The CSL

Here are my candidates for MIP thus far. This is not in particular order. I'll just leave it to you, where you rank these players...

Tyrese Maxey - SG, New Orleans Pelicans, 22.yo
2032: 19.1 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 42.1% FG, 42.7% 3FG, 32.6 MPG
2031: 15.3 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 37.2% FG, 35.6% 3FG, 30 MPG

The expected rise of Maxey is inevitable and he's been burning the hoops to the tune of 42% from deep. He has upped his averages from 15 to 19 points a game this early.

Troy Brown - PG, Milwaukee Bucks, 28 yo
2032: 23.7 PPG, 8.4 APG, 4.8 RPG, 2.1 SPG, 48.8% FG, 40% 3FG, 34.2 MPG
2031: 17.5 PPG, 4.7 APG, 4.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 45.1% FG, 32.5% 3FG, 32.1 MPG

Troy has solidify his hold of the best player of the team since the departure of Ingram. Brown was impeccable so far with averages of 23 points, and 8 assists, far from his 17 and 4 averages last season.

Romeo Langford - PG, Cleveland Cavaliers, 24 yo
2032: 22.3 PPG, 8.3 APG, 41.8% FG, 34.3 MPG
2031: 19.6 PPG, 7.1 APG, 38.9% FG, 33.1 MPG

Langford is doing his best to help the Cavs to regain their old form. He's been performing better this season with his 22 ponts and 8 assists from 19 and 7 last season. He has finally reached the 40% mark in FG but it's still a long season so there's more work to be done.

Jalen Suggs - PG, Indiana Pacers, 21 yo
2032: 15.1 PPG, 4.4 APG, 3.4 RPG, 2.2 SPG, 40.6% FG, 43.8% 3FG, 32 MPG
2031: 8.4 PPG, 2.1 APG, 2.6 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 38.8% FG, 23.5% 3FG, 27.1 MPG

The development of Suggs is still far from over but we are seeing the glimpse of what can he do this early. He almost doubled his scoring averages from 8 to 15 points this season. Future is definitely bright for the Pacers.

Xavier Tillman - PF, Detroit Pistons, 25yo
2032: 18 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 2.4 BPG, 31.2 MPG
2031: 11.7 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.9 BPG, 27 MPG

Tillman, finally has been unleashes in Detroit. It's just so happens that he was underutilised in Sacramento because of the overflowing talents that they have, but you have to give it to Tillman, who did not lost his composure and restarted his career with 18 points and 11 rebounds from 11 and 7 last season with the Kings.

Aaron Epps - PF, Denver Nuggets, 28yo
2032: 21.7 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.9 BPG, 51.9% FG, 30.6 MPG
2031: 15.9 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.5 BPG, 48.8% FG, 28.4 MPG

Epps promotion to the starting 5 with the departure of KAT has been the story for Denver so far this season. The Management stood and vindicated by its decision to give the reign to Epps, who has been terrific with over 21 points and 7 rebounds per game, compare to its rookie season of 15.9 and 6.7 a game.

Kofi Cockburn - C, Sacramento Kings, 23yo
2032: 24.1 PPG, 2.6 APG, 1.3 BPG, 54.5% FG, 28.4 MPG
2031: 19 PPG, 2.1 APG, 1.1 BPG, 52.8% FG, 27.9 MPG

The road to stardom is here, it could be just a matter of endurance boost and it would be totally explosive for the reigning ROY. Kofi has been producing 5 points more than his average last season while still playing in the shades of 28 minutes a game. What more in an extended playing time?


Honorable Mentions

Kerwin Roach
Cade Cunningham
Kevin Knox
Jordan Nwora
Chimezie Metu
Trey Murphy
Viny Okouo
RJ Barrett

Wow, that is really hard to decide. All tis players made big progress in their output.

My money is on Giddey at the end of season though

It's hard to go against Brown here. A veteran who has really stepped up this year to prove he is a true all-star caliber player. The only caveat is that from a historical perspective he put up similar numbers 2 years ago before his dip last year.

cb4raptorscb4 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 08, 2024 1:03 pm It's hard to go against Brown here. A veteran who has really stepped up this year to prove he is a true all-star caliber player. The only caveat is that from a historical perspective he put up similar numbers 2 years ago before his dip last year.

