In the shadow of Victor Oladipo’s unexpectedly great season is one of his own Indiana Pacers teammates: Domantas Sabonis.
There is no question who should win the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. The only logical choice is Victor Oladipo. The Indiana Pacers are in the running for home court advantage in the playoffs thanks in a large part to Oladipo’s massive improvement.
Oladipo’s jump from role player to All-Star is by far the biggest improvement from any player. Others like Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets or Clint Capela of the Houston Rockets certainly improved, but the gap between last season and this one simply isn’t as spectacular.
But the ballot for NBA awards has voters picking first through fifth place candidates, meaning they have to find at least four other players to finish behind Oladipo.
NBA.com’s John Schuhmann has one candidate in mind: Domantas Sabonis.
"I prefer not to look at second-year players for this award, but Sabonis makes too compelling of a case. He’s seen the league’s eighth biggest increase in usage rate, the league’s biggest increase in rebounding percentage, and the league’s third biggest increase in true shooting percentage (among players who have taken at least 300 shots each of the last two seasons). He went from being an afterthought in the OKC offense to being a fulcrum on a team that’s been better offensively than his old one."
The Indiana Pacers hoped a change of scenery would give them their fifth Most Improved Player award, but they surely couldn’t have expected Sabonis to also make as large of a leap in his second season.
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While Sabonis’ numbers are trending down as of late, he proved what he is capable of by posting averages of 13.1 points and 10.1 rebounds when he is a starter this season after only 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds with the Thunder last season.
He is only playing a few more minutes a game on average, but as Schuhmann points out his shooting and rebounding actually improved. It wasn’t a simple case of more minutes equal more stats for Sabonis. Perhaps it’s his mental approach, a slight bit of maturity physically, or a combination of the two, but he clearly evolved as a player.
For both him and Oladipo, the Pacers allowed them to grow as players after merely serving as supporting cast in Oklahoma City. While that was partly a byproduct of the awkward situation the Thunder were put in, it illustrates how important a player’s role can be in their success. In the two now-Pacers cases, putting the ball in their hands allowed them to show they were more than what their stats said they were.
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Oladipo will win the award, but don’t be surprised to Sabonis on the ballot as well.