NBA Most Improved Player 2013-14

Blake and DJ have improved so much from last season, I think both of them deserve to be mentioned for MIP.

From being an offensive liability last year, DJ is now a rebounding machine and slowly becoming a stud on both ends. What I'm most impressed by him is his key blocks and FREE THROWS in clutch situations.

Although 99% of you would probably disagree, up until CP3's injury, I've always thought BG to be somewhat over-rated. However what he's done since then has been very impressive, so much so that I rank him 3rd for MVP.

Other players that I think should be nominated are:

Anthony Davis

Goran Dragic

Gerald Green

Kyle Lowry

Isaiah Thomas

Demarcus Cousins

Paul George

My pick would be Dragic, 2nd DJ, tied 3rd Lowry/Davis.

Who you guys got?

As much as I would want it to go to DJ I think Dragic deserves it I pretty much agree with your picks

I also pick Dragic. I think DJ is a top 5 candidate though. Still can't believe Dragic got snubbed for the ASG but the same thing happened to Curry the season before. The West is too stacked.

I had to pick DJ, he's improved in so many areas. Goran has become a (much) better scoring threat. DJ has become a defensive anchor, improved his FT shooting, now leads the league in rebounding, and is near the top in blocks. Goran's rise impressive, but DJ has put it all together.

Dragic easily. He's carried a bunch of nobody's to a formidable and competitive team. DJ is not in Dragic's class. DJ doesn't lead a team, Dragic does. Case closed.

Definitely gotta be DJ, not just because of being on the Clippers, but just his improvement on BOTH ends stands out so much from last season to this! It is really crazy to see it happen right in front of ours eyes too!

Dragic or bust as far as this list goes.. I would also have thrown lance Stephenson to the list

Dragic easily. He's carried a bunch of nobody's to a formidable and competitive team. DJ is not in Dragic's class. DJ doesn't lead a team, Dragic does. Case closed.

Really? Where has Dragic lead them?

Because last I checked when Bledsoe went down

he could barely "carry" them to a few games above .500

Might need to re-open that case

Dragic did carry them... Most of us expected that suns won't be able to stay in the playoff picture when bledsoe goes down yet they are still here fighting for playoff position...

As much as I would want it to go to DJ I think Dragic deserves it

Agreed!

I like Dragic, but I would put Green in there with Dragic as far as helping that team. Everyone on that team has stepped up, and Green looked like he was on his way to some European team before this season. With Bledsoe they were winning at something around 67% and without Bled they are at around 53% (I know there are other factors such as schedule and fatigue) that is an extreme drop off considering we were at around 66% without Paul and 69% with him. I know we have a better team, Paul is also still better than Bled at this point.

Dragic wasn't that bad to begin with and neither was Lowry, I've always considered both of them under-rated. Stephenson would be a good choice except that he showed his value last season during the playoffs, probably hurting his chances slightly for MIP. I wouldn't think it would be a robbery if Dragic, Stephenson, DJ or even little Isaiah Thomas got it. I would choose DJ because I'm biased towards our team.

As recently as this offseason the vast majority of people on this board were wanting to see DJ gone, now he is leading the league in rebounding, FG% and top five in blocks. I think he get's the short end of the stick as far as a defender due to our initial lack of perimeter defenders (nobody would stop dribble penetration), and being really the only defender for a large part of the season. He still needs work, but that improvement is crazy.

Dragic and I like DJ

I just like DJ over Dragic due to the gap between last year and this. I considered Dragic similar to George Hill who is a starting PG on an elite contender last year, where I didn't see DJ as a viable starting Center for an Elite Contender last year.

It's close either way, just think as far as Improvement from year to year it would go to DJ. Doubling your rebounds and anchoring a defense in one year is amazing, but so is keeping a team in the playoffs when expected to be a tanking team.

I think the gap for both players from last year to this year is pretty similar.

I just find it more impressive that Dragic, who's never been the star player for any team, is still averaging 20ppg and shooting 50-40 even after opponents recognize him as the #1 threat for the Suns. This opinion though is probably because I prefer offense more than defense.

You make a great point, because my opinion is probably skewed toward defense since that is what I prefer. I like Dragic, I just don't think it's a hands down decision. I also think if they get knocked out of the playoffs you have to go with DJ or Lance, since it's so close.

You make a great point, because my opinion is probably skewed toward defense since that is what I prefer. I like Dragic, I just don't think it's a hands down decision. I also think if they get knocked out of the playoffs you have to go with DJ or Lance, since it's so close.

DJ is the best rebounder but still a horrible defensive player in the post and paint. His overall improvement is great but when he's still terrible at FT's, I wouldn't give him any award. The only talk about DJ winning most improved is happening on this board. he's not in the overall conversation.

Both DJ and Stevenson are in the top 5, but Dragic is the winner IMO.

DJ is the best rebounder but still a horrible defensive player in the post and paint. His overall improvement is great but when he's still terrible at FT's, I wouldn't give him any award. The only talk about DJ winning most improved is happening on this board. he's not in the overall conversation.

