Trae Young climbs NBA Most Improved Player Ladder

Devonte’ Graham emerged from a spot near the end of the Charlotte Hornets‘ bench last season to become the team’s leading scorer this season, but Graham did hit a bit of a wall over the last month.

That’s understandable. Graham was a second-round pick in 2018 after four seasons at Kansas and played only 676 minutes last season, a figure he’s nearly tripled already through Charlotte’s first 48 games this season (he’s also already set a new career-high for games played, topping last season’s 46).

The four-week segment got off to such a brilliant start for the Hornets — and for Graham. He put up 27 points and 13 assists on Jan. 4 as Charlotte shocked Dallas deep in the heart of Texas. They wouldn’t win again, however, until Tuesday’s victory over the Knicks and were just 2-9 since the last Most Improved Player ladder was published.

Graham’s struggles mirrored those of the Hornets. He started all 11 games over the four-week period, but averaged 16.1 points, 7.3 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 35.7 minutes per game, shooting only 36.6 percent overall and making 33.7 percent of his 9.2 3-point attempts a night.

That stretch dragged his numbers on the season to 18.2 points, 7.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 35.1 minutes per game, while his shooting is now at 37.4 percent overall and 37.9 percent on 9.4 attempts per game from deep. It’s still a massive uptick from 2018-19, but that rise looks more to be fueled by increased volume than it did a month or so ago.