[2023 Most Improved Player] Green, Jabari, Brooks, Alpe

When I looked at the four names in the thread title, I knew one of them didn't belong.

 

A few more of these advances and he'll be one year away from retirement.

 

I guess they'll be in the running if you compare their 2023-24 China stats to last year.

 

Sam Quinn of CBS Sports with an article about who might win Most Improved Player and the odds. The Favorites, the Middle of the Pack, and the Long Shots. In the Middle of the pack is our Alperen Sengun. I think he has a chance. Here's what Quinn wrote about the Turk. I like what he has to say about the Rockets of last season, which supports @Clutch's recent article:

The Middle of the Pack
Players listed here have odds between +1501 and +3000

Quinn: The Rockets scored 7.6 more points per 100 possessions with Alperen Sengun (+1600) on the floor last season. Of course, they couldn't take advantage of his offensive gifts because they were, quite frankly, a disorganized mess. In a single offseason, Houston may have swapped the NBA's lesser head coaches (Stephen Silas) and starting point guard (Kevin Porter Jr.) with above-average replacements in Ime Udoka and Fred VanVleet. The latter is about as low-maintenance a point guard as exists in the modern NBA. Unlike Porter, VanVleet won't monopolize the ball.

There is room for another offensive engine to emerge in Houston, and last season's offense was at its best when that engine was Sengun. It typically takes teams a few years to recognize that it even has a big man capable of holding such a role. Neither Nikola Jokic nor Domantas Sabonis reached an All-Star Game until their fourth seasons. On a per-minute basis, Sengun's second-year numbers were slightly better than Sabonis' and were slightly worse than Jokic's.

2016-17 Nikola Jokic

2017-18 Domantas Sabonis

2022-23 Alperen Sengun

Points per 36

21.6 - Jokic

17.1 - Sabonis

18.4 - Sengun

Rebounds per 36

12.7 - Jokic

11.4 - Sabonis

11.2 - Sengun

Assists per 36

6.3 - Jokic

3 - Sabonis

4.8 - Sengun

True shooting percentage

64 - Jokic

56.7 - Sabonis

59.9 - Sengun

Comparing anyone to Jokic is practically sacrilege, but Sengun shares stylistic similarities with both All-Star centers and is further along at this stage than Sabonis was. If he gets the opportunity to serve as an offensive hub, he's going to thrive.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...am-derrick-white-are-the-best-preseason-bets/