Top 5 candidates for Most Improved Player award

#2 Kris Dunn

Chicago Bulls v Dallas Mavericks

2016-17 stats: 3.8 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.5 blocks on 37.7% shooting from the field playing 17.1 minutes per game

2017-18 stats: 13.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 0.5 blocks on 42.9% shooting from the field playing 29.3 minutes per game

Kris Dunn is possibly the brightest light in a dark, tanking season for the Chicago Bulls fans, who will be pleased that both of the young pieces coming their way in the Jimmy Butler trade (Zach LaVine is the other one) are now starter-caliber players in a playoff team.

While Dunn hasn't really improved his skill set all that much, he is making much better decisions on a basketball court than he was last year. He's also scoring enough points now to be guarded as a legitimate driving threat.

His increases speak for themselves: a 9.6-point jump in points per game, a 150% jump in assists per game, twice the number of steals that he had last year and a jump of 5.2% in field goal percentage, which also includes a marginal increase in 3-point percentage.

Dunn, the #5 pick in the 2016 NBA draft, is, like players before him in this list, is now justifying his selection.