San Antonio Spurs: Keldon Johnson may face barriers to winning the award.
Johnson already improved a lot over the last season, but now there is more to come, and people in and around the league are aware of it. Although Johnson is one of the more underrated players in the league, Bleacher Report had him on their second team of the most exciting young NBA players, and rightfully so. If he keeps up his steady improvement, he has a solid case for winning Most Improved Player.
One problem is, however, that since 2010, all but a handful of winners played for a playoff team. The Spurs have a good record so far, but as soon as other teams find their rhythm and bring their A-game to the regular season, the Spurs are expected to lose a lot of the games still to come. While the Spurs might surprise everyone and be much better than expected, some of Johnson’s competitors, like Anthony Edwards, play on much more prominent teams, and their talents are noticed more often.
On the other hand, though, the Spurs are a team that offers a lot of opportunity for such a talented, young player. Johnson is their top-scoring option now, will see plenty of time on the court, and will put up career numbers all over the place for the second consecutive season.
He will have to work especially hard to put the league on notice and prove his talent among his peers, but Keldon Johnson has ‘Most Improved Player’ written all over him.