of just a dude playing basketball. He scores more (and better) without necessarily hunting more shots.
9. Michael Porter Jr., Denver Nuggets
5th last time
ODDS: +15,000
2019-20 stats: 9.3 pts 4.7 reb 0.8 ast 0.5 stl 0.5 blk
16 minutes 0.9 turnovers
2020-21 stats: 14.7 pts 7.0 reb 0.9 ast 0.9 stl 1.1 blk
29 minutes 1.1 turnovers
10. Mikal Bridges, Phoenix Suns
10th last time
ODDS: +10,000
2019-20 stats: 9.1 pts 4.0 reb 1.8 ast
51/36/84 shooting
2020-21 stats: 13.7 pts 5.1 reb 2.2 ast
52/42/84 shooting
Five more names:
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
20 pts 2 ast 48/38/72 shooting ➡️ 25 pts 4 ast 50/39/77 shooting
Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
22.5 pts 6.3 reb 2.1 ast 58/64 fg/ft% 2.5 tov ➡️ pts 7.2 reb 3.4 ast 2.6 tov 61/70 fg/ft%
Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers
12 pts 4 ast 0.7 stl 40/36 fg/3pt ➡️ 16 pts 6 ast 1.2 stl 44/38 fg/3pt
Keldon Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
9 pts 3 reb 1 ast 0.1 blk ➡️ 14 pts 7 reb 2 ast 0.5 blk
Tyler Herro, Miami Heat
13.5 pts 4.1 reb 2.2 ast 43% fg ➡️ 15.8 pts 5.7 reb 3.6 ast 44% fg
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