NBA
10 NBA Players Who Took Huge Leaps This Season
Victor Oladipo looks destined to win Most Improved Player this season. Which other players made the leap in 2017-18?

Jakob Poeltl, Toronto Raptors

Jakob Poeltl is probably the least-known player on this list, but like VanVleet, he played a huge role for Toronto's Bench Mob. Despite a limited role, he actually snuck into the top-40 in nERD, thanks in part to a ridiculous 65.9% field goal percentage.

That mark was good enough to rank first in the league and is one that he actually improved on as the season went on. He maintained a 68.1% field goal percentage after the All-Star break and shot an absurd 75% from the field over his final 15 games.

Poeltl played just 11 minutes per game last season, so the table below displays his per-36 numbers, not his per-game numbers.

Jakob Poeltl nERD PTS REB BLK TS%
2017 0.5 9.5 9.5 1.2 58.90%
2018 4.7 13.4 9.3 2.4 66.20%


Fun Fact: Poeltl ranked seventh among qualified players in blocks per 36 minutes this season.

Poeltl's path to big minutes is a bit unclear with a stable full of young bigs, especially considering Toronto just signed Serge Ibaka to an extension through 2020. Jonas Valanciunas is under contract through at least 2019 ($17.5 million player option for 2020 season), so it may take a trade or injury before we get to see if the 22 year old can translate his efficiency into strong production on a full-time basis.

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