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NBA Awards Watch: Can Tim Duncan win Defensive Player of the Year?

By Brad Rowland

Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) dribbles past San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) during the second half at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 101-93. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) dribbles past San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) during the second half at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 101-93. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /
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Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside (21) between plays against the Sacramento Kings during the third quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Miami Heat defeated the Sacramento Kings 95-83. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside (21) between plays against the Sacramento Kings during the third quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Miami Heat defeated the Sacramento Kings 95-83. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

Most Improved Player

  1. Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls – This is arguably the easiest call of any award category. Butler has been the impetus for Chicago’s offense surge this season, as he is averaging 20.6 points per game on 46.5% shooting from the floor and nearly 35% from long-range. While those numbers aren’t tremendous from an efficiency perspective, they are leaps and bounds better than Butler’s numbers (39.7% FG, 28.3% 3-PT) from a year ago, and he has made this leap without a dip defensively. Unless his performance level drops considerably, he’s going to run away with this honor.
  2. Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors – It is hard to find a single area in which Klay Thompson is not vastly improved from a year ago. His statistical production is up across the board, ranging from more than a 3-point improvement in scoring to a 5-point percentage bump in true shooting. In addition, the 24-year-old Thompson has jumped from a league-average player in PER (14.32 last season) to one of the top-25 players in the league (21.44) in the same category. Thompson is a two-way player in a league that challenges its players to be just that, and his ascension has been fun to watch.
  3. Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat – This one is almost unfair. Prior to this season, Whiteside had appeared in only 19 NBA games since being selected in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings, and the former Marshall big man had traveled across the globe in search of basketball employment. Now, he has landed with the Heat, and Whiteside looks like a completely different player. Admittedly, it is a very small sample size of only 16 games, but at 7-foot and 265 pounds, he is an incredibly athlete who is averaging 16.4 points, 13.9 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per 36 minutes, and on a per-minute basis, he has been an elite big man since his arrival in Miami.

Next: 6th Man of the Year

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