Jaylon Tyson won’t win the NBA’s Most Improved Player award this season. But perhaps the former Cal star, now in his second pro season, should earn the title Most Overlooked Improved Player.
Tyson got a bit of recognition Friday after a sharp performance in the Rising Stars event, part of the NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles.
Playing for Tracy McGrady’s T-Mac squad, he scored a team-best 10 points, grabbed five rebounds, shot 3 for 5 from the field and 2 for 3 from the 3-point arc in a 41-36 semifinal lost to Team Vince (Carter).
His effort in an event where the first team to 40 points was declared the winner earned him the following headline on : Cavs’ Jaylon Tyson looks the part in Rising Stars loss
Tyson, named a All-Pac-12 first-team selection in his lone season at Cal in 2023-24, was a first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in ‘24. As a rookie last season, he played in 47 games while splitting time in the G League.
He averaged 3.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.9 assists for the Cavs, shooting 43 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from the 3-point arc, almost exclusively as a bench player.
The 6-foot-6 wing has taken flight this season, boosting his numbers to 13.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He’s also improved his efficiency: 51.4 percent from the field and an impressive 47.5 percent from deep, which ranks him second in the NBA.
That’s a 286-percent scoring increase over a year.
While some of this can be explained by greater opportunity, Tyson has earned tha extra time on the floor. And no Cal player has seen such a huge leap from his rookie season to Year 2.
Kevin Johnson was voted the league’s Most Improved Player in 1988-89 after bumping his scoring by 122 percent from his rookie campaign. Jaylen Brown made a one-year leap of 120 percent in his sophomore pro season.
Tyson has scored 18 points or more 13 times, with a season-best of 39 points that included 7 for 9 on 3’s in a win over Philadelphia.
And he’s a starter in a three-man backcourt alongside future Hall of Famers Donovan Mitchell and newly acquired James Harden for a Cavs team that is 34-21 and in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
His numbers don’t compare to those of MIP favorite Deni Avdija, a sixth-year small forward with the Trail Blazers. Avdija is averaging 25.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.6 assists, a year after he posted 16.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists. But he plays for a Portland team that is 27-29 and ninth in the Western Conference.
Here’s a look at how some of the most prominent ex-Cal players improved in a year from their rookie NBA season (listed in parenthesis):
— DARRALL IMHOFF (1960-61)
Rookie year: 4.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 39.4% FG
Second year: 5.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 38.6% FG
— PHIL CHENIER (1971-72)
Rookie year: 12.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 41.5% FG
Second year: 19.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 45.2% FG
— KEVIN JOHNSON (1987-88)
Rookie year (1987-88): 9.2 points, 5.5 assists
Second year: 20.4 points, 12.2 assists. Voted Most Improved, 8th in MVP voting, second-team All-NBA
— JASON KIDD (1994-95)
Rookie year: 11.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 38.5% FG, 27.2% 3-point. Voted Rookie of the Year, 13th in MVP voting
Second year: 16.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 9.7 assists. Chosen for the All-Star Game
— SHAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM (1996-97)
Rookie year: 18.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 45.3% FG, 25.9% 3-point. Finished third in Rookie of the Year voting
Second year: 22.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 45.8% FG, 41.2% 3-point
— RYAN ANDERSON (2008-09)
Rookie year: 7.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 39.3% FG, 36.5% 3-point
Second year: 7.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 43.6% FG, 37.0% 3-point
— JAYLEN BROWN (2016-17)
Rookie year: 6.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 45.4% FG, 34.1% 3-point
Second year: 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 46.5% FG, 39.5% 3-point
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