NBA Awards Watch: LeBron James Rising

Most Improved Player

1. Jimmy Butler, SG/SF Chicago Bulls – What in the world has gotten into Jimmy Butler? The 25-year-old struggled mightily on the offensive end last season, shooting 39.7% from the floor and 28.3% from 3-point range, but this season, Butler is shooting the lights out and his quality defense hasn’t slipped. Butler has posted a sterling 61.6% true shooting on the strength of 49.8% from the floor, and when a player with his defensive capabilities averages 21.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, the word “star” begins to surface.
2. Derrick Favors, PF Utah Jazz – Last week’s “leader” continues to play quite well. Favors is still quite young (just 23 years old), but he is playing beyond his years at this point, shooting better than 56% from the floor and using his high-end athleticism to disrupt the opposition defensively and on the glass. It would be encouraging to see more development from Favors offensively, but he is becoming more polished and that is visibly evident.
3. Marreese Speights, PF Golden State Warriors – It is wholly unsustainable in nature, but Marreese Speights is playing out of his mind right now. Speights currently ranks sixth in the NBA (yes, you read that right) with a 27.07 PER for the season, and the power forward is averaging 12.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game despite playing only 15.8 minutes per contest. The unsustainable part of this performance is the fact that a career 47.2% shooter is shooting 57% overall, but it is fun to witness this type of mini-breakout in the early going.

Next: 6th Man of the Year