Most Improved Player
This is one of those awards that’s awfully hard to pick as several Utah Jazz players have shown improvements so far this season. Principal among them has been Gordon Hayward whose points per game have jumped from 19.7 to a sturdy 22.2 this season. The elevation in his game has been spectacular and a major contributing factor to Utah’s success.
Then there’s role players like Trey Lyles and Joe Ingles who continue to have a positive impact on this team as their noticeable improvements have also helped Utah perform well, particularly among the team’s onslaught of injuries. However, while all their improvements have been solid, they still haven’t matched up to what George Hill has done so far this year.
When George Hill came over to the Jazz, everyone knew it would be a huge upgrade from what Utah had at the point guard position in years past. However, given that Hill averages just 11.5 points per game over his career, many fans weren’t getting their hopes up too much about what kind of player he’d be for the Jazz.
But Hill has truly surpassed expectations in every way. During his time in Indiana, he was severely underutilized as much of the ball-handling and responsibilities for running the offense fell to the likes of George Hill or Monta Ellis. With Utah, however, Hill has been given much more freedom and he has done exceptionally well with it.
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He’s averaging a career-high 18.2 points per game while also putting up career shooting numbers of 52.6 percent from the field and 48.6 percent from deep. While it’s true that he’s only appeared in 16 games so far this season which is a small sample size, there’s still no doubting that Hill has shown major improvements this year over what most people expected he’d be capable of in a Jazz uniform.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see his shooting numbers come back down to earth a little bit once he gets a few more games under his belt, but there’s still no denying how solid Hill has been so far this season and how much more versatile he’s looked compared to the strictly spot-up shooter he was last year.
Thus as Hill continues to put together an incredible statement season and showcase massive improvements from the last few years, he’s the one who gets my pick as Utah’s Most Improved Player.
Most Improved Player – George Hill