by Ricky Thompson
Like any sport, the NBA always has outlying, unexpected players who differentiate themselves from their pasts in breakout years. So far this NBA season, there have been a number of players that have produced outstanding statistics, vastly different from their past seasons. My front runners for the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year Award include Jerami Grant, Christian Wood, and a wild card in Chris Boucher. Some honorable mentions would include C.J McCollum (if he didn’t get injured), Jaylen Brown, and Malcolm Brogdon.
To start, my number 1 pick, Jerami Grant, quite literally doubled his averages from last NBA season: 12 points to 24.3 points, 3.5 rebounds to 6.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists to 2.8 assists. In just one year, he has doubled his abilities on the court.
Christian Wood is the favorite for the M.I.P Award, however he is slightly lower than Jerami Grant due to Grant’s higher amount of played games and a slightly higher average amount of points. Wood also nearly doubled his average points from 13.1 last season to 23.5 this season.
The man, the myth, the legend, Chris Boucher, transformed from a nobody to a God among men in just one week. In a single week, Chris Boucher went from averaging 6.6 points, 1 block, and 4.5 rebounds to outperforming the past M.V.P, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and just about every other player in the NBA. In a week’s span he was scoring 20+ points every game, averaging 4 blocks and 8.9 rebounds. The only problem is that Boucher will not maintain this performance, however he will still have a very improved season from his past.