Suns G Goran Dragic Wins 2014 NBA Most Improved Player Award

Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic is the 2014 NBA Most Improved Player.

The team issued a press release on its official website on April 23:

“Suns guard Goran Dragic, who helped the team to a 23-win improvement while establishing career highs in scoring and field-goal percentage, was named the 2013-14 Kia NBA Most Improved Player, the NBA announced today.

“The annual award is presented to a player who has made a significant improvement from the previous season.

“Collecting 408 of a possible 1,134 points, Dragic received 65 first-place votes from a panel of 126 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.

“Lance Stephenson of the Indiana Pacers (158 points, 13 first-place votes) and Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans (155 points, 16 first-place votes) came in second and third, respectively.

“Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.”

The update also states Dragic is the third Phoenix player to be bestowed the honor, joining the likes of Kevin Johnson (1988-89) and Boris Diaw (2006-06).

AZCentral.com’s Paul Coro also adds two other Suns players joined Dragic in this year’s top 10 candidates for the award: forwards Gerald Green (16 first-place votes, 116 points) and Markieff Morris (one first-place vote, 13 points).

Along the way, Dragic is the first guard since the late Drazen Petrovic of the New Jersey Nets in 1992-92 to average 20 points, shoot 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three-point area, per Coro.

Prior to copping the award, Dragic had a 44.3 percent shooting clip from the field and 35 percent from three-point territory for his career, according to the AZCentral.com report.

Entering the 2013-14 NBA season, his career scoring average was 9.5. He went on to average 20.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists to help ths Suns improve their win total by 23 games (they had a 48-34 win-loss record).

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