This was expected — and well earned.
Victor Oladipo spent the summer of 2017 reshaping his body and honing his skills, and after being traded to the Pacers and the ball put in his hands he became on of the best go-to players, No. 1 options in the league. He averaged 23.1 points per game and became more efficient with that heavier load, lifting the Pacers into the postseason.
All of that earned him the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award.
"Shout out to the Pacers organization for believing in me. It's only the beginning for us." - @VicOladipo after winning 2017-2018 #KiaMIP #NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/scpBs5M91D
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 26, 2018
While Oladipo ran away with the award — garnering 99 of the 101 first-place votes from select media members — there were 33 players total who got at least one of the three ballot spots from the voters. The rest of the order of finish was Clint Capela, Spencer Dinwiddie, Andre Drummond, Julius Randle, and Stephen Adams.