NBA Awards Watch: January Shuffles The Decks
By Phil Watson
Most Improved Player
There’s no shortage of solid contenders for the Most Improved Player honor this season and in very few cases is it the typical get-more-minutes, get-more-stats story.
Instead, we’ve seen many players making some serious leaps this season in their per-36 minute numbers even as their roles have remained basically the same–starters who have found a new gear and young players who are getting comfortable.
In the conversation: Jabari Parker, Milwaukee Bucks; Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards; Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers (No. 2 last month).
3. Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
The fourth-year center from France is solidly averaging a double-double for the Utah Jazz, solidly playoff bound. Yes, it’s safe to say Rudy Gobert has seriously arrived.
He had a career night on Jan. 20 at Dallas, putting up career highs with 27 points and 25 rebounds to lead Utah to a 112-107 win and in 15 games in January averaged 13.5 points, 13.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game on .582/—/.667 shooting.
For the season, he is second in the NBA with a 65.8 percent mark from the floor, is fifth with 12.5 boards a game and is the league’s leader with 2.6 blocks a night.
His 12.8 points per game is on pace to become a new career high, as are his rebounding, blocks, field-goal shooting and his 65.6 percent mark from the foul line.
Gobert has come a long way from the player who averaged 9.6 minutes and 2.3 points per game as a rookie in 2013-14, but he’s also markedly better per-36 minutes from a season ago.
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/1/2017.
His advanced numbers also show the leap–his Player Efficiency Rating is up to 22.0 from 17.5, he leads the NBA with 3.7 defensive win shares after notching 3.8 all of last season and his win shares per 48 minutes is .243, up from .160 in 2015-16.
2. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
The second-year center for the Denver Nuggets has made a huge leap and may be the guy who the franchise is looking at as the centerpiece of its rebuild now.
Not bad for a second-round pick from Serbia.
Nikola Jokic is averaging only 26.1 minutes per game, but is putting up 15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists on .593/.323/.817 shooting and is a big reason the Nuggets are in contention for their first playoff berth since 2013.
Jokic played in 11 games in January, all as a starter, and was phenomenal, putting up 23.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks in 30.7 minutes per game on .602/.333/.872 shooting before having to be shut down for the final two games with a strained left hip flexor.
Per-36 minutes, the spike from his rookie season is fairly astounding:
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Generated 2/1/2017.
By the way, the kid will be 22 years old on Feb. 19, so he’s nowhere near a peak yet.
On Jan. 19, Jokic went off for a career-high 35 points against a team not noted for its defense–the San Antonio Spurs–one of two 30-point games he had in January, a month in which he notched eight double-doubles in 11 games.
That .593/.323/.817 shooting slash is up from .512/.333/.811 a season ago and his advanced metrics have taken a giant leap. His PER is up from 21.5 to 26.3, his box score plus/minus is 8.0, up from 4.8, and his win shares per 48 minutes has gone from .185 to .235.
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
In a season of players making “the leap,” no one has leaped as high or as far as Milwaukee Bucks’ point guard-slash-shooting guard-slash-power forward-slash-small forward-slash-yeah Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Even after a January that would be considered weak by the standards he’s set this season, he is still light years ahead of the field for the MIP honor.
All he managed in January was to average 22.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.1 blocks in 35.5 minutes per game on .506/.286/.775 shooting in 14 games.
That actually dropped his season numbers to 23.4 points, 8.7 boards, 5.5 dimes, 1.8 steals and 2.0 blocks in 35.2 minutes on .527/.291/.785 marksmanship.
He was voted in by the fans, players and media in this year’s awkwardly funky but still horribly flawed voting process as a starter in the All-Star Game, his first career selection, adding another layer to his resume.
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/1/2017.
The advanced numbers may be more telling. Antetokounmpo’s PER has shot up from 18.8 to 27.1, his win shares per 48 have gone up from .121 to .223 and his BPM has nearly quadrupled from 2.4 to 8.9.
Talk about a guy making the leap.