JJ Redick, Lakers
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Head coach JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts after he receives a technical foul.
Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick ripped the NBA Most Improved Player award that his rising star Austin Reaves is a long shot to win it.
“I hate that award because they’ve failed to define it,” Redick told reporters following the Lakers’ Wednesday practice. ” The spirit of it has been taken out of wack. Just call it the high draft pick who’s on a max contract and now is an All-Star. Just call it that award. Who’s that guy? Because that’s what it’s become.”
The last five players to win the award are former high draft picks, four of them were lottery selections.
Last season, Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey won the award. He was the 21st overall pick in 2020. In 2023, it was Utah Jazz‘s Lauri Markkanen, the seventh overall pick in 2017.
In 2022, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant won the award. He was the second overall pick in 2019. Morant also didn’t like the award, giving his trophy to his teammate Desmond Bane, the 30th overall pick in 2020, whom he felt more deserving to win it.
🏆 talk.@JaMorant x @DBane0625 pic.twitter.com/LEnhdEvZjk
— Grizzlies On FanDuel Sports Network (@FDSN_Grizzlies) April 26, 2022
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In 2021, it was Julius Randle, the Lakers’ seventh overall pick in 2014, who won the award with the New York Knicks where he blossomed into a three-time All-Star. In 2020, Brandon Ingram, the Lakers’ No. 2 pick in 2016, won it while playing for the New Orleans Pelicans.
NBA Steals Leader, Former No. 1 Pick in Tight Race
This year, Detroit Pistons‘ All-Star guard Cade Cunningham and Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels are neck-and-neck in the Most Improved Player race.
Cunningham was the No. 1 pick back in 2021. Daniels is the No 8 pick in 2022.
Daniels, who leads the NBA in steals (3.1 per game) and also a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, has overtaken Cunningham in the latest MIP odds on FanDuel.
The Australian guard is the -250 favorite to win the award. Cunningham is a close second at +170 while Reaves is a distant third at +7500.
Daniels stats jumped from 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 22.3 minutes during his second and final year in New Orleans to 14.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.1 steals in 33.9 minutes as a starter in Atlanta.
The Hawks are currently the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Cunningham has no significant jump in his production (from 22.7 points, 7.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 33.5 minutes to 25.7 points, 9.2 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 35.2 minutes) but with him as the focal point of their offense and surrounded by shooters and veterans, the Pistons have already more than tripled their last season total wins (14) this season (42) and are poised to make the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Austin Reaves’ MIP Case
Unlike Daniels and Cunningham, Reaves went undrafted in 2021 and had to start his pro career in the G League.
Reaves steadily improved with the Lakers despite playing behind top-10 players LeBron James and Anthony Davis and then took another jump after the Luka Dončić trade.
Over his last 10 games, Reaves is averaging 25.7 points on 52/35/91 shooting split, 6.1 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 37.0 minutes. For the season, he is averaging 19.9 points on 46/36/88 shooting split, 5.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 34.8 minutes.
Last season, Reaves averaged 15.9 points on 49/37/85 shooting split, 5.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 0.8 steal in 32.1 minutes.
While Reaves is a long shot to win the award, he’s made a strong case as the best third star in the NBA today.
ESPN’s Tim Legler said on “NBA Today” on Tuesday, March 18 that the conversation should start now. But former Laker Patrick Beverley had already been on the Reaves hype train since February.
“I like what the Lakers have,’ Beverley said on his “Pat Bev Podcast with Rone” on Feb. 12. “And you talk about a third option, you look around the NBA, he might be the best third option in the NBA in Austin Reaves.”