Community Shootaround: 2023/24 Most Improved Player
The NBA’s Most Improved Player award has an impressive list of winners since it was created ahead of the 1985/86 season. That’s been particularly true since ’12/13, with Paul George, Goran Dragic, Jimmy Butler, CJ McCollum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Oladipo, Pascal Siakam, Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, Ja Morant and most recently Lauri Markkanen honored over that span.
Over the past couple decades, the award has favored rising young players — 17 of the past 23 winners had played fewer than five seasons. However, two of the past three winners — Randle and Markkanen — broke that mold, as Randle won following his seventh season, while Markkanen just completed his sixth.
Attempting to predict the future is often a fool’s errand, obviously, but I’ve always enjoyed the MIP award because it’s fun to see players exceed what people may have thought they were capable of, and unexpected breakout seasons are both entertaining and rewarding.
According to BetOnline.ag, the way-too-early list of favorites for the 2023/24 Most Improved Player award is as follows:
- Jordan Poole, Wizards (+700 odds)
- Mikal Bridges, Nets (+1000)
- Scottie Barnes, Raptors (+1000)
- Cade Cunningham, Pistons (+1600)
- Austin Reaves, Lakers (+1800)
- Shaedon Sharpe, Trail Blazers (+1800)
- Alperen Sengun, Rockets (+2000)
- Josh Giddey, Thunder (+2000)
- Paolo Banchero, Magic (+2000)
- Jabari Smith, Rockets (+2200)
Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley (+2500) and Thunder wing Jalen Williams (+2800) just missed out on the top 10.
Poole might seem like an odd choice to be the early favorite given his playoff struggles to end last season, but it makes some sense. There’s a good chance he’ll put up big offensive numbers for the Wizards after they traded Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, their two leading scorers in ’22/23; he often did the same when Stephen Curry was injured.
I wonder if the mini-breakout Bridges had with Brooklyn after the team acquired him at the February deadline might work against him to an extent for MIP in ’23/24. It’ll be hard to top his averages with the Nets from last season — 26.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.0 SPG on .475/.376/.894 shooting in 27 games (34.2 MPG).
Barnes — the ’21/22 Rookie of the Year — would likely benefit individually if Toronto decides to trade Pascal Siakam, as their skill sets have a good deal of overlap. Sharpe will almost certainly have a bigger role next season if Portland eventually trades Damian Lillard as well.
Cunningham’s strong performance with the U.S. Select Team is worth noting after the former No. 1 overall pick missed the majority of last season with a shin injury. I’m not going to go over all the early betting favorites, but I do think it’s a solid list given we’re still two-plus months from the season starting and there are so many unknown variables in play.
That brings us to our question of the day: Who is your early pick for the 2023/24 Most Improved Player award? Head to the comments and let us know what you think.
And-Ones: Team USA, Contracts, EuroBasket Qualifiers, BIG3
Team USA got revenge on the Select Team during Saturday’s scrimmage, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, who writes that the senior team won 84-61 after three periods, which were 10 minutes each.
As Vardon notes, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Brandon Ingram and Jaren Jackson Jr. started both days for Team USA. On Friday, Cameron Johnson was the fifth starter, while Anthony Edwards received the nod on Saturday.
Given that the team performed much better yesterday, it seems like Edwards might have the edge for a starting nod, though head coach Steve Kerr still isn’t ready to commit to anything.
Despite what he’s said publicly in terms of the lineup, it’s clear that Kerr has a major role in mind for Brunson, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
“I think Jalen is such a natural leader,” Kerr said. “Because he’s a point guard, he immediately comes to mind. He’s the one who’s leading the ‘1, 2, 3 USA’ chant. Some guys just, it just comes naturally to them.”
With the Select Team heading home and the Americans having a non-contact practice on Sunday, the next test for Team USA as it prepares for the 2023 World Cup will come during Monday’s exhibition game against Puerto Rico, Vardon adds.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Which NBA players have benefited the most from the salary cap rising 10% each of the past two years? ESPN’s Bobby Marks provides a chart (via Twitter) of salary comparisons over the past four league years, and notes the highest earners have actually received the biggest bump in terms of relative volume.
- The 32-nation qualifying field for the 2025 EuroBasket tournament has been set, as Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando relays. The qualifiers will take place over three different windows between February 2024 and February 2025.
- BIG3 co-founder Ice Cube has a handful of former NBA veterans on his wish list, including DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Dwight Howard and Jamal Crawford, he tells Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscriber link). The 12-team 3-on-3 league started at the end of June and runs through August 26, with the championship held in London, England.
