The NBA has announced the finalists for this season's Most Improved Player of the Year honors: Sacramento Kings' De'Aaron Fox, Brooklyn Nets' D'Angelo Russell, and Toronto Raptors' Pascal Siakam.
The three finalists for the #NBA's Most Improved Player Award have been revealed:
De'Aaron Fox, #Kings
D'Angelo Russell, #Nets
Pascal Siakam, #Raptors pic.twitter.com/FcQl7fbYGn— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) May 17, 2019
In his second year in the league, Fox averaged 17.3 points, 7.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.6 steals, while helping the Kings fight for a playoff spot for the majority of the season. Although they came up short, the 21-year-old guard showed flashes of becoming a potential superstar in the league.
Russell has made the All-Star team for the first time in his four year career. He helped the Nets secure the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and averaged a career-best 21.1 points, 7.0 assists, and 3.9 rebounds. From being considered a bust after an underwhelming rookie year with the Los Angeles Lakers, D'Lo has emerged as one of the best guards in the league.
Siakam is no doubt the best player on the Raptors' roster this season. He averaged 16.9 points on 55 percent shooting, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. Among the three finalists, the 25-year-old forward is the only one who's still in the playoffs as Toronto is in a tight contest against the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
All three finalists have made major strides in terms of improvement as players both on and off the court, and they are poised to take center stage next season as some of the best youngsters in the league. It is unclear who among them will have the most successful career when everything is said and done, but they all have what it takes to be a franchise's cornerstone, and that was evident in their performance last season.
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