Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard C.J. McCollum was considered the favorite to win the Kia NBA Most Improved Player Award, and now it’s official. From the NBA’s official announcement:
The Portland Trail Blazers’ CJ McCollum, who more than tripled his scoring average from the previous season, is the winner of the 2015-16 Kia NBA Most Improved Player Award, the NBA announced today. The 6-4 guard joins Kevin Duckworth (1987-88) and Zach Randolph (2003-04) as the only Trail Blazers to earn the award, which is designed to honor an up-and-coming player who has made a dramatic improvement from the previous season or seasons.
McCollum received 101 first-place votes and 559 total points from a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets (seven first-place votes, 166 points) and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (four first-place votes, 99 points) finished second and third, respectively. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.
After Walker and Antetokounmpo, the leading vote-getters were Stephen Curry, Will Barton, Jae Crowder, Draymond Green, Isaiah Thomas, Hassan Whiteside, and Kawhi Leonard.
McCollum had a fantastic year for Portland. He started all 80 games that he played in, averaging 20.8 points 4.3 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 44.8% from the field, 41.7% from down town, and 82.7% from the free throw line. All of those numbers mark career-highs for the third year guard out of Lehigh.
