Feature Presentation: 2015-16 BDL Most Random Improved Player

We at Ball Don’t Lie enjoy healthy debate about basketball and its strange cast of characters, from Oscar Robertson’s “get off my lawn” diatribe on Stephen Curry to D’Angelo Russell’s sting operation on a self-dubbed dude named Swaggy P and his Australian hip hop artist fiancee. (Yup, those things happened.) It’s NBA with a twist here at the BDL, so we wanted to stir the pot and shake up the league’s annual awards.

BDL MOST RANDOM IMPROVED PLAYER

Most Improved Player is maybe the most debatable of awards, especially this season, as a case could be made for a guy from almost every team. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Will Barton, Kent Bazemore, Jae Crowder, Evan Fournier, Reggie Jackson, Ian Mahinmi, C.J. McCollum, Kemba Walker, Hassan Whiteside. The list goes on. And you can read about arguments for those guys everywhere you look, which is cool.

Heck, even MVP lock Stephen Curry has been mentioned as a serious contender for Most Improved.

The popular choice among respected NBA journos seems to be C.J. McCollum, and we’re good with that, but is it all that strange that a promising 10th overall pick made the leap in his his third NBA season?

While everyone else debates the merits of McCollum vs. Mahinmi, we’re more interested in the inexplicable, the most random of dudes who went from NBA irrelevancy to, “Hey, that guy’s not so bad.” 

AND THE WINNER IS: Brandon Rush, Golden State Warriors.

When the folks at NBA 2K released their 2016 player ratings, only three players — Jared Cunningham, Duje Dukan and Johnny O’Bryant — rated lower than Rush. Not that video games are the authority on a player’s worth, but the 30-year-old’s ranking behind guys like Branden Dawson before the 56th overall pick in the 2015 draft ever played a game gives us an idea where Rush existed in the NBA conciousness.

A 2008 first-round pick, Rush once shot 42.5 percent on 744 3-point attempts over a three-year stretch, but lost his way in 2014-15, shooting 11.1 percent from distance and averaging a dismal 0.9 points in 33 appearances for the world champs. After surgeries on each knee and eight years of NBA service, Rush seemed destined to wallow on the end of the Warriors’ bench again when he picked up his $1.3 million 2015-16 player option. Except, the doubters, of which there were many, underestimated Rush’s pride.

When teammates told Rush, “Man, we don’t even know who you are,” he rededicated himself to the gym, arriving at training camp “ready to be the old B-Rush,” whatever that meant, according to CSN Bay Area.

In many ways, he was the old B-Rush, shooting better than 40 percent from 3 again, which is quite an improvement on its own, but this fact cannot be underestimated: Due to injuries to Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes, Brandon Rush started 25 games for the greatest regular-season team in NBA history.

And in the absence of a string of his highlights set to Paula Abdul’s “Rush, Rush,” we’ll settle for a Vine of the Warriors running the famed elevator play — normally reserved for Curry and Thompson — for Rush.

AND THE NOMINEES WERE …

AND NOW A WORD FROM THE ACADEMY …

We understand some of the fun comes with picking apart the voting panel and publicly shaming their misfires, so we’ll do our best to explain ourselves before you folks let us have it in the comment section.

Shelvin Mack, Atlanta Hawks/Utah Jazz.

2015-16 averages in Atlanta (24 games): 7.5 MIN, 3.9 PTS (46.4 TS%), 2.8 AST, 1.4 REB, 0.5 STL

2015-16 averages in Utah (27 games): 31.3 MIN, 12.7 PTS (52.2 TS%), 5.3 AST, 3.7 REB, 1.0 STL

The 25-year-old former Butler star found his groove on a flight from Atlanta to Utah (don’t we all?), midway through his fourth season, and served as a starter during a just-too-short Jazz playoff run.

Ish Smith, New Orleans Pelicans/Philadelphia 76ers.

