4 contenders giving Pascal Siakam a run for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award

Pascal Siakam outscored the Houston Rockets by himself in the third quarter of Toronto’s 107-95 loss to Houston on Tuesday, notching 15 of his 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field to help drag the Raptors back from down 22.

Siakam’s play briefly brought Toronto back from the dead before Houston lulled them back to sleep. It’s a breakout he wouldn’t have pulled off had he not improved his game over the summer.

Last season, Siakam was playing just 20 minutes per game, his production just half of what it is today. Now, he’s one of three pillars — along with Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry — on a Raptors team with championship aspirations that could very well materialize if Siakam continues his upward trajectory.

It should reward the player who spends a summer adding new dimensions to his game, then takes advantage of more playing time to showcase his new skills. Siakam is a 37 percent three-point shooter this season. Last season, he shot the three at a 22 percent clip. As a rookie, he shot worse than 15 percent.

His improvement is across the board. Siakam is playing twice as many minutes as he was handed his rookie season, but he’s quadrupled his scoring output and has increased his assist rate by almost 1,000 percent. He’s become a primary ball-handler, capable of both pushing the pace in transition and taking his defender off the dribble. He can defend every position. He’s turned himself into a Swiss Army knife, in a league where versatility is king.

Siakam is basketball evolution in its purest form. He just might be the second-best player on this loaded Raptors team, equipped with two current all-stars and two former ones, and it’s just his third season in the NBA. He’s only scratching the surface of what he might become.

That sure sounds like the Most Improved Player award to a T.

There are player improvement stories scattered across the league.

In some eyes, Russell embodies the spirit of the honor more than Siakam. This is a player who was deemed to not be a leader by Magic Johnson, the best point guard of all-time. That’s why Johnson traded Russell away before the Lakers drafted Lonzo Ball.

Now, Russell is the leader of a Brooklyn Nets team poised to make its first playoff appearance in four years. He is enjoying a rebirth in Brooklyn, and his eyes are on the prize.

“I’m gonna win that s--t. Watch,” he told SNY’s Anthony Puccio. “Put it on record. I’m gonna win it.”

Russell became a first-time all-star this season, and for good reason: he’s averaging 20.4 points, 6.8 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game on the best field goal (.436), three-point (.366) and free-throw (.833) percentages of his career. His turnovers have decreased and his assists are up. If Brooklyn manages to hold onto its playoff seed, Russell has as good a chance at claiming the award.

The Clippers traded away their best player in Tobias Harris at the deadline, yet somehow, they’re still firmly in the Western Conference playoffs. That’s because they’ve got bulldogs on the roster.

One of those bulldogs is Montrezl Harrell, the fiery big man whose tank never runs out of gas.

Harrell is averaging 16.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game off the bench. He would be the only player in NBA history with that stat line to start fewer than five games in season.

The Sacramento Kings are only three games out of the Western Conference playoff picture. There’s a good chance they don’t make it in in the end. But their surprise involvement in the West race shows just how well Sacramento has been able to cultivate its talent in recent years.

Case-in-point: The Kings drafted De’Aaron Fox, and now he’s having a breakout season. Fox is shooting 37 percent from three after shooting 30.7 percent as a rookie. He’s averaging 7.2 assists (up from 4.4) and 1.7 steals (up from 1). Fox is also averaging 17 points on 46 percent shooting from the field.

The Kings have a future all-star on their hands. Even if he doesn’t win Most Improved Player, his game has evolved before our eyes.

(Fox’s backcourt mate, Buddy Hield, also belongs in this conversation).

Has anyone ever been in the running for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Most Improved Player in the same year? That’s the kind of season George is having. He’s unlocked his final form, and the Thunder are rolling because of it.

Oklahoma City is now widely considered the dark horse to give the Rockets and Warriors a run for their championship money. George, who is averaging career-highs in scoring (28.6 points), rebounding (8.1), assists (4.3), and steals (2.3), is the reason for it.

George is also second in the NBA in total deflections, somehow six behind James Harden, and first in the NBA in total loose balls recovered. Hustle stats make a difference, too.

It would break basketball if a player of George’s caliber won this award, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t deserving of it.