Exclusive: WNBA Most Improved Player candidates make their case

DiJonai Carrington (Connecticut Sun), Dearica Hamby (Los Angeles Sparks), and Alanna Smith (Minnesota Lynx) each reflected on their growth and development as leading candidates for the Most Improved Player award.

DiJonai Carrington, Dearica Hamby, and Alanna Smith have a few things in common. For one, all three were very good WNBA players in 2023. The second? They all got a lot better in 2024, and are now leading candidates for the Most Improved Player award.

For the Connecticut Sun, Carrington went from a spark plug off the bench to a double-figure scorer and one of the best defenders in the WNBA. For the Los Angeles Sparks, Hamby nearly doubled her points, rebounds, and assists since last season, while Smith made leaps as a three-point shooter, passer, and defender for the Minnesota Lynx. ,

They’re far from the only possible candidates for this honor. Chennedy Carter of the Chicago Sky has been a popular name in the Most Improved Player conversation, but given the fact she was out of the league last season and had a very strong rookie campaign, she doesn’t seem like the perfect fit for an honor meant to reflect year-to-year growth.

Jordan Horston of the Seattle Storm is another candidate for Most Improved Player; she improved her field goal percentage from 36.7% to 49.8%, but isn’t having an impact on her squad similar to the three selected on this list. Bridget Carleton could also be in the mix as another Minnesota Lynx who has greatly improved her offensive output.

My finalists this season are three players who have made clear all-around improvements in their game: DiJonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun, Dearica Hamby of the Los Angeles Sparks, and Alanna Smith of the Minnesota Lynx.

DiJonai Carrington, Connecticut Sun

2023 stats: 8.3 points (41.7% shooting), 2.9 rebounds, 0.6 steals,
2024 stats: 12.7 points (40.2% shooting), 4.9 rebounds, 1.5 steals

DiJonai Carrington has been through it. She’s suffered two ACL tears and one ruptured patellar tendon — undergoing six knee surgeries before she even turned 25. Now, in her fourth WNBA season, she’s emerged as leading candidate for Most Improved Player.

The kind of adversity Carrington experienced would have been the end for many players’ basketball careers. But, from watching Carrington play, you’d never be able to guess how many times she’s heard a pop in her leg and known she had to go through rehab and recovery all over again.

The fiery guard who grew up playing football is typically tasked with guarding opponents’ top scorers, chasing them around screens, and pressuring them up the court. And, this season, any elite guard that sees the Connecticut Sun coming up in the schedule knows they’re in for a long night.

“I’m a competitor, you know?” Carrington told SB Nation. “I’ve been through injuries, I’ve been through stuff before in life. I know what it’s like to play two minutes, I know what it’s like to have a DNP, I know what it’s like to play 30 minutes. As a competitor, you just know that you have to do all the things that you can control to put yourself in the best position.”

Sometimes, that’s meant forcing All-Star guards into inefficient shooting nights. Other times, it’s simply limiting the number of attempts they can even get off. At the same time, she’s managed to to be one of the Connecticut Sun’s leading scorers, averaging 12.7 points per game this season.

In her fourth year, Carrington has made an undeniable leap, going from a spark off the bench scoring 8 points in 17 minutes per night, to playing 29.7 minutes and making key plays down the stretch.

Alanna Smith, Minnesota Lynx

2023 stats: 9.2 points (49.8 FG%, 29.4 3P%), 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists
2024 stats: 10.3 points (47 FG%, 40.7 3P%), 5.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists

Alanna Smith’s statistical improvement won’t jump out at you — in her first year as a Minnesota Lynx, she’s averaged just one point per game more than she did in similar minutes in Chicago the year prior. But, the 6’4 center has improved tremendously in a number of areas, primarily as a passer, shooter, and defender. Her leap has been a big reason why the Lynx have had one of the WNBA’s top defenses all season, and why the they currently have the league’s second-best record and are in contention for a championship this season.

No player playing Smith’s minutes this season has had as good of a defensive rating. Of note, she also has the 8th best plus-minus rating in the league.

In an interview with SB Nation, Smith said that her biggest improvement has been on the defensive end. She’s managed to bolster an already-elite Lynx defense and formed an effective post player tandem with Napheesa Collier.

“I’m really lucky in that Phee and I play really well off of each other defensively,” Smith said. “That was kind of something that happened from the very start with us. It was just like, we read each other really well and worked together really well on the defensive end, without having to do much.”

At the same time, it’s impossible to overlook the shooting leap that Smith has made from last season (29.4%) to this season (40.7%). The wildest part of her improvement is that even her 29.4% figure was an improvement from the previous season. In 2022, Smith shot 24% from three. In 2020, she shot just 19%.

That type of consistent shooting improvement is incredibly unusual, and Smith’s ability to continue improving her long-range shooting is a big part of her Most Improved Player case.

Dearica Hamby, Los Angeles Sparks

2023 stats: 8.9 points (43.1 FG%, 22 3P%), 5.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals
2024 stats: 17.1 points (50.9 FG%, 34.1 3P%), 9.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.7 steals

Dearica Hamby is a somewhat unconventional candidate for Most Improved Player — she’s been named All-Star three times, and Sixth Player of the Year twice. She’s in her tenth year in the WNBA and has averaged double-figures three teams. And, she anchors the team with the worst record in the league — the Los Angeles Sparks.

Still, it’s hard to overlook what Hamby has accomplished this season, and how much of a jump she’s made since last year. Last season — her first in Los Angeles — she averaged 8.9 points on 43.1% shooting alongside 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists.

This year, those numbers have nearly doubled; Hamby has averaged 17.1 points on 50.9% shooting, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Her scoring, rebounding, and assists are the highest of her career, while her field goal percentage is her best since 2021.

“I know people would argue like, ‘you’ve always been good’, but I still think I also improved my skillset,” Hamby told SB Nation. “I’ve been able to be super efficient with that.”

Sparks head coach Curt Miller has maintained there’s no doubt about Hamby’s candidacy, despite her already long list of accolades.

“She flat-out deserves the Most Improved Player in the league — her shooting percentage is up, her points are up, her rebounds are up, every statistical category is up,” Miller said earlier this week. “To me, ‘most improved’ is not just one area improvement. A Most Improved Player, in my opinion, should have a diversity of improvement. She checks the box in every single area.”

Last Five Winners:

• 2019: Leilani Mitchell, Phoenix Mercury
• 2020: Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Atlanta Dream
• 2021: Brionna Jones, Connecticut Sun
• 2022: Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces
• 2023: Satou Sabally, Dallas Wings

Editor’s note: This week, SB Nation is rolling out a series of stories about WNBA players who are leading candidates for various awards, including Most Improved Player, Sixth Player of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year. This is the second installment in the series.