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NBA: 5 Early Candidates For Most Improved Player

By Ti Windisch

Nov 23, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz guard George Hill (3) warms up prior to their game against the Denver Nuggets at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 23, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz guard George Hill (3) warms up prior to their game against the Denver Nuggets at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports /
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It’s far too early to definitively call who could win the NBA’s Most Improved Player, but these five players have built strong cases early.

Most Improved Player might be one of the weirdest awards the NBA gives out every year. It’s sort of an implied backhanded compliment–a player needs to have a bad year, or at least a quiet one, to be eligible to win MIP the next season.

It’s still a nice award though, especially for those players who have flown under the radar earlier in their careers. It’s also somewhat indicative of talent in a player–recent award winners include C.J. McCollum, Jimmy Butler and Paul George, among others.

So far in 2016-17, there are a lot of players who seem deserving of some recognition after improving their games over the course of the offseason. The hardware often goes to younger players, although typically voters avoid giving it to NBA sophomores.

That historical trend is taken into account here, as the idea for this piece is to document the players that look to have the best chance to win the award, not to decide who necessarily deserves it.

Also See: NBA Draft: Best Player Ever Selected in all 60 Spots

The following five players look to have a legitimate shot at becoming the NBA’s newest Most Improved Player. Whether they win or not is a different story, but early on these five are looking much better than they did last season.