NBA Most Improved

The clear choice, I think, is CJ McCollum (Blazers), he exploded this year after two years of not getting much opportunity. Voting for anyone else requires some serious philosophical inquiry into the raison d'etre of this award....so here we go.

The scenario I mentioned above (guy making the most of newfound opportunity) seems to be the most popular iteration. Some will go with good player that got better (some will suggest Steph Curry wildly improved on his MVP season, for example). But I would argue for: guy who never did anything before who is now quite useful.

Some might mention Jae Crowder (Celtics), but that was truer of him last year. True, too, of Festus Ezeli (Warriors), Maurice Speights (Warriors), Marvin Williams (Hornets): they all really emerged last year, not this year.

So I'm gonna throw a weird, lonely little vote toward a dude that I always thought was just plain ol' terrible: Bismack Biyombo (Raptors). With the Hornets he was clueless out there, utterly useless on offense and not nearly the defender that his athletic frame would've suggested. Two years ago when the Hornets played the Heat in the playoffs, after Al Jefferson got hurt, they couldn't rely on Biyombo to do even the mostbasic things to help them in that series (though, admittedly, the Hornets weren't gonna beat the Heat under any circumstances). Even when it was emergency time, they still couldn't rely on Biyombo. He contributed very little in his time in Charlotte and was let go with the title of 'draft bust' attached to his name. But with the Raptors, while certainly not an all-star, he was an effective rotation guy, especially on defense. He was a part of a team that relied on great cohesion to finish 2nd in the East. He was a plug in the middle of the D and an effective rebounder on both ends.

Great player? No. Great season? No. Improved performance? Oh, absolutely! I can dig that this is not the rationale that most voters will use and I can't imagine Biyombo will get any votes but personally I was vastly more impressed with him this year than I ever was before.