Ben McLemore Signs With AEK Athens
Free agent shooting guard Ben McLemore has signed a one-year contract with Greece’s AEK B.C., also known as AEK Athens, the team announced today (via Twitter).
It will be the first European stint for McLemore, who was the seventh overall draft pick in 2013. McLemore’s last NBA stop came with Portland in 2021/22, when he averaged 10.2 points while shooting 36.2% from three-point range in 64 games (20.1 minutes).
Last season, McLemore played in China after he was unable to find an NBA opportunity. He held a private workout last month during Las Vegas Summer League, with several teams — including the Knicks — reportedly attending. Obviously nothing came of that, so the 30-year-old will be heading to Europe to continue his professional career.
McLemore played for the Kings, Grizzlies, Rockets, Lakers and Trail Blazers over the course of his nine-year NBA career, which spanned from 2013-22. In total, he appeared in 556 regular season games (267 starts, 22.5 minutes), averaging 9.0 points and 2.3 rebounds on a .414/.363/.780 shooting line.
AEK Athens is a member of the Greek Basketball League, which has been dominated by Olympiacos and Panathinaikos over the past 30 years. AEK also competes in the Basketball Champions League.
Community Shootaround: Cavaliers’ Offseason
The Cavaliers made a major splash last summer, trading for star guard Donovan Mitchell after an impressive turnaround in 2021/22. Mitchell made his first All-NBA appearance in ’22/23 following an excellent all-around year, but Cleveland — which went 51-31 during the regular season and entered the playoffs as the East’s No. 4 seed — had an early postseason exit, falling to the Knicks in a rather lopsided first-round series.
In addition to experience, the Cavaliers needed to find more shooting, depth and perhaps most importantly a good fit at small forward entering ’23/24. The team prioritized re-signing free agent swignman Caris LeVert as well, giving him a two-year, $32MM contract.
As an over-the-cap team, the Cavs didn’t have a ton of money to spend on free agents this offseason, and they only held one pick in June’s draft — 49th overall — which they used on former Eastern Michigan wing Emoni Bates, later signing him to a two-way contract. They also quickly reached an agreement to sign undrafted guard Craig Porter Jr. to a two-way deal and filled their third two-way slot by re-signing Isaiah Mobley.
In free agency, the Cavaliers took advantage of the new CBA’s more lenient salary-matching rules for non-taxpaying teams to give former Heat wing Max Strus more money than he previously would have been eligible for based on the outgoing salaries involved in the sign-and-trade to land him. They also gave forward Georges Niang a significant chunk of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception and used a portion of their bi-annual exception on guard Ty Jerome.
As our roster count shows, the Cavs still have a couple of standard roster spots open, but will almost certainly only add one more player to their main roster due to their proximity to the luxury tax. All three two-way slots are filled, as previously mentioned. Eventually, they’ll add some players on Exhibit 10 training camp deals to fill out their G League team.
Here’s a more condensed rundown of their offseason moves:
Roster additions:
- Strus (four-year, $62.3MM contract via sign-and-trade)
- Niang (three-year, $26MM deal)
- Jerome (two-year, $5MM deal)
- Damian Jones (via trade for cash)
- Bates
- Porter
- Pete Nance (Exhibit 10 deal; not official)
Subtractions:
- Cedi Osman (traded to Spurs in Strus deal)
- Lamar Stevens (same as Osman, except Stevens was released before his contract became guaranteed and is currently an unrestricted free agent; he’s ineligible to re-sign with Cleveland)
- Dylan Windler (joined Knicks on two-way deal)
- Robin Lopez (signed with Bucks)
- Raul Neto (signed with Turkish club Fenerbahce)
Danny Green and Mamadi Diakite (two-way) remain unrestricted free agents.
It’s worth noting that Ricky Rubio, who returned to action last season following a torn ACL, recently announced that he was taking a break from basketball to focus on his mental health. It’s unclear how that will affect the veteran guard’s status entering next season.
We want to know what you think. Did the Cavs improve this summer? Will they advance past the first round of the playoffs in 2023/24, assuming they make it in? Head to the comments and share your thoughts on Cleveland’s offseason.
Hornets Notes: Schnall, Plotkin, Jordan, Roster
New Hornets co-chairmen Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin gave an exclusive interview to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer on Thursday following their introductory press conference.
The chat covered a number of topics, including the duo’s desire to build a sustainable winner, fan engagement, the team’s roster, and their respect for former majority owner Michael Jordan, who retained a minority stake in the franchise and recently penned an open thank you letter following the finalized sale.
