NBA 2017-18: Most improved players
The NBA Most Improved Player of the Season award is given to the player who has performed exceedingly well in the regular year, eclipsing his performance levels from the previous season too.
Last year, the 'Greek Freak' Giannis Antetokounmpo beat off competition to win this award with excellent performances, but who are this season's candidates to earn such a prestigious accolade?
We take a look at five players who thus far, have bettered their performance levels from last season:
Kris Dunn (PG, Chicago Bulls):
On June 22, 2017, Chicago Bulls acquired point guard Kris Dunn along with shooting guard Zach Lavine and rights to the 7th pick in this summer's NBA Draft in exchange for veteran forward Jimmy Butler as well as rights to the 16th pick in 2017's NBA draft.
Supporters and critics alike felt this was another botched trade deal by the Bulls front office, where they had given away one of the league's best two-way players for seemingly nothing.
Before the trade, Dunn had a very disappointing rookie season. Last year's 5th pick, he had a 41.1 eFG - a metric which accounts for a 3-pointer being worth more than a 2-pointer, when a player who scores 50 eFG is considered average.
Averaging 3.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game across the entirety of last season for the Minnesota Timberwolves, it's fair to say he was yet to live up to expectations.
With the second lowest shooting percentage in their squad (37.7%), he also averaged just 29% from behind the arc. For a player who was widely predictated to win the Rookie of the Year accolade, these statistics were simply unacceptable.
Coming into the current campaign, Dunn made it his mission to prove all his doubters wrong. That's precisely what he has done, starting on a strong note as we reach the Christmas period.
At the time of writing, the 23-year-old is averaging 12.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game while improving his shooting percentage (43%) and shot behind the arc (36%) too. His eFG rating has also improved to 46.5, so there's no reason why he cannot be in with a shout if he continues to progress in such convincing fashion.