Indiana Pacers: Best candidates for 2018-19 NBA awards
By Owen Nelson
Most Improved Player: Myles Turner
As I have already touched upon, the Pacers love winning this award. Victor Oladipo is just coming off a breakout year that saw him win the Most Improved Player. The question is, do the Pacers have another potential breakout player on their roster? Perhaps so.
Myles Turner suffered injury setbacks last season and wasn’t able to get into the swing of things, thus regressing in almost every statistical aspect. The soon-to-be fourth-year man averaged just 12.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last year. There is so much room for improvement, and conditioning is the first area that needs improvement.
This offseason, Turner has transformed his body to a great extent.
Myles Turner on changing his diet to cut body fat from 14 to 7 percent:
— Sideline Sources (@sidelinesources) August 8, 2018
"I took a look at myself in the mirror last season, and I was pudgy. I was getting tired a lot faster, and a lot of that had to do with eating fast food, eating pizza the nights before games.“ pic.twitter.com/HXiYs3WgQx
This kind of extreme transformation requires total dedication to your craft. It appears the influence of Victor Oladipo had a great positive impact on Turner’s mindset. This can only mean great things for the 22-year-old.
Two years ago there were legit discussions on who was the better prospect: Myles Turner or Joel Embiid. Now, finally, Turner may be able to get back on track to fulfill his potential of being one of the most talented big men in the NBA. I believe the chances of Turner winning the Most Improved Player award are fairly high.