Here are some highlights from Boone’s interview, with is worth checking out in full for Hornets followers:
On Jordan initiating the conversation about selling the team last August:
“The way he has dealt with us in this process — he told us a year ago, ‘You two guys are the right guys to buy the business,'” Schnall said. “You are basketball guys. I believe you can do this, and I want you to do this.’ And he stuck to his word. He was committed. That’s when we started down this path.”
How Schnall’s experience as a minority owner of the Hawks will impact his decision-making with Charlotte:
“I think being in and around the NBA for eight years, watching how owners make decisions, how general managers make decisions, how the CBA works, how trades work, how you build a roster. And I’m a business builder as a living, and I take all that in to think about and work with Gabe, and the rest of the group on how do you build a team? What’s the strategy for building a team over the long term, and create success over the long term?
“Obviously, I wasn’t making the decisions in Atlanta, but I was in the room. And we went through a rebuild. We made a decision to break it down. … Now you can debate if we did everything right. I don’t think we did. But we did a lot of things right. We had the right idea at that time.
“… I think all of that is information and Gabe and I spent a lot of time talking about it. Now that we are in the position of making those decisions or helping make those decisions, what are the right decisions to make at different times in order to try to build a sustainably successful franchise. And that’s what we are trying to do. We are not trying to win the title in one year and then be terrible two years later. Like any sustainable business, how do we build something that is a contender year-in and year-out.”
Plotkin’s thoughts on the current state of the roster:
“I think it will be a competitive team. When you look at the Eastern Conference, it’s pretty powerful at the top of the conference and there’s a bunch of teams somewhere in the middle parts where I think we can compete within. And we’ll see how that plays out. I think there are really a lot of good parts on the roster. Really, we liked what we saw out of Brandon (Miller) at summer league. His shot wasn’t falling, but that is not something that we are really worried about. He’s got great mechanics, he’s got a great release, he shot the ball incredibly well at Alabama.
“And we just signed LaMelo (Ball) to the max. And he was playing great basketball last year before he got injured. Usually that third, fourth year is an inflection year and we just didn’t get to see it from him because he wasn’t really on the court. And we were just speaking with Mark Williams. When he came into the starting lineup, there was a palpable difference on how this team defended. Being a part of this team for the last four or five years, there’s been no rim protection.
“And so to anchor yourself with a really high basketball IQ player on the back end of your defense, who can alter shots and shoot the basketball a little bit and rim run, that’s really important. The pieces are all there. We’ll see how Miles (Bridges) looks as he comes back. He was great the last season we had him, and there are other young parts that can elevate. And, of course, you have Gordon (Hayward) and Terry (Rozier), who are kind of consummate professionals. There’s a lot of pieces. They’re young and we think they will continue to develop.”
And-Ones: Kerr, Expansion, Team USA, Giles, Barea
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who is currently guiding Team USA as it prepares for the upcoming World Cup, is enthusiastic about the possibility of NBA expansion, particularly to Las Vegas and Seattle, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
“It feels right,” Kerr said. “Obviously it’s not my department, but Vegas and Seattle seem to be such smart franchises. It’s a shame that we ever lost the Sonics in the first place. But as you look forward and you think of what we need, we need a couple of Western time slots. Think about all the doubleheaders on TV you have where the second game is starting at 8:40 central time. We lost a couple of West Coast time slots back when Seattle and Vancouver left the league. It hurt the TV schedule, which hurt the whole league schedule.
“You factor in Vegas for the time slot. But also just how great of a venue this is for summer league, USA Basketball, the fans here have proven they’ll come out, they love the Aces. The Knights just won the Stanley Cup, the Raiders are filling it up every Sunday. So this seems like a really good next team.”
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- The U.S. Select Team outplayed Team USA in a scrimmage on Friday, emerging victorious by a final score of 47-39 after two 10-minute periods. According to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Kerr was unfazed by the senior team’s defeat. “It’s a time-honored tradition of USA Basketball,” Kerr said. “Everybody knows the Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley story from ’92 (defeating the Dream Team in a scrimmage ahead of the Barcelona Olympics). In 2019, for the last World Cup, the Select Team came in, kicked our butts, and that’s the whole point. You want to get great talent to come in and challenge you and that’s what the Select Team did today.”
- Harry Giles‘ agent, Daniel Hazan, tells Ian Begley of SNY.tv that the free agent big man recently worked out for the Magic and has a workout scheduled with the Warriors next week (Twitter link). Giles will be in Miami on Saturday working out for Brooklyn. The former first-round pick is eligible for a two-way contract and all three clubs have at least one two-way spot available, as our tracker shows. Giles, who dealt with major knee injuries early in his career, last played for Portland in 2020/21.
