Shabazz Napier for MIP? It’s not going to happen because his raw stats/minutes played are still on the low side, but it’s impressive how much he’s improved since last season. Yeah, his minutes have doubled which resulted in most of the gain in numbers, but he’s way more efficient and looks like a real NBA player out there. He showed some stuff at the end of last season after going incognito for the majority of it, and now that stuff is happening on regular basis.
This is what LeBron knew he was getting when the Heat drafted Napier for him. Sadly, their partnership never got off the ground because he departed immediately for Cleveland, and it took a while for Napier to get here anyway. The time is ripe now for a reunion. No, I’m not thinking trade him to Cleveland. I’m thinking… sign LeBron in free agency!
That may be unrealistic, but Portland has some things going for it. Like, it’s not Cleveland for one thing. And Lillard is a superstar pretty much. That’s two really good reasons right there, to go with the orginial reason, which is that he desperately more than anything else wants to play with Napier because he saw how good he did in the NCAA tournament.