The Portland Trail Blazers' CJ McCollum, who more than tripled his scoring average from the previous season, is the winner of the 2015-16 Kia NBA Most Improved Player Award, the NBA announced today.
The 6-4 guard joins Kevin Duckworth (1987-88) and Zach Randolph (2003-04) as the only Trail Blazers to earn the award, which is designed to honor an up-and-coming player who has made a dramatic improvement from the previous season or seasons.
McCollum received 101 first-place votes and 559 total points from a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets (seven first-place votes, 166 points) and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (four first-place votes, 99 points) finished second and third, respectively.
McCollum averaged a career-high 20.8 points (18th in the NBA) in his third season since being selected by the Trail Blazers with the 10th pick of NBA Draft 2013. He raised his scoring average by 14 points from last season's 6.8, the largest increase (minimum 40 games each season) since Tony Campbell improved by 17 points from 1988-89 (6.2) to 1989-90 (23.2).
McCollum established career highs in field goal percentage (44.8), three-point field goal percentage (41.7, eighth in the NBA), assists (4.3 apg) and rebounds (3.2 rpg), helping Portland make the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
Voting results
2015-16 KIA NBA MOST IMPROVED PLAYER AWARD RESULTS| P. | Player | Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Pts. |
|---|
| 1. | C.J. MCCOLLUM | Portland Trail Blazers | 101 | 14 | 12 | 559 |
| 2. | Kemba Walker | Charlotte Hornets | 7 | 37 | 20 | 166 |
| 3. | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee Bucks | 4 | 17 | 28 | 99 |
| 4. | Stephen Curry | Golden State Warriors | 7 | 13 | 9 | 83 |
| 5. | Will Barton | Denver Nuggets | 1 | 16 | 9 | 62 |
| 6. | Jae Crowder | Boston Celtics | 1 | 8 | 16 | 45 |
| 7. | Draymond Green | Golden State Warriors | 2 | 10 | 3 | 43 |
| 8. | Isaiah Thomas | Boston Celtics | 3 | 3 | 6 | 30 |
| 9. | Hassan Whiteside | Miami Heat | 1 | 6 | 3 | 26 |
| 10. | Kawhi Leonard | San Antonio Spurs | 1 | 2 | 7 | 18 |
| 11. | Andre Drummond | Detroit Pistons | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| 12. | Gary Harris | Denver Nuggets | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 13. | Kent Bazemore | Atlanta Hawks | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| - | Evan Fournier | Orlando Magic | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 15. | Rodney Hood | Utah Jazz | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| - | Russell Westbrook | Oklahoma City Thunder | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| - | Reggie Jackson | Detroit Pistons | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| - | Ian Mahinmi | Indiana Pacers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 19. | Zach LaVine | Minnesota Timberwolves | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| - | Kyle Lowry | Toronto Raptors | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
All-time NBA Most Improved Player awards list