Phoenix Suns: Best candidates for 2018-19 NBA awards

Most Improved Player: Josh Jackson

More often than not, sophomore players rarely get recognition for the Most Improved Player award. Of the 33 recipients in NBA history, only seven have won the award in the second season of their careers, with the most recent being Monta Ellis over a decade ago (2006-07). Most of the second-year recipients date back to the 1980s, when the award first got started.

However, considering how bad Josh Jackson was for the first half of his rookie season, and how much room he has to grow under new head coach Igor Kokoskov, he might wind up being the Suns’ best candidate for Most Improved Player of the Year. After all, Devin Booker nearly posted a 25-5-5 stat line, and T.J. Warren averaged 19.6 points per game, so it’d take quite a statistical leap for either of them to be in contention.

Jackson has a chance to make a sizable leap based on how different the second half of his rookie season was. However, after taking a look at recent MIP winners, Jackson’s odds start to plummet. The last six winners — Paul George, Goran Dragic, Jimmy Butler, CJ McCollum, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Oladipo — all made the jump to NBA stardom the year they won.

With Booker and Trevor Ariza set to start ahead of Jackson, it’ll be hard for the second-year wing makes such a jump in 2018-19. Trades could change the rotation, and Jackson should be given a chance to thrive off the bench, but he’s only the Suns‘ best option for the award, not the league’s. He probably won’t be anywhere near the top vote-getters here.

Odds: Lower than Jackson’s shaved afro.