2015-16 averages in New Orleans (27 games): 22.9 MIN, 8.9 PTS (48.4 TS%), 5.7 AST, 3.4 REB, 0.9 STL

2015-16 averages in Philadelphia (49 games): 32.3 MIN, 14.8 PTS (46.1 TS%), 6.9 AST, 4.2 REB, 1.3 STL

As the only member of the 76ers born in the 1980s, Smith assumed a leadership role upon arriving in Philadelphia on Christmas Eve, despite starting all of 25 games in his first five NBA seasons. He nearly doubled that number in 49 games for the Sixers, making a 10-win team occasionally enjoyable to watch.

Zaza Pachulia, Dallas Mavericks.

2014-15 averages in Milwaukee (73 games): 23.7 MIN, 8.3 PTS (50.6 TS%), 6.8 REB, 2.4 AST, 1.1 STL

2014-15 averages in Dallas (75 games): 26.3 MIN, 8.6 PTS (58.8 TS%), 9.4 REB, 1.7 AST, 0.9 STL

The 32-year-old veteran’s production fell off significantly after the All-Star break, when he was averaging a double-double (10.0 PTS-10.7 REB), but his arrival helped the Mavericks salvage the DeAndre Jordan fiasco and secure a 15th playoff appearance in the past 16 seasons, when all signs indicated otherwise.

Derrick Williams, New York Knicks.

2014-15 averages in Sacramento (74 games): 19.8 MIN, 8.3 PTS (54.0 TS%), 2.7 REB, 0.7 AST, 0.5 STL

2014-15 averges in New York (80 games): 17.9 MIN, 9.3 PTS (55.0 TS%), 3.7 REB, 0.9 AST, 0.4 STL

Williams began his Knicks career with 24 points and seven rebounds in a season-opening win, and while inconsistency continued to plague the 24-year-old, as our own Kelly Dwyer notes, “It’s as if he bookends each season with great play in the beginning and end to remind us of why he’s still around.”

Bismack Biyombo, Toronto Raptors.

2014-15 averages in Charlotte (64 games): 19.4 MIN, 4.8 PTS (57.8 TS%), 6.4 REB, 1.5 BLK

2015-16 averages in Toronto (81 games): 22.2 MIN, 5.6 PTS (58.8 TS%), 8.0 REB, 1.6 BLK

A bust when considering his top-10 draft selection in 2011 ahead Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler, Biyombo began to blossom into a reliable backup defensive big option on the Hornets last season, and the Raptors capitalized on his new role with fewer expectations in Toronto this year. 

Omri Casspi, Sacramento Kings.

 2014-15 averages in Sacramento (67 games): 21.1 MIN, 8.9 PTS (58.0 TS%), 3.9 REB, 1.5 AST

2015-16 averages in Sacramento (69 games): 27.2 MIN, 11.8 PTS (58.7 TS%), 5.9 REB, 1.4 AST

“Casspi is apparently the only player in the NBA that George Karl actually likes.” — Kelly Dwyer, nailed it

JaMychal Green, Memphis Grizzlies.

2015-16 averages pre All-Star (49 games): 5.5 PTS, 3.9 REB, 0.4 AST

2015-16 averages post All-Star (28 games): 10.6 PTS, 6.3 REB, 1.6 AST

As injuries mounted, the Grizzlies turned to anyone and everyone on their bench, and Green was game for the challenge, filling out the rotation and even starting 15 games amid Memphis’ grind to the playoffs.

CUE THE AUDIENCE REACTION …

 2015-16 BDL AWARDS

IN THEATERS NOW: Bench of the Year • Coach(ing Change) of the Year • Defensive Unit of the Year • (Non-Lottery) Rookie of the Year • Executive (Decision) of the Year • (2nd) Most Valuable Player • Most (Random) Improved Player

COMING SOON: Comeback Player of the Year • All-Potential Team • All-Defensive* Team • All-BDL Team

WE REALLY, REALLY LIKE YOU

First and foremost, we’d like to thank Yahoo Sports Photos and Multimedia Manager Amber Matsumoto for her tireless work on graphics. None of this would’ve been possible without her. And special thanks to Basketball Reference and NBA.com/stats for statistics, Graphiq for the stat box, Basketball Breakdown for the Vine and ProProfs Poll Maker for the poll. Oh, and to Greg “Stiemer” Stiemsma for inspiring the award.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach