Luka Doncic, Brandon Ingram still top NBA Most Improved Player Ladder 2.0

The MIP Ladder 2.0 begins with a player who slides down a rung, second-year scoring savant Trae Young. It’s certainly not a lack of production that contributed to Young sliding down the list, but with a shorthanded Atlanta Hawks squad over the last four weeks, Young’s efficiency took a solid hit.

In 11 games since the release of the first ladder, Young has averaged 28.0 points, 8.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 35.7 minutes per game — numbers that were skewed by a sprained ankle sustained in a Dec. 27 loss to the Bucks in which he was limited to just 15 minutes before missing the next two games.

But his shooting splits slipped to .405/.328/.830 and he averaged 4.2 turnovers per game. In his first 21 appearances this season, Young shot at a .463/.393/.853 clip … though his turnovers per game actually went down, as he was at 5.0 per game four weeks ago.

The Hawks were just 2-11 since the first ladder was released and while Young is fourth in the NBA in scoring at 28.5 points per game and fifth with 8.3 assists a game, he’s also fifth in the NBA in 3-point attempts while ranking sixth in makes. But when gauging his improvement, he’s gone from 22.3 points per 36-minutes to 29.3, with his playing time only going up 4.1 minutes a night.