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NBA Awards Watch: The Stephen Curry show rolls on

By Brad Rowland

Nov 30, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) puts up a shot in front of Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) during the first quarter at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 30, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) puts up a shot in front of Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) during the first quarter at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports /
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Orlando Magic forward Evan Fournier (10) drives between Minnesota Timberwolves forward Tayshaun Prince (12) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the second half of a basketball game at Amway Center. The Magic won 104-101 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Orlando Magic forward Evan Fournier (10) drives between Minnesota Timberwolves forward Tayshaun Prince (12) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the second half of a basketball game at Amway Center. The Magic won 104-101 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /

Most Improved Player

  1. Evan Fournier, SG/SF Orlando Magic – He has the best nickname in the NBA (look it up, but do NOT use a particular search engine with his last name), but that isn’t why Evan Fournier gets the nod here. He has been obscenely good this season. The 23-year-old swingman is averaging a career-high 17 points per game on the year, and while some of that is facilitated with a jump in playing time, Fournier is also scoring at a career-best rate per minute with an above-average PER and a very solid 56% true shooting. It will be interesting to see how the perimeter rotation eventually shakes out in Orlando, but at this moment there is an argument that Fournier is playing the best basketball of the bunch.
  2. Andre Drummond, C Detroit Pistons – Drummond has made the leap. The monstrous big man was already (very) good prior to this year, but his production has taken a huge jump across the board and Drummond’s defense has matured in a big way as well. He is now averaging 18.4 points and an NBA-best 16.9 (!) rebounds per game on the year, and while his dismal free throw shooting (38%) remains an issue, Drummond has done enough to improve his PER to an extremely strong 25.2 at this point in the calendar. He isn’t the type of player that usually wins this award, but Drummond’s improvement has been sharp and visible in 2015-2016.
  3. C.J. McCollum, SG Portland Trail Blazers – We saw the breakout coming, but that doesn’t always mean that it will actually happen. McCollum averaged 17 points per game during Portland’s playoff run a season ago, and he has followed up on that with a career-best statistical performance in 2015-2016. At the time of this post, McCollum is scoring more than 20 points per 36 minutes (up from 15.7 last season), and his PER and true shooting percentage both rest at career-best levels as well. Because of the presence of Damian Lillard and a team that isn’t going to the Playoffs this season, McCollum will remain largely overlooked, but he is a rising star at the shooting guard spot.

Next: Sixth Man of the Year

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