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NBA Awards Watch: Karl-Anthony Towns leads two-man race for Rookie of the Year

By Brad Rowland

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) drives against the defense of Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) drives against the defense of Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum (3) drives past Los Angeles Lakers guard Louis Williams (23) during the third quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum (3) drives past Los Angeles Lakers guard Louis Williams (23) during the third quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports /

Most Improved Player

  1. C.J. McCollum, PG/SG Portland Trail Blazers – This is a bit of an odd case in that almost everyone saw this coming. McCollum averaged 15.6 points per game in April of last season and broke out with a huge playoff series against the Grizzlies. However, the literal interpretation of this award evaluates all of last season and, well, McCollum averaged 6.8 points per game a year ago. Today? He is averaging 20.7 points and 4.3 assists per game with 44/39/81 splits, and when paired with Damian Lillard, McCollum leads Portland to one of the more potent backcourts in the NBA. He’s a full-blown stud who might run away and hide in this award vote.
  2. Kent Bazemore, SG/SF Atlanta Hawks – McCollum is garnering all of the headlines because of his monster statistics, but Bazemore’s improvement has been crucial for Atlanta. It isn’t every day that a player gets noticeably better with a jump in playing time, but that is what happened with Bazemore, who has made considerable jumps in efficiency with a 50-point bump in true shooting and a large jump in PER. His per-game numbers (12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds per game) won’t blow you away, but it has been a night and day difference for the Hawks that was much needed after the defection of DeMarre Carroll.
  3. Will Barton, SG Denver Nuggets – Barton has always been an underrated player, but prior to this season, he averaged only 13.2 minutes per game across three seasons. There is more to winning MIP than a simple bump in production given a minutes increase, and Barton still qualifies by nature of career-bests in true shooting (55.4%), PER (18.2), scoring (19.4 points per 36 min) and rebounding (7.4 per 36). It’s been a fun ride from Barton and even if he doesn’t take home this honor, he’s in the mix for another prominent piece of NBA hardware this season.

Next: 6th Man of the Year

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