Allen J. Schaben. Getty Images.
As someone who considers himself a fan of JJ Redick, both as a podcaster and an NBA coach, I have to admit the fact that he’s coaching the Lakers really annoys me. My heart says I now have to hate everything about him, but I can’t. I don’t even care that he’s helped make the Lakers competitive because he’s someone who embraces the teachings of Joe Mazzulla. It really has my hands tied, which disgusts me on many levels.
Take for example, his recent comments about NBA Awards, more specifically shitting all over the Most Improved Player award. Again, my heart wants to hate it, but even the Lakers hater in me can’t deny that he’s absolutely right
JJ Redick with a discussion about NBA awards today after practice, says he think he is more informed to make picks as a coach than he was as a media member. That said, he didn’t even want to discuss Austin Reaves’ case as MIP because he says that award’s been misinterpreted pic.twitter.com/WnFhY90Bbp
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 2, 2025
While it’s true that the weird part of NBA Awards is that the criteria seems to shift from season to season and there’s zero consistency in terms of what voters value or go into their choices for each award, when it comes to the MIP it really does feel like voters have lost the plot.
When it comes to MVP, while you may have a preference, the group of candidates usually makes sense.
For 6MOY, that’s pretty self-explanatory
For Clutch Player Of The Year, same thing. It’s pretty cut and dry since you look at how everyone performs in “clutch time” moments as defined by the NBA
For DPOY, similar to MVP it can be subjective, but the definition around the award is pretty defined.
But MIP? Good fucking luck.
This year, Cade Cunningham is who many consider the MIP. This isn’t to say Cade hasn’t improved, his points have gone from 22.7 to 25.7, his efficiency jumped from 44.9% to 46.2%, he had a rebounding leap (4.3 to 6.1) and a passing leap (7.5 to 9.2). He went from not being an All Star last year to not only being an All Star this season, but he’s probably ending up on the 2nd Team All NBA and definitely no lower than 3rd Team. He absolutely has “improved”.
But…..he’s a #1 pick on a max deal. His leap in Year 4 is what most people would expect from a player of that caliber who is playing on a max deal. Is that really what we should be using the MIP Award for? Just because he technically wasn’t an All Star last season, he was still putting up 22/4/7. The year before that, it was 19/6/6.
Where things get tricky is if you look at the recent winners. Last year, Tyrese Maxey made the leap from non-All Star to All Star, but his role drastically changed, so I don’t think you can really compare that to Cade. Cade has always been The Guy for the Pistons. Maxey was in a new role and thrived. So while he went from 20ppg to 25ppg, they weren’t apples-to-apples seasons in terms of role and responsibility. He also wasn’t a top 5 pick. In fact, he wasn’t even a Lottery pick (21st). To me, that was closer to the spirit of what this award should be about.
The same context is also true of Lauri Markkanen when he won it, only he was the 7th pick in the draft. That guy should be getting better and better right? The only thing that sort of makes his win OK with me was his role completely changed once he joined the Jazz. Now, he was The Guy.
Probably the most egregious MIP winner was Ja Morant winning it in 2021-22. The guy won ROY, was The Guy since Day 1, and yet he won it in his first All Star season. That made zero sense, and Ja himself agreed since he gave the trophy to Desmond Bane, a guy who took a massive leap that same season as the 30th pick in the Draft.
It brings us back to what this award should be about. Is it about high Lottery picks making the jump from “good” player to “All Star/All NBA”? You know, their normal projected progression? Or, should it be more about a guy who exceeded expectations and what people thought he would be at the NBA level compared to what he actually became? Put it in context of this season.
Is it more impressive that Cade made his leap, or someone like Dyson Daniels making his leap as a legit DPOY candidate and two way demon? His production has jumped from 5 points a game to 14.2, he leads the league in steals while also setting that NBA record. It’s true that he was the 8th pick in the draft, but his “improvement” is pretty insane and he does have a new role as a Hawk compared to what we saw while he was on the Pelicans
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