Voters have moved away from selected second-year players for Most Improved Player of the Year, but some bucked that trend this year.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander appeared on a handful of ballots for the award as he finished fifth in the voting.
Ahead of him was Brandon Ingram, Bam Adebayo, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum and Devonte’ Graham, in that order.
Gilgeous-Alexander had a much larger role in his first year on the Thunder than he did his rookie year with the Los Angeles Clippers, and his stats and skills alike showed the progress.
Here’s the list of voters who had him on their ballot:
- Chris Broussard, Fox Sports: 2nd
- Antoni Daimiel, Movistar+: 2nd
- Chris Hine, Minneapolis Star Tribune: 3rd
- Kelly Iko, The Athletic: 3rd
- Mark Jackson, ESPN: 3rd
- Jackie MacMullan, ESPN: 2nd
- Brian Mahoney, Associated Press: 2nd
- Maxime Malet, L’Equipe: 3rd
- Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News: 3rd
- Shaun Powell, NBA.com: 3rd
- Mirjam Swanson, Southern California News Group: 2nd