- Former NBA veteran J.J. Barea will be the new head coach of Puerto Rico’s Guaynabo Mets, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). It will be the longtime guard’s first coaching stint, Charania adds.
Western Notes: Davis, Lakers, Kessler, Garuba, Canales
While the Lakers are certainly well aware of Anthony Davis‘ injury history, they were impressed with how he battled through his foot issues last season and recognized that he spearheaded their defensive turnaround after the trade deadline, with the club advancing to the Western Conference Finals despite a terrible start to 2022/23.
“They understand AD and his work ethic has shown,” Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told Mark Medina of Sportskeeda on Friday. “He has some injuries, but it wasn’t due to him not working. It’s not like he came into camp overweight or showed any laziness. There were just fluke things. That happens in the game.”
Paul said the two sides are still determining whether Davis will have a player option in his new three-year extension, but it will not contain a team option.
Both Medina — writing for The Sporting Tribune — and Jovan Buha of The Athletic believe it’s a win-win for Davis and the Lakers, though there’s obviously some risk involved for Los Angeles. The two authors note that Davis could potentially have earned more money had he hit free agency in 2024.
Here’s more from around the West:
- After a standout rookie season, Jazz center Walker Kessler, who will be representing Team USA at the upcoming World Cup, has added 15 pounds of muscle this offseason, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic. “A lot of the offseason has been about gaining weight and gaining strength,” Kessler said. “It’s been a lot of hard work. But I’m excited to try and put myself in a position to make a difference on the floor, so the work has been a lot of fun. I love the weight room. I love working on my body. I’m really excited to be a part of Team USA and extremely thankful that I get to be a part of this. I think the amount of talent and the amount of knowledge that’s going to be on the roster is amazing. I’m trying to learn as much as I can and use this experience to try and better myself in every way that I can.”
- Speaking to Nacho Duke of Spanish outlet Marca, Thunder big man Usman Garuba said he hopes to spend the rest of his professional career in the NBA. “If possible, I intend to play my entire career in the NBA, and I’m going to push it to the maximum,” Garuba said, per BasketNews.com. “I do not think about another thing. Anything can happen, but I only have in mind to continue in the NBA all my professional life.” Oklahoma City acquired Garuba last month via trade.
- Veteran assistant Kaleb Canales is joining the Texas Legends — the Mavericks‘ G League affiliate — as associate head coach, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Canales, who became the NBA’s first Mexican-American head coach in 2012, last worked for the Pacers in 2020/21. He also had stints with Portland, Dallas and New York over his lengthy coaching career, so it will be a reunion with the Mavs organization.
Pacific Notes: Paul, Kuminga, Warriors, Eubanks, K. Brown
Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today on Wednesday (YouTube link), Warriors head coach Steve Kerr discussed the addition of point guard Chris Paul and what he can bring to the team, highlighting Golden State’s turnover issues in 2022/23 and the future Hall-of-Famer’s ability to take care of the basketball.
As Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes, Paul has never come off the bench in his lengthy career. Following Team USA’s practice on Friday, Kerr brushed aside that topic, noting that it will be a matter for a future date.
“I think that’ll be a case where you get three weeks of training camp before that first game,” Kerr said. “We’ll just look at all kinds of different combinations.
“The main thing is we know all those guys are gonna play a lot of minutes. But the luxury of having Chris Paul to add to this group that we’ve been lucky enough to have for a decade … pretty remarkable. He is one of the great competitors in the game. He’s one of the great point guards of all time. I think he’s a great addition for us, because of his ability to control games, control tempo, take care of the ball.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga believes he’s primed for a breakout season in 2023/24, he told Leonard Solms of ESPN at the Basketball Without Borders camp in South Africa. “This upcoming season is definitely the year,” Kuminga said. “A lot of people are expecting so much from me – and myself; I’m expecting a lot. It’s a lot of pressure, but I don’t really pay attention to the noise. The pressure is always going to be there. It’s just [on] me to go out there and perform.” The former lottery pick also discussed mentoring his fellow African countrymen and the importance he places on “growing as a person,” per Solms.
- What can the Suns expect from free agent addition Drew Eubanks? Gerald Bourguet explores that question in detail for PHNX Sports, writing that the big man’s shot blocking, mobility, foot work, athletic finishing, solid screening, and physicality are positive traits he’ll bring to his new club.
