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Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum set career-highs across the board this season, averaging 20.8 points, 4.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game while making close to 42 percent of his three-pointers. A particularly notable jump came in the scoring column, as McCollum averaged just 6.8 points per game during the 2014-15 season, so he was the obvious choice for NBA‘s Most Improved Player this year.
McCollum received 101 first-place votes and a total of 559 points in the media member voting, followed by Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets (166 points) and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (99 points).
An interesting piece of the award’s voting results is the presence of Stephen Curry, who received seven first-place votes and finished fourth in the overall voting. Not surprisingly, Curry is the first reigning league MVP to finish in the top 10 in voting for Most Improved Player since data became available 20 years ago. Curry did improve his scoring this year, to 30.1 points per game from 23.8 points per game in 2014-15, but he does not fit the profile of what should be regarded as a most improved player at all.
McCollum is the third Trail Blazer to be voted as the league’s Most Improved Player, joining Kevin Duckworth (1988) and Zach Randolph (2004).
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