Is Damion Lee a Sneaky Candidate for Most Improved?

The Warriors’ bench scoring has been one of the team’s best success stories this season in their wins. While it sometimes looks like Steph has no help out there, when he comes off the floor, the 2nd unit gets it done much better than people would think. Of the Warriors top four scorers per game, two of those on the list are bench guys: Jordan Poole in 2nd (not much of a surprise there)… and surprisingly, Damion Lee in 4th.

Lee has had a great season so far. He trails Andrew Wiggins on the Warriors scoring chart but just over 2 points per game, averaging 13.1 PPG on 47/48/87 splits. A year ago, he was averaging about 6.5 PPG on 46/39/90 splits. This isn’t actually the first time Lee has averaged double figures, as he did so in the 2019-2020 season when the Dubs appeared to be in tank mode after losing Steph Curry to a broken hand for most of the season.

Currently, Damion Lee is 4th overall in points per game differential compared to last season. His improved play, increased minutes, and increased role in crunch time gives him a potential lead-in to the Most Improved Player conversation, where he’d be competing with fellow Warrior Jordan Poole. Lee is such an underrated pick for Most Improved that there aren’t even bets you could place on him to win the award. Going by the eye test though, it’s possible that he’s got reason to have his name in there.

Whether Lee having MIP odds or not relates directly to Jordan Poole having some of the better (usually around +1200) is a different question. So far as many Warriors fans are concerned, it’s been a quiet but good start to the season for Lee. If he can maintain the percentages he’s at right now and keep up with the volume, then there’s a real case there.

The narrative would certainly be an interesting one as well. In the past, Lee’s play has incurred talks of nepotism given that he’s Steph Curry’s brother-in-law. This year, however, he seems to be proving those takes wrong, and the story of the guy who married the best point guard to ever play’s sister becoming one of the NBA’s better success stories is something the media could take with and run. It remains to be seen whether or not Lee can sustain his very strong shooting with the increased volume, but if he does by mid-season, we’ll probably get some pretty solid odds and a great “Lee for MIP” campaign going.

(Photo credit: John McCoy / Getty Images)