His MIP case is basically built on last year being well below his normal averages, so I’d rather vote for someone who hasn’t ever produced like they are right now

Agreed, Brown just had a down year last year but is having a similar year to 2 years ago so I don’t see him winning this award. Tillman looks like the most improved from this bunch IMO

Really wish we had a more dynamic ratings system, so that players could actually win MIP later in their careers. These are all just 2nd or 3rd-year players. The least interesting award in the league IMO. That said, I'd probably give it to my own Tillman lol

TheTwoWallaces wrote: ↑Sun Dec 08, 2024 8:46 pm Really wish we had a more dynamic ratings system, so that players could actually win MIP later in their careers. These are all just 2nd or 3rd-year players. The least interesting award in the league IMO. That said, I'd probably give it to my own Tillman lol

Agreed

People have been dragging Langford when all he does is improve every single season.

Ashton Hagans deserves some love!

drumr wrote: ↑Sun Dec 08, 2024 11:19 pm People have been dragging Langford when all he does is improve every single season.

You mean Brett? Yeah he's gone mia it seems

Good list rhox.

Probably Brown or Tillman would be the leaders for mine. Brown a veteran and Tillman already had the boost and 4th year but gets more opportunity now. Usage on our team is a bit messed up and he never got a chance but he's really showing it now. Watch, we'll trade Waters or Garland and they'll probably explode too haha.

id say tilman or suggs ..but keep an eye on Okouo

Nwora is doing very well too. He finally gets a chance to play a bigger role on offense. Good for him.

Including second year players for most improved is wild. Especially the top 2 vote getters from RotY last year lol

For the most part, I feel like this award should be reserved for veterans that have turned a corner in their careers. There are exceptions, but Epps and Cocoburn ain't it

Actually, I could see an argument for Epps given that he was already fully developed and hasn't actually seen a big ratings bump. He could be an exception

GreenBear wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 9:51 pm Including second year players for most improved is wild. Especially the top 2 vote getters from RotY last year lol

For the most part, I feel like this award should be reserved for veterans that have turned a corner in their careers. There are exceptions, but Epps and Cocoburn ain't it

Yea I feel like it should be for guys like Kevin Porter. His stats are not as drastic as younger guys, but he's having the best season of his career coming off of a Torn Achilles. That's the best MIP that we can do in this engine. Otherwise this is just a 3rd-year player award.

I'm sure there are other guys more worthy than KP out there, but all I know is my team lol

the game does so much fuckery on the back end to keep young players down in their first years even if they're rated well. Epps being one of the exceptions to the rule, he's already good in year 2.

I would look at guys in year 4 or later as MIP candidates, sometimes year 3.

It feels unfair to deprive these sophomores and juniors to get this accolodes due to the reason that they are still developing, well not all developing players post this kind of numbers eventhough they have the better ratings among others.

The bottom line imo is generally, this is a yearly award basis so who does improve their numbers from last season to present should be deserving of a mention atleast. Numbers don't lie.

Thanks Rhoxx for the mention to Brown. However, as others have pointed out, since he reached his potential he has been that good. Last year numbers were below his usual production, which as you said qualifies for improvement from last year. It's not that he had a bad season last year, though. His dip in production was due to a positional change. He has played all his career at point guard, but last season he played SG/SF, as I needed a large sample size to properly evaluate Terry and McBride so I could make a decision about their futures as Bucks. Now that I have that info, Brown is back at PG and resuming his usual numbers. If there's anyone on my team deserving to be on this list is Musa, though. His jump in efficiency his notable, from 46.2 TS % to 62.3 TS % after a year of hard work (his career average is 51.1 TS %).

Back to Brown, I remember saying I saw Tracy McGrady potential when I drafted him. Out of curiosity I just checked to see how far I was in my prediction. Career averages per 36 minutes:

Brown: 20.2 points, 6.1 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 0.6 blocks, 44.0 FG %, 81.0 FT %, 31.5 3P %.
McGrady: 21.6 points, 4.9 assists, 6.2 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 0.9 blocks, 43.5 FG %, 74.6 FT %, 33.8 3P %.

Best season (by scoring) averages per 36 minutes:

Brown: 24.6 points, 9.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 2.1 steals, 0.2 blocks, 49.3 FG %, 85.9 FT %, 40.0 3P %.
McGrady: 29.3 points, 5.0 assists, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 0.7 blocks, 45.7 FG %, 79.3 FT %, 38.6 3P %.

It seems I wasn't that far off, at least on season averages. McGrady was a better rebounder, Brown looks like a better playmaker.

also keep an eye on maledon