NBA Most Improved Player rankings: Who's taken the biggest leap in 2021-22?

With the dust beginning to settle on the regular season, we can now properly gauge which players took the biggest leap forward in 2021-22.

Here are the five top candidates for the Most Improved Player award:

Note: Since no sophomore has won the award since Monta Ellis in 2006-07, second-year players such as Desmond Bane and Tyrese Maxey were not considered.

5. Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets

Bridges has looked like an entirely different player with the Hornets this year. The high-flying forward caught everyone by surprise with his superior play early in the season, recording five 30-point games in the first month alone after having just two throughout the entire 2020-21 campaign. It helps, of course, that the 24-year-old is now a full-time starter after featuring in the opening lineup in just 19 of 66 appearances last season, but his revitalized play is also why he's guaranteed his starting spot.

At 20.3 points a game, Bridges has overtaken teammates Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, and LaMelo Ball, who all led Charlotte in scoring (in that order) last season when Bridges mustered just 12.7 points on average. Fittingly, his rise has earned him more minutes from head coach James Borrego, and Bridges now leads the squad with 35.6 minutes per contest. He may not ultimately claim the prize, but Bridges' on-court upgrade has still been remarkable.

4. Dejounte Murray, San Antonio Spurs

Just over three years after tearing his ACL and subsequently missing the entire 2018-19 season, Murray now looks like a certified star in the making with the Spurs. Star forward DeMar DeRozan's departure to the Chicago Bulls means his touches are no longer the Spurs' primary focus on offense, so Murray has finally been able to blossom under a much higher usage role.

After averaging 15.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.5 steals with a usage percentage of 23.1% last season, the 25-year-old is now suddenly a threat to register a triple-double every outing. Murray averages a team-high 21.2 points along with 9.3 assists and 8.4 rebounds on a 26.8% usage rate. He didn't only develop into San Antonio's main star but also thrived under the spotlight.

The point guard has made sizable improvements defensively, too. His career-high two steals per game currently leads the league, but he also tops the NBA with four deflections per matchup. With a debut All-Star selection also under his belt this year, it should be no surprise to see Murray command significant consideration as this season's most improved player.

3. Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers

Collin Sexton's season-ending meniscus surgery after just 11 appearances looked like an early bad omen for the Cavaliers' campaign. While it was a brutal blow to the 23-year-old, another rebuilding year for Cleveland wouldn't have been the worst outcome - the franchise had just drafted former USC star Evan Mobley, locked up Jarrett Allen to a long-term deal, and swapped Larry Nance Jr. for the younger Lauri Markkanen. Time was on Cleveland's side. Garland, though, had other ideas.

Garland has made massive strides in his game all around as the Cavaliers' newest predominant ball-handler. He's upped his scoring to a career-high 21.8 points per contest - the fifth-best mark among all guards aged 23 or under, according to Stathead - while tallying personal bests of 8.6 assists (6.1 in 2020-21) and 3.3 rebounds per game (2.4 in 2020-21).

But Garland's best development arguably isn't even his own improvement - the former fifth-overall pick has made the Cavaliers better as a whole this season. Cleveland posts a net rating of 5.9 when he's on the floor, but that number drops to minus-5.3 during his bench minutes. That 11.2-point swing is the highest differential among all Cavs players with at least 100 minutes played this year. For comparison, Garland's net rating differential last year was just 3.8 points, and Cleveland was a minus-6.6 when he played and a minus-10.4 when he sat.

2. Jordan Poole, Golden State Warriors

If you're going to ask where the Warriors would be this year without Stephen Curry, you could just as well question where they would be without Poole. The third-year guard has had a beyond timely emergence for Steve Kerr's side, which has played without Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green for over a combined 100 games in 2021-22. Poole has filled in impressively throughout the season, however, whether it was as Curry's backcourt starting partner to begin the year, the first option off the bench after Thompson's return, or most recently, Curry's starting five stand-in.

Despite multiple injuries nearly derailing Golden State, Poole has missed just six games all campaign, and that was due to protocols. As a surprising mainstay in the lineup, Kerr has tasked the Michigan product with just over 10 more minutes per game this season compared to last, making him just one of three Warriors to average over 30 minutes.

Poole's made good on Kerr's trust, too. He's registering 18.4 points per contest (more than a 50% jump from his 12-point average in 2020-21), and posting career bests in assists (4.0), rebounds (3.4), 3-point shooting (36.3%), and free-throw rate (92.4%). He's also quickly honed the ability to create his own shot, giving an already dangerous squad yet another headache offensively for opposing teams.

1. Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies

To put it simply: Morant has made the jump from star to superstar. He's counteracted a minor drop-off in assists with numerical increases and career highs across the board, including in scoring. The Grizzlies' de facto captain has bettered his output by over eight points this season to an average of 27.4, a rate that has him on pace to finish inside the top 10 league-wide (though potentially not officially, as he may fall short of the minimum 58 games required to qualify).

The staunchest arguments against Morant will potentially revolve around that improvement being expected of the 2019 No. 2 overall pick regardless, but that would be an unfair critique against the 22-year-old.

Despite the climb in his usage percentage from 26.7% in 2020-21 to 33% this campaign, Morant has actually enhanced both his effective field-goal percentage and true shooting percentage, going from 48.7% and 53.7% last season, respectively, to 53% and 57.5% this year. At the same time, he's lowered his 11.3% turnover percentage slightly to just 10.1%. In short, not only has Memphis entrusted the explosive ball-handler with more responsibility, but Morant has taken up that increased workload and become more effective.

Curiously, the Grizzlies are an impressive 20-3 this year without their star guard, but it's thanks to his notable step forward that they're heading to the playoffs as the West's No. 2 seed following the best regular season in franchise history.

Honorable mentions: Tyler Herro (Miami Heat), Jalen Brunson (Dallas Mavericks), Anfernee Simons (Portland Trail Blazers), Kyle Kuzma (Washington Wizards)