When looking at the candidates for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award, Los Angeles Lakers’ guard Austin Reaves seemed like a strong candidate to be named as one of the finalists.

But when the NBA released their list of three finalists for the Most Improved Player Award on Sunday, Reaves’ name was not among them.

Considering Austin Reaves’ path to the NBA and increased role with the Lakers, he surely seemed like a logical choice for at least being one of the finalists for the Most Improved Player Award, but the top three choices were Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, LA Clippers center Ivica Zubac and Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels.

There’s been a heavy debate as to whether Cunningham should be considered for the award since he was top overall pick in the NBA Draft. Sure Cunningham has put up a monster season while leading the Pistons to a playoff spot, but the argument posed is if this is the level that was naturally expected of him since he was a top lottery pick.

Daniels and Zubac certainly have a case for Most Improved, and Zubac in particular seems to fit the bill as to what the Most Improved Player Award really means.

He was a second round pick who has put up All-Star caliber numbers this season. Reaves has been putting up All-Star caliber numbers but as an undrafted player.

Reaves got his start with the Lakers after going unselected in the 2021 NBA Draft. He originally signed a two-way contract with the Lakers, and later had that converted to a standard deal.

Each season he’s been in the NBA, he’s improved and his numbers have gone up culminating in the career-highs this year.

This season was the first of his career that Reaves moved into a full-time starting role. During his first three seasons in the NBA, he split between starting and coming off the bench.

This year, his role on the Lakers has been more defined and he’s responded. He appeared in 73 games at a little over 34 minutes per game.

In the season, he averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 46 percent shooting from the field, 37.7 percent shooting from the three-point line and 87.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

This season also included his career-high of 45 points which he reached back on Feb. 8 in a win against the Indiana Pacers with both LeBron James and Luka Doncic sitting out.