PHOENIX – Suns guard Goran Dragic, who helped lead 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.
Dragic, who entered the 2013-14 campaign with a career scoring average of 9.5 points, averaged a career-best 20.3 points to go with 5.9 assists and 3.2 rebounds, as the Suns finished with a record of 48-34, one game behind the Dallas Mavericks, who claimed the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. He shot a career-best .505 from the field and a career-high .408 from behind the three-point arc, the only player in the NBA to shoot at least 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range.
Dragic is the third Sun to win the award, joining Kevin Johnson (1988-89) and Boris Diaw (2005-06).
The Suns’ Gerald Green (117 points) and Markieff Morris (13 points) also received votes for the award finishing fourth and tenth in balloting, respectively.