It isn’t an easy task to improve yourself on the court, and therefore the Most Improved Player award can be of great value to the players that are awarded this title. Often, these players aren’t the biggest stars in the league, but more the role players that manage to be of great value to their team.

In the history of the NBA, there haven’t been a lot of second-year players who are considered for the award, so our guess is that De’Aaron Fox won’t make it onto the shortlist, as he’s expected to improve in his second season in the league as a sophomore.

D’Angelo Russell – Brooklyn Nets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmLZMxhtaYY

When Russell came to Brooklyn in 2017, everyone hoped he could become an important figure in New York, but the fans were still hesitant. His first season in New York proved to be quite difficult, as he had to undergo knee surgery, and temporarily even lost his starting position to Spencer Dinwiddie. This year, Russell showed that he could play a very big role for Brooklyn, and all his numbers are up from last year. His 20.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game even got him his first career All-Star selection. Most of all, Russell has shown he can be a leader for a team, and it will be interesting to see what he’ll do in free agency this summer.

Montrezl Harrell – Los Angeles Clippers

Harrell is definitely one of the top candidates to become the MIP this year. He used to be just a defender, pick-and-roller as well as a rebounder with the Rockets, but this year with the Clippers, he has proven he can do a lot more than just that. Though Harrell had to compete with both Marcin Gortat and Boban Marjanovic for minutes, he completely outshined them, and soon secured the starting position. So far, he’s averaging 16 points and 6.5 rebounds, and that’s a big step up from previous seasons.

Josh Richardson – Miami Heat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxX2Rq0Yf_g

Richardson was already a good defending player in his first three seasons with the Heat, but he wasn’t really able to make a difference offensively for his team. That has definitely changed now, as he stepped up his offense game this year. Now, Richardson might even be considered a good two-way player, as he continues to grow his role on offense. On top of that, where he averaged about 10 points per game his first three seasons, his average is closer to 20 points this season.

Domantas Sabonis – Indiana Pacers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWEO_r9-X88

Sabonis has been an important player off the bench this entire season. He’s not only a good scoring player and rebounder, but Sabonis is also quite good in creating open spaces for his teammates. Besides being in the running to becoming MIP, Sabonis also still has the chance to become the Sixth Man of the Year. Sabonis will definitely have to improve his skills on the defensive end of the floor, as he’s often not quick enough to keep up with his oppenents, but as this is only his third year in the league, he has enough time to improve that.

Pascal Siakam – Toronto Raptors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMgQEOYoo-A

Siakam is also in his third season, and now the Raptors are definitely noticing his importance in the team. Last year, he already showed some flashes of his potential, but as the Raptors’ bench was stacked, he didn’t get a lot of opportunities, though they knew what they had. This year, Siakam has more than doubled his offensive stats of last year, now scoring 16.1 points and grabbing 7 rebounds per game. Furthermore, he has proven that he’s a great addition on the offensive end together with Kawhi, and he became the 11^th player in Raptors’ history to score 40 points or more in a game.

Buddy Hield – Sacramento Kings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAnFHdGHa-8

The Sacramento Kings are on a roll this year, and have a big chance to make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2006, and Buddy Hield has been a huge part of that. Last season with the Kings, Hield only averaged 13.5 ppg, but now his average has risen above 20 points per game. This is a great improvement from his first few seasons, as it wasn’t sure whether he would make it in the NBA.

The Sacramento Kings are on a roll this year, and have a big chance to make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2006, and Buddy Hield has been a huge part of that.