NBA Awards 2019: 3 reasons why De'Aaron Fox should win the Most Improved Player Award

#1 Fox is playing better than most of his peers

Fox with the top picks in his 2017 draft class

De'Aaron Fox was the fifth pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, being drafted from the University of Kentucky a year after the Kings drafted power forward Marquese Chriss. However, they traded Chriss to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Georgios Papagiannis.

Fox is part of a stacked draft class which features players such as Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell and Lonzo Ball. The first pick was Markelle Fultz, a combo guard from the University of Washington.

The Philadelphia 76ers drafted him as part of their famed "process", though he has battled a variety of troublesome injuries and only played 33 games in his career to date. The Sixers traded him to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Jonathon Simmons, while Fultz is yet to feature for the Magic and hopes to be healthy after lengthy talks about his future.

Lonzo was the second pick, with the Lakers drafting him in hopes that they'd finally unearthed their future point-guard. He averaged 10.2 points, 7.2 assists and 6.9 rebounds - though his stats suffered slightly in his second year as he too battled injuries. He has an opportunity to blossom next season, after recently being traded (along with others) to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Anthony Davis - giving him a chance to develop and grow further as a player with less pressure.

Fox has also outplayed some of the other 2017 draft members, including Suns forward Josh Jackson (fourth pick) and Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina (ninth pick). The only players who have shone above him to date are Tatum (third pick) and Mitchell (13th pick), otherwise he has surpassed his peers. For a player who missed both All-Rookie teams, this is a significant accomplishment and one that he'll use as extra motivation to continue progressing further.

De'Aaron Fox is a talented player, who impressed this season and helped his team nearly make the playoffs. While you could put forward cases for both Russell and Siakam to win the accolade, Fox does too and should prevail above the duo to assert himself alongside the great winners of the past. The MIP award would be the start of many great things for him.