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Is Stephen Curry A Most Improved Player Of The Year Candidate?

By Gerald Bourguet

Dec 11, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) pumps his fists after making a shot during the second half of the Golden State Warriors 124-119 double overtime win over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 11, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) pumps his fists after making a shot during the second half of the Golden State Warriors 124-119 double overtime win over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports /
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November 9, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) dribbles the basketball against Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) during the first quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Caveats

There are obvious caveats to this discussion. For one thing, most people will probably disregard the league’s reigning MVP in this discussion simply because that’d be no fun. The whole point of the MIP Award is rewarding some of the league’s lesser players who become relevant by substantially improving their game. This is an award for the underdogs who rise to (or near) the top.

Curry has taken his game to new levels, but as the league’s reigning MVP and NBA champion, he was top dog last year. It’s also worth mentioning that in the category of players who were decent last year and have made a sizable jump this year, there are plenty of deserving candidates for this award.

Andre Drummond has to be one of the frontrunners, anchoring the Detroit Pistons as the league’s leading rebounder. He’s posting the best numbers of his career and now that he’s got four shooters flanking him on the perimeter, he’s finally taking the leap. A look at the raw numbers, however, shows it’s not quite as substantial a leap as what we’ve seen from Curry.

  • 2014-15:  13.8 PPG, 13.5 RPG, 0.9 SPG, 1.9 BPG, .514/—/.389 shooting splits, 21.4 PER
  • 2015-16:  17.7 PPG, 16.3 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 1.5 BPG, .518/—/.372 shooting splits, 24.2 PER

Another leading candidate would have to be C.J. McCollum, who’s gone from a rarely used reserve for the Portland Trail Blazers last year to their second best player in the span of a few months. McCollum has taken a huge leap in the scoring column, which is due in part to increasing his minutes per game from 15.7 last year to 35.1 this year.

  • 2014-15:  6.8 PPG, 1.0 APG, 1.5 RPG, 0.7 SPG, .436/.396/.699 shooting splits, 13.1 PER
  • 2015-16:  19.7 PPG, 3.8 APG, 3.4 RPG, 1.3 SPG, .431/.396/.868 shooting splits, 17.6 PER

You could also include Evan Fournier, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Clint Capela and even Kawhi Leonard in this discussion, and with so many worthy candidates to choose from, it’d be more fun seeing one of them win this award as opposed to seeing Curry win MVP and MIP.

Next: 5 NBA Records The Golden State Warriors Might Break

Stephen Curry won’t win the Most Improved Player of the Year Award, and he probably shouldn’t; he’s already a bonafide superstar who has his sights set on greater things than an honor designated for the league’s on-the-rise players who step out from NBA obscurity. But in terms of merit, Curry has improved from last season as much as anyone in the association.

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