Boston Celtics: Jaylen Brown is the Most Improved Player no one is considering

While Victor Oladipo is the favorite, Jaylen Brown’s improvement as a key contributor for the Boston Celtics sets him apart from previous Most Improved Player award winners.

Victor Oladipo fits the mold of a Most Improved Player of the year perfectly. He was a good but underwhelming offensive player with size and athleticism, who finally put it all together to become an All-Star. History says he will win MIP this year.

Since the 2012-13 season, the award has been given to Paul George, Goran Dragic, Jimmy Butler, C.J. McCollum and Giannis Antetokounmpo, in that order. All except Dragic and McCollum were named All-Stars that year. All except C.J. McCollum were full time starters on their teams the year before they won their hardware. Similarly, Oladipo started all 67 of his games last season.

Of the five recent winners, McCollum’s rise was most meteoric, jumping from under seven points per game to nearly 21, with improved efficiency and newfound shot creating skills (4.3 assists per game, compared to 1.0 the previous season). The runner up in 2016 was Kemba Walker, who improved his 17.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game to 20.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, on substantially better shooting splits. Antetokounmpo, who leapt from 12.7 points and 2.6 assists per game to 16.9 points and 4.3 assists per game with nominally improved shooting splits, finished third.

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It will be hard for anyone to match McCollum’s incredible leap from one year to the next. But if he had simply upped his averages from under seven points to over 15, with increased efficiency, and newfound skills beyond scoring, would he not still have been a worthy candidate?

Knowing the history of the Most Improved Player award, of course it is Oladipo’s to lose, as he has increased his points per game average by over eight points, with increased two point and three point potency. No one else in the top 15 scorers list averaged less than 20 points per game last year.

Most importantly, Oladipo has dragged a team many thought would be closer to the lottery than the playoffs, to a potential 6th seed. He is a great choice for Most Improved Player. But he shouldn’t be the de facto choice.

This award historically does not – but perhaps should – reward previously mediocre players who have made themselves key components of playoff hopefuls, like Reggie Bullock and Josh Richardson. It makes even more sense to reward dramatically improved players on title contenders. Enter, Jaylen Brown.

Brown started the season ranked outside the top 100 by ESPN, Sports Illustrated, SBNation and Bleacher Report. This year, he scores the second most points and plays the third most minutes per game on the team with the NBA’s 4th best net rating. He has doubled his scoring, assists and rebounding numbers, and increased his per 36 minutes numbers across the board. He also frequently does things like this, which are arguably worth far more than two points for the hype they generate.

Last year, Brown started only 20 of his 78 games. This year, he has started all 53 he has played. He can adequately defend both guard and both forward positions, unlocking a bevy of successful Celtics lineups.

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To be fair, Brown still has struggles at the free throw line, and his ball-handling skills leave much to be desired. He is not nearly as complete a player as the last five winners of the MIP award. But entering the season, he wasn’t considered a top 100 player, and now he is widely considered one of the better starting wings in the league. He is, in a very legitimate sense, the league’s most improved player, even if he is not the Kia Most Improved Player.

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