Cedi “Bootleg LeBron Replacement” Osman could very well be on the fringes of the MIP Improved Player race this season, and I’m not just saying that because the Cavaliers broadcast had a fancily-made graphic that convinced me of the legitimacy of his candidacy. Okay, so maybe the fancy graphic did sway me a little bit, but I was already sort of thinking that he could be in contention for the award if he finished out the year strong.
Unfortunately for Osman, his percentages are actually worse than last season. Even under the loosest possible definition of the word “improvement”, having your shooting get worse does not fit in that definition. It simply doesn’t. Basically, he’s getting three times the minutes he was last season, and he’s scoring three times the points. I would say that he improved in the “looks like a legit NBA player” category, and the “raw PPGz” category, but that’s about it. There are plenty of players in the league who legitimately improved, and their improvement is more obvious than Cedi’s improvement, where I feel like you would only truly notice it if you watched him closely both last year and this year.
So the MIP Improved Player trophy isn’t likely to go to Osman this season, but he can at least win the coveted “Most Valuable Turk-Bosnian born in Macedonia” (MVTBBIM) award. Unless there’s another Turk-Bosnian born in Macedonia in the league that I’m not thinking of.