In Sports Illustrated’s annual picks for who will win which award for the 2020-21 NBA season, The Crossover’s Chris Mannix picked Portland Trail Blazers wing Gary Trent Jr. for Most Improved Player honors.
Mannix cited Trent’s emergence in the bubble as a potential indicator of the kind of leap he can make in the upcoming 2020-21 season.
Trent’s bubble numbers (16.9 points per game) nearly doubled his average in the regular season, foreshadowing, perhaps, a breakout season. While Trent will have competition for minutes at the swing positions on a replenished Blazers roster, it says here Terry Stotts will find room the sharpshooting Trent who emerged as a bulldog defender.