- The Clippers selected former Missouri forward Kobe Brown with the 30th overall pick in June’s draft. They’ve been impressed with Brown’s versatility and willingness to make winning plays, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. “He can do a lot of things without having the ball in his hands, as you saw,” Summer League coach Dahntay Jones said. “…He can do a bunch of different things to complement the cast that we have already. He knows he’s a basketball player first. He doesn’t hang his hat on scoring. He hangs his hat on having a positive effect on the game of basketball.”
Southwest Notes: Brooks, Doncic, Bane, Mamukelashvili
Rockets wing Dillon Brooks recently discussed his offseason and playing for Team Canada in a conversation with Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Houston gave Brooks a four-year, $86MM+ deal as part of a complex five-team sign-and-trade.
“I’ve been chilling. I’ve working out, making sure I get my body right, keep my body right the whole time so I don’t have no drop off,” Brooks told Grange. “And then just focusing mostly on myself, staying off social media, working on my game, doing what I have to do.”
As Grange writes, Brooks has been a longtime member of the Canadian national team. The 27-year-old is looking forward to competing with his compatriots this month.
“Everyone that’s in the building, you came across when you were younger, grew up with or played against or with when you played up (an age group),” said Brooks. “It’s a family environment and everybody is here to win, get better and do something special for the country.”
Here’s more from the Southwest:
- Mavericks guard Luka Doncic banged knees with an opponent in an exhibition game with Team Slovenia, but the Mavs have “no concerns” about the injury, a source tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). As with Brooks, Doncic is suiting up for his home country for the upcoming World Cup, which will take place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. He exited the loss against Greece as a precaution.
- Grizzlies guard/forward Desmond Bane, who underwent toe surgery in May, says he hasn’t been cleared for 5-on-5 work yet, but he expects to be a full go for training camp next month, tweets Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian. “I’m not quite cleared to play contact yet, but as far as working out on the court, I feel like my body is in a pretty good spot,” Bane said, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Bane signed a massive rookie scale extension this summer that will go into effect in 2024/25.
- Sandro Mamukelashvili re-signed with the Spurs on a guaranteed one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum, but he confirmed he received interest from EuroLeague teams in free agency, according to Pijus Sapetka of BasketNews.com. “Definitely, I had multiple EuroLeague teams [interested in me], but I want to stay in the NBA,” the Georgian big man told BasketNews. “I want to show everybody that right now, I am an NBA player. European doors are never closed, and I love watching EuroLeague. I know how good the competition is. … Right now, my head is straight to the NBA to show everybody that I can be an NBA player and that I belong to this league.”
Atlantic Notes: White, Watford, Giles, Nets, Sixers
Speaking to Malika Andrews of ESPN on NBA Today (YouTube link), Celtics guard Derrick White discussed his changing role, the addition of Kristaps Porzingis, and being open to a contract extension, among other topics.
“You’re eligible for an extension at the end of September,” Andrews said. “You’re gonna have a what, three week window to negotiate that. Do you want to get a deal done before the season starts? Is that a goal of yours?”
“I love being here in Boston, it would be cool to get an extension,” White replied. “We’ll see what happens during that window. But I’ve loved my time in Boston so far and my focus right now is just on the season.”
The 29-year-old has two years remaining on his current contract, which will pay him $36.4MM+ through 2024/25. White’s deal has incentives — some likely, some unlikely — that could increase the total value.
Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- The signing of big man Trendon Watford is yet another indication that the Nets are embracing a youth movement this offseason, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. Brooklyn selected a pair of teenagers in the first round of the draft (Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead), a 22-year-old (Jalen Wilson) in the second round, and has signed free agents Dennis Smith Jr., Lonnie Walker, Darius Bazley and now Watford, all of whom are 25 years old or younger.
- Free agent big man Harry Giles is holding a workout on Saturday in Miami and the Nets will be in attendance, agent Daniel Hazan tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter link). As Bondy notes, Giles is eligible for a two-way deal after a clause in the new CBA was named after the former first-round pick, who missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury. Brooklyn holds one open two-way slot, as our tracker shows. Giles also held a workout in Las Vegas last month, with at least five teams in attendance.
- In a subscriber-only story for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Gina Mizell explains how the Sixers will have the financial flexibility to reshape their roster next summer, despite James Harden‘s trade request hanging over the organization. Both Harden and Tobias Harris are on expiring contracts, Mizell writes, and the 76ers prioritized signing free agents to short-term contracts this offseason. Technically, only Joel Embiid is currently on a guaranteed contract in 2024/25, though P.J. Tucker is essentially a lock to pick up his $11.5MM player option.