With the NBA regular season set to end this week, season awards are also close to being answered too.

Who is the MVP? Who is the Defensive Player of the Year? Who is the Coach of the Year? Who is the Rookie of the Year? Who is the Sixth Man of the Year?

One award that’s been giving me a really hard time is the Most Improved Player award. Several players elevated their game to a level that is hard not to be considered for the MIP title this season.

But since the NBA gave out the finalists for the award, I’ve decided to share my top 3 candidates for the Most Improved Player award.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Luka Dončić

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Jaylen Brown

Andrew Wiggins

Markelle Fultz

TOP 3 – Devonte’ Graham

The Charlotte Hornets came up short on being one of the 22-teams to join the NBA bubble with a record of 23-42, behind the Washington Wizards who are the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 24-40 entering the bubble.

A big part of why Charlotte came that close to making it is Devonte’ Graham.

The 34^th pick of the second round of the 2018 draft was expected to be the back-up of the Hornets’ biggest acquisition in the offseason, Terry Rozier.

However, Graham had other things in mind. He decided to turn it up and started showcasing what he can do on the court to give his team the win despite being heavily overmatched by their opponents.

The explosive guard out of the University of Kansas only put up 4.7 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 14.7 minutes of playing time.

This season with more minutes of playing time, Graham posted 18.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 7.5 assists with one steal per game in 35.1 minutes of playing time.

The six-foot-one combo-guard impressed everyone including one the official finalists for the NBA Most Improved Player in Luka Dončić.

Luka to me on MIP voting: “Who votes in this?”

Me: “Well, 100 of us, including me.”@luka7doncic: “Take me off the list and put @Devonte4Graham on there. I don’t deserve to be on there.”

— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) August 9, 2020

I totally understand why Dončić would be considered, because he’s been playing great this season, but Graham deserves to be in the top 3 finalists to win the MIP for transforming himself from a back-up to the go-to-guy of Charlotte.

Top 2 – Brandon Ingram

The New Orleans Pelicans have been very impressive this season, mainly because of their All-Star and go-to-guy, Brandon Ingram.

New Orleans was one of the 22-teams selected to join the NBA restart in a bubble in Orlando. They entered the bubble with a 28-36 record and were the 10^th seed at that time.

The Pelicans reached that level of success with the first overall pick, Zion Williamson being unable to play mostly of their games due to injury. However, Ingram didn’t let that stop him from showing how much of an assassin he is on the court.

The six-foot-seven forward from Duke University put averages of 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists while shooting 46.3 percent in the field and 39.1 percent from the three-point area, which led to his first All-Star selection this season.

A definite improvement from his stats a season ago with 18.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and three assists per game.

Unfortunately, Ingram and the New Orleans squad got eliminated from the playoff race after going 2-4 in their first six games in the bubble.

But despite the elimination, the Pelicans had a really good chance to reach the playoffs despite having a young team and that’s mainly because of the stellar play of Ingram this season.

Safe to say that we haven’t seen the last of the young New Orleans team and we should expect them to become even more successful once they got the chance to play with a complete roster.

Top 1 – Bam Adebayo

The Miami Heat have been very surprising this season.

Before the season started, the Heat signed multiple All-Star Jimmy Butler in free agency, but most fans still didn’t see them as contender in the Eastern Conference. Teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Ratoprs, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers were being locked in as the heavy favorites to win the East at the beginning of the season.

However, no one expected the Butler would have significant help from one of Miami’s young guns in Bam Adebayo.

The six-foot-nine big man from Kentucky University flourished after being given the starting Center spot after Hassan Whiteside was traded to Portland in a three-team trade.

Adebayo surprised everyone with his stellar plays on both sides of the floor and help Butler establish the winning culture right away in a young Heat team.

Last season, the 23-year-old Center only averaged 8.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists with 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks.

This season, Adebayo is putting up career-highs across the board with 16.1 points in 55.9 percent shooting in the field along with 10.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.3 blocks per game which earned him his first All-Star selection.

His contributions helped Miami to secure a playoff spot this season. They are currently tied with the Indiana Pacers as the fourth-seed in the East with a 43-27 record.

With Butler, the Heat are a playoff team. But with the help of Adebayo, teams should be wary on facing them in the playoffs considering how well they are playing as a TEAM and not just relying on their dynamic duo.

Adebayo improved his individual numbers and helped Miami become one of the legitimate top contenders in the East, if that’s not enough for the MIP award, I know what else is.