NBA Most Improved Player of the Year award: Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
Runner-up: Brandon Ingram, New Orleans Pelicans
There are a few players that will have good arguments to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year award for the 2019-20 season. Sitting at the top is Bam Adebayo and Brandon Ingram. Both players made their first all-star team this past season and both took a huge leap in their respective developments.
Ingram was a standout in New Orleans, averaging career highs almost entirely across the board. During the regular season, he averaged 24 points, six rebounds, and four assists 47 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from 3-point range. For most of the season, and when the Pelicans needed him most, Ingram was the best player on the roster.
Still, you can make the argument that he didn’t have the impact that Bam Adebayo did for the Miami Heat. As the fourth-best team in the East, Bam (16 points, 11 rebounds, five assists per game) was oftentimes one of the team’s best playmakers on offense and the heart and soul of their defensive identity.
He’s quickly becoming a household name in the NBA and is a budding superstar. The sky is the limit for Bam and he’s barely scratching the surface on the player he can be in the NBA. He’s more than deserving of this award.