Amazingly, no Boston Celtics player has won the NBA's Most Improved Player award since it was instituted for the 1985-86 season.
If it were up to one prominent basketball analyst, that'd have a chance at changing this season.
Count Kendrick Perkins among those who believe that Robert Williams III belongs in the discussion for the award.
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"His energy is just contagious," Perkins said. "Why haven't we talked about Robert Williams as being in the Most Improved Player conversation? I don't know how it slipped my mind."
Now in his fourth season, Time Lord is averaging career highs across the board for the Celtics, making the most of his ascension into the starting lineup on a consistent basis for the first time. After starting 16 games over his first three years in the league, Williams has started in all 48 games he's played thus far for the C's, averaging 10 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game on 73.2 percent shooting and 69.3 percent from the free throw line."It's not just his alley-oop dunks, it's his awareness and his IQ," Perkins said. "I think that's where we don't give him enough credit for...the Celtics have so much trust and belief in Rob Williams, it's really a great thing to see. I think that trust is what's giving Williams the confidence he has right now."
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Thursday against the Brooklyn Nets, Williams finished with 12 points and 11 boards in 25 minutes for Boston -- his fourth straight double-double, fifth in his last seven appearances and 20th overall. Williams has scored at least 10 points in seven straight games, easily the longest stretch of his career.
It's encouraging to see the improvements from Williams with his added role, but will it be enough to earn recognition as the most improved player in the game? For as great as he's been, Time Lord is averaging only two points per game more than he did a season ago, and while his player efficiency rating (PER) is still an excellent 21.86 -- 19th in the NBA -- it's actually dropped some from a season ago, when he finished with the eighth-highest PER at 25.71.
His improved numbers in virtually every other category expose PER as somewhat flimsy in the discussion, but it could still void Williams' candidacy. He may have to settle with merely being the most improved player on the Celtics' roster, which would hardly be a bad thing.
Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies is currently the odds-on favorite to win the league-wide award.