Why Shai is the Most Improved Player in the NBA [THREAD]:

Most people think MIP is the player who improves most in box score statistics (Jerami Grant, Christian Wood, etc.), but in my opinion the MIP should be the player who actually improves most in specific aspects of basketball, not the player who just gets way more touches.

Now that the criteria is clear, let's look at how SGA's scoring has improved from 2020.

2020 - 20 PTS/75 on +0.3% rTS

2021 - 25.3 PTS/75 on +5.2% rTS

Shai has taken considerably more shots this season and his efficiency has skyrocketed with significantly worse spacing.

Shai's shot selection has gotten much better which has led to better efficiency and he has clearly improved his scoring.
In 2019-20 over 20% of Shai's shots were long 2's, this season it's only at 14.1%.

He's also taken more shots at the rim and more 3-pointers.

Clearly Shai is taking better shots which results in a spike in efficiency this season. His 3p% has also improved by 7% and he's now shooting over 59% on shots from 0-10 feet, shooting 51% on those shots last season.

Shai also averages the most drives a game in the NBA with 9.3

Shai's tough shot making has also improved, 55% of his shots are contested or very contested and he shoots 54.7% FG on contested and very contested shots. In 2019-20 that mark was at 47% FG.

This improvement in efficiency may partially be juiced due to no fans in the arenas, but you can clearly see that Shai has improved his 3-point shooting, driving and floater game, resulting in more efficient shooting on higher volume.

Due to his great ball handling and aggressive driving, Shai gets into the paint with ease and his great finishing helps him finish some insanely tough layups often leading to and-1s.
Shai often draws contact and averages 7 FTA/75, shooting 81% from the charity stripe.

Next thing I want to talk about is Shai's improvement in playmaking.

Even with worse spacing and a bottom 5 supporting cast in the league, Shai is a top 25 playmaker in the league. He's averaging 6.3 AST/75 with only 9% cTOV (turnover rate relative to offensive load)

He also has an 11.0 Box Creation (17th league-wide) and 6.6 Passer Rating, both very impressive marks.
He capitalizes off his good gravity to create good looks for his teammates.
He ranks 14th in rim gravity, see the clip below to see how he capitalizes on his great rim gravity.

This jump in efficient volume scoring and playmaking is laeding to a +6.4 ORTG On/Off for Shai this season.

One thing that Shai hasn't improved on is his questionable defense.

His help defense has arguably gotten worse this season and he still has a lot of work to do if he wants to become a positive on that end. Since he's a guard, he doesn't lose too much value on defense though.

So to summarize, Shai has taken a big leap in scoring and playmaking, hititng shots more efficiently while creating more shots for his teammates. This huge improvement can't just be attributed to him having more touches, since his efficiency has improved with much worse spacing.

I may have overrated Shai a bit when I said he's better than Booker and KAT, but I genuinely believe he's a top 25-30 player in the NBA and is the Most Improved Player in the NBA this season.

Thanks for making it to the end of the thread and thanks to @evin_gual for some of the clips (I found them on YT)
Likes and RTs appreciated