I AM GREATER THAN I WAS

It’s been a minute since y’all heard from the boy. School had a tight grip on my life, but it’s winter break now so that grip is a little looser (just a little though).

Speaking of winter break, Christmas is upon us and that means NBA Christmas games, which means we’ve gotten through a little less than half of the season. You all know what that means… EARLY AWARD PREDICTIONS!!

Today I’m going to be focusing on the Most Improved Player award, inspired by 21 Savage’s new album “I Am Greater Than I Was” (go stream that joint. I promise you it slaps). I’ve selected three players who I believe are greater than they were. I’m going to talk a little about their season and growth, and discuss any reservations I may have in giving them the award at this point. In the end, I’ll tell you who I’d go with for the award if the season ended today.

DERRICK ROSE:

Alright, so I’m a just get this one out the way cause I know someone out there reading this is gonna say “You’re just a Rose Stan. He overrated. He gotta last the season first. Blah, blah, blah!” Okay well, yes. I am a Rose Stan. But, its deeper than that.

I’m one of the few realistic Rose fans out there, so I recognize his MVP days are far behind him. The All-Star days too. But man oh man has my guy made tremendous strides this season. Think back to just a year ago when Rose, unbeknownst to most, just up and left the Cavs. It was then reported he was rethinking his NBA career. A lot of people were down on him and I saw plenty of folks on Twitter saying it was due time for him to retire.

But now, it seems he’s found his place in the league as he’s having one of his best seasons in recent memory.

My reservation with giving Rose this award is… can this really be classified as an improvement? Or is this Rose’s regular, post-injury, play. The knock on Rose is that he doesn’t complete seasons, which ultimately hinders his numbers. But in seasons where he plays at least 39 games, his traditional averages aren’t too far off from this seasons.

So when I was first looking over his numbers, I was thinking Rose was just being held back by constant injuries rather than improving his actual game. But, Rose has actually made a key improvement to his game: shooting.

We all know and love Rose for his ability to attack the rim and finish creatively. But this style of play was clearly not beneficial to his body. Adding a much-needed shooting element has been crucial in helping my guy stay on the floor and playing more efficiently. In that 50 point game he had against the Jazz at the end of October, half of his made shots were outside of the paint and half of them inside. Additionally, he shot 57% from beyond the arc in that game and 61% overall. And that’s not just an isolated situation. Check out this statistic from ESPN analyst Kirk Goldsberry:

So while his scoring average may not be souped up, his efficiency and shooting have improved drastically.

PASCAL SIAKAM:

The next player I’m going to discuss is Pascal Siakam, the 27th pick of the 2016 NBA draft who has been key to his team’s success. The Toronto Raptors hold the best record in the league, in large part due to the addition of Kawhi Leonard. But this success can also be attributed to the increased play of Pascal Siakam. He has been a huge spark for the team this season and could be instrumental in their continued success. Siakam has made a huge leap in his game, and has improved in pretty much every category there is in the past year.

He’s a great rim runner for the Raptors, as he gets from one end to the court to the other in great speed for a big man. He’s the type of player you love to have running with you in transition. And the Raptors have been loving him all season long.

The longest win streak the Raptors have had so far this season is an eight-game win streak. In that stretch, Siakam was a major factor in their victories. He averaged 16 points, three assists, six rebounds, and 0.8 blocks while shooting 64% from the field and 38% from behind the arc.

If you think back to the 2016 draft, there were some pretty highly touted players going into that draft and a lot of people thought it was a decently stacked draft. Even at the forward position, players like Marquese Chriss, Juan Hernangomez, Domantis Sabonis, and Thon Maker were thought to be solid prospects. In looking at how Siakam compares to a couple of these players, both of which were taken before him in the draft, and how they’ve done in the advanced metrics in their third year, here is how he stacks up:

I chose these two players because, frankly, a lot of the other forwards taken before him just aren’t worth comparing because they didn’t pan out to be much of anything. Also, they are both on teams that are also doing well this season, the Nuggets and the Pacers. Which brings me to my reservations.

There’s no doubt that Siakam has taken a big leap in his game this season. But, I also think he’s a beneficiary of the system that he’s in and the players that he’s around.

Of course, as Siakam gets better and better he’s going to be expected to take on a higher role on the team, a task he’s had no trouble with so far. That can be attributed to having players like MVP candidate Kawhi Leonard, sparked up Kyle Lowry, sharp-shooter Danny Green, and shot-blocker Serge Ibaka. These players make the game a lot easier for those around them. All Siakam really has to do is knock down close-range baskets and hit corner threes (the easiest three in the game).

According to The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann, 54% of Siakam’s shots come at the rim, 25% come from the short mid-range (think free-throw line and below), and 12% come from the corner three. And with scrappy and lengthy defenders up and down the Raptors’ roster, he’s able to take more chances on defense and isn’t necessarily as exposed as he might be without those key defenders backing him up.

JOSH RICHARDSON:

The last player on my MIP list is Josh Richardson. A lot of the talk in Miami is, understandably, around the farewell tour of Heat legend Dwyane Wade. But, there is also buzz rising about the future of the Heat and who their next key player will be. One person entering those talks due to their improved play is Josh Richardson. He’s a fourth-year man out of the University of Tennessee who keeps getting better year after year.

The young shooting guard has surely been impressive this year. The Heat are currently on a five-game winning streak and, in four out of these five games, Richardson has led the team in scoring en route to helping the team secure the wins. Wins against teams such as the Houston Rockets and the Milwaukee Bucks. In the 101–99 win against Houston, Richardson posted 22 points, six rebounds, and seven assists, and had a plus/minus of +15. In their matchup against the second best team in the East, the Bucks, Richardson scored a team-high 16 points with five rebounds and three assists. It was really just a struggle game for the Bucks, but Josh still did his thing regardless.

My reservation with Richardson is that I don’t know if he’s really the MOST improved. He’s been improving every year since his first year. And for a second round pick, he’s certainly playing well above initial expectation. But, I’d say he’s most improved over a four-year stretch, of the people mentioned in this article, but that’s the result of incremental improvement from year to year. I’m excited to see how he continues to improve onward though.

MY SELECTION:

These are all such great candidates for Most Improved Player. But if the season ended today and I was blessed to be on the voting committee, I would have to go with Pascal Siakam. He has the third highest scoring increase (excluding rookies) this season. He would be second, but they included Derrick Rose even though he only played 25 games last season.

Rose has made a big improvement by FINALLY getting a respectable jumper added, and I think that has stretched his NBA longevity a little bit. But it’s really only one factor of improvement, though be it a much-needed one. Josh Richardson has been building up to this sort of breakout season, rather than it being a big improvement from one year to the next. I think when it comes down to “Wow, this player is a different beast from just a year ago” that goes to Siakam. He has made big leaps in major categories and is contributing to a winning organization. Much respect Pascal Siakam!