In some of the first NBA awards released this week, one major honor saw a Chicago Bulls star player among the top vote-getters. But star Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine wound up finishing a few spots shy of the New York Knicks breakthrough star power forward Julius Randle to get the Most Improved Player award for the 2020-21 season.
LaVine finished up in fifth place in the voting for this award. And another Bulls player got some points in the voting for this award too. Newly acquired former Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic got one second-place vote for this award, but that put him nowhere close to challenging Randle.
Randle did win the Most Improved Player award by a rather large margin this year. He got all but two of the first-place votes. That put him well over the threshold needed to beat the four biggest challengers: LaVine, Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant, Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., and Houston Rockets big man Christian Wood.
Full voting breakdown for the NBA's Most Improved Player award: pic.twitter.com/dn3dyPmPox
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 25, 2021
Chicago Bulls star SG Zach LaVine falls short to Julius Randle for Most Improved Player
LaVine himself got five second-place votes and five third-place votes in the running for the Most Improved Player this year. That put him just past the likes of Boston Celtics star wing Jaylen Brown and Toronto Raptors center Chris Boucher in the total tally of points.
What likely hurt LaVine here was the fact that he was essentially already playing at an All-Star caliber level last season. He was arguably worthy of getting his first career All-Star selection last year when the festivities were hosted at the United Center in Chicago.
Still, LaVine got his first All-Star nod this year, and it was special for him and the entirety of the franchise. That was good enough to at least get him on this list. But his level of statistical improvement year-over-year was definitely not at the level of Randle.
When the voting for the All-NBA Teams comes out later this year, LaVine should be a challenger to get one of the spots. That will be something that the trio of Randle, Vooch, and LaVine should all be in competition for this season.
LaVine and the Bulls finished up the 2020-21 regular season with a record of 31-41, following a May 16 win at home at the United Center over the divisional foe Milwaukee Bucks. This was the fourth straight year in which the Bulls missed the postseason.