NBA Award Watch: Kobe, Oladipo and Nance Jr. headline the honors

With Week 8 in the books, we’re handing out awards to NBA players for their amazing performances, showcasing different skills — on and off the court.

In this weekly column, I’ll start to hand out awards based on the performances of the previous week. Obviously, some weeks I’ll take a look at the major NBA honors, including MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Coach of the Year, Most Improved Player and Executive of the Year. Other than these usual honors, I’ll also hand out awards for the Best Dunk, Dazzling Dime, Perfect Play, Fantastic Fashion and Terrific Tweet.

Most Improved Player: Victor Oladipo

When Kevin Pritchard traded away Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder, for Victor Oladipo and Damontas Sabonis, the Pacers’ general manager was ridiculed for the poor trade return. But two months into the NBA season, Oladipo seems to be putting up All-Star caliber numbers and might be running away with the Most Improved Player award this season.

Oladipo averaged 15.9 points, 2.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds on 44 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent from 3-point range with Oklahoma City. After being traded to Indiana, Oladipo’s numbers in all of those categories have increased.

The Pacers’ wing is now averaging 24.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, on 48 percent shooting and 43 percent from 3-point range. His play has been stellar in all facets from the game and he continues to show why the Pacers can build around him.

The Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder are probably kicking themselves for trading away this former first-round draft pick, who’s finally coming into his own at the professional level. His dramatic improvement in play is definitely worthy of the Most Improved Player award.