Most Improved Player – C Ivica Zubac
This pick was a no brainer for myself personally.
Ivica Zubac may not have the stats to say he has “improved” per se, but his play on the floor says otherwise.
The 23-year old center posts a 21.00 PER on the season which ranks top-30 in the NBA and highly among centers. Zubac’s points per game and rebounds per game have dropped of course due to having two superstars on the floor and Montrezl Harrell‘s increased minutes off the bench.
When fans have watched Zubac play, they can see a clear emphasis on improvement, especially becoming a serious threat inside defensively and increasing his field goal percentage from last season.
Zubac has also gained the trust of Doc Rivers after being virtually unplayable in the first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors last year as Zubac has become very dependable in giving 20 solid minutes per night. His turnover ratio has decreased by over 1.0 from last season as well, so he is very dependable in keeping possessions going as well as his rebound percentage offensively has increased as well.
There really was no clear runner-up for this award so I will hand it to Reggie Jackson. Jackson has seen improvement in playmaking when being around more stars and has played very well since being acquired via the buyout market.