Barkley, Reggie, JVG, Steve Kerr, I heard them mention his name.

DJ is the best rebounder but still a horrible defensive player in the post and paint. His overall improvement is great but when he's still terrible at FT's, I wouldn't give him any award. The only talk about DJ winning most improved is happening on this board. he's not in the overall conversation.

Horrible defensive player? Yeah, he'll have a few lapses here and there, but if you think he's a horrible defensive player, we're clearly not watching the same guy.

I didn't think about him until I saw his name on the poll, but I think that it should be Kyle Lowry. They started the year horribly, then traded their "star" Rudy Gay. Most teams would have faded, but Lowry along with Derozan have carried the Raptors since that trade. Also I just felt like everyone was voting for Dragic or Dj and I wanted to add another perspective.

@Clipper*Joe, I'm getting some small hint that you still don't like DJ too much. I know you don't like the guy, but his improvement is undeniable. If you think that Dragic should get the award that's cool, but why you insist on taking any and all credit away from DJ's all around improvement away from him is beyond me (you give him his props in rebounding, but I suspect it's only because he is leading the league in rebounding making it very difficult to fault his rebounding).

DJ is in the conversation, in fact every nationally televised game this year his improvement has been mentioned. I've said that if the Suns still make the playoffs and knock out Dallas or Memphis I would have to really consider giving it to him, but due to their hot start if they fall out of the Playoffs (which they are barely out looking in right now) after being ahead of Golden State at the end of the year I would have to lean toward DJ, Lance Stephenson, Kyle Lowry, Derozan, and heck even Blake since he is climbing up into the MVP converstation on top teams.

I didn't think about him until I saw his name on the poll, but I think that it should be Kyle Lowry. They started the year horribly, then traded their "star" Rudy Gay. Most teams would have faded, but Lowry along with Derozan have carried the Raptors since that trade. Also I just felt like everyone was voting for Dragic or Dj and I wanted to add another perspective.

Kyle Lowry is probably the most clutch player this season. He single-handedly won around 7-8 games for the Raps and in my opinion is no doubt the most valuable player (not DeRozan) for their team this season. My problem with him is that although his stats improved, his efficiency really hasn't. He's forced to be in clutch situations because of some inefficient plays earlier in games. He definitely deserves props, but just can't put him over Dragic, especially how bad the East is.

I think DJ has an extremely strong argument due to the fact that he's almost doubled his rebounding numbers since last season. The other candidates have all increased their point totals by around 7 points on average, while DJ has increased his rebounding numbers by 7 points. You only get credit for 1 rebound but you get at least 2 points for every fg you make so for that reason, I think it would be harder to double rebounding stats than point totals.

Also, He's become one of the best defensive centers in the league. He has a better Defensive rating than Dwight Howard and Anthony Davis, and is just 1 point away from being tied with Roy Hibbert who's supposedly the best defensive center (DJ is at 98 Roy is at 97).

DJ is averaging 10pts 14rebs 2.4blks and 1stl p/g. He can make a strong argument for defensive player of the year which is a huge change from last season.

Blake has a good shot at All-NBA 1st Team. Positions don't really matter on those selections, so they could put Durant at SG, LBJ at SF and Blake at PF.

I remember at the beginning of the season I predicted he'd make the All-NBA 1st Team and everybody thought I was crazy.

I vote gerald green. Dude went from only being able to dunk last year to averaging 30 points in march of this year

Where DJ has made a good size jump is in his TRB%/per minute #'s (from 17.6 to 21.8, .294 to .392). So it's a bit misleading to say he actually doubled (as both of our announcers like to say) without looking at the minutes he's playing this year.

PER 36 shows he's always had a very very high percentage/chance to reach double figures in rebounding if he only got the required minutes. I argued with some posters about that very thing last year and the times where he got +30 minutes he did just that in a large majority of those games.

DJ is progressing nicely with his defense, but he still needs to get better in the rim defense/protection department where he's allowing +50% of FGM to FGA there.

Next year he will continue to improve on his defense and FT%. Again I think he's definitely is in the top 5 in the player improvement category. More to come next season.

I agree tense2 with everything you said. The minutes and the confidence that goes with it has a large part to play in DJ's improved play.

I have also thought the lack of perimeter defenders hurt him some as well as the lack of a solid back up in regards to what he was giving up at the rim (I'm saying it's a shared responsibility between him and the other two circumstances). I will argue that this stat as well as his FT% has gone up quite a bit from where he started this same season. He was giving 62% at the rim at the beginning of the season and was shooting worse than last year at the charity stripe, and has now brought both to preferable places.

He does have some bonehead plays and sometimes is out of place, but I think the improvement from last year to now is immense. I think it is more than any other player with the exception of Lance, and if Lance hadn't shown any of his improvement last year during the playoffs I would be betting he was going to win the award.

I think Hornacek deserves the coach of the year award, and I don't feel great about giving them the most improved player and coach of the year award while being so close to the playoffs and missing them right at the end. Hornacek did the best with what he had, he fit the right system with the right players.