Most improved players, buzz from insiders and more

After a relatively quiet rookie season in Memphis, Rudy Gay has blossomed this year in new coach Marc Iavaroni's offense. AP

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Five ... four ... three ... two ... one ... Each week we'll take a look at five intriguing topics around the NBA, from the front office to the court.

Five most improved players

Each year I protest that the Most Improved Player award should go to someone who improves from good to great, because that is the hardest jump to make in this league. By my own dissident standards, the favorite should be Orlando center Dwight Howard (23.2 points, 15.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks through Thursday), who, at 22, has hoisted himself up among the elite.

But that standard would permit no further debate, as no one else can approach the leap Howard is making from All-Star to MVP candidate for the 16-4 Magic.

So for this one week I surrender to conventional thinking and focus on five improving players who appear most likely to receive consideration in the general election next spring ...

5. Antoine Wright, New Jersey Nets -- In the preseason the Nets declined to pick up the fourth-year option on their disappointing 6-foot-7 swingman, making him an unrestricted free agent next summer. Wright has turned that setback into an opportunity by more than doubling his scoring to 10.4 points per game while providing complementary minutes to Richard Jefferson and/or Vince Carter. Last summer he spent close to $40,000 to live in Las Vegas and enroll in Joe Abunassar's Impact Basketball center, where he extended his shooting range over three sessions per day with the likes of Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups and Baron Davis. Wright is much more than a situational defender now.

4. Rudy Gay, Memphis Grizzlies -- He ranks second among NBA sophomores in scoring with 18.1 points, a mark that leads the Grizzlies and represents a big hike over the 10.8 points he averaged as a rookie. Memphis has amped up the tempo to 103.8 points (sixth highest in the league) and the 6-9 Gay is their arrowhead, a versatile athlete who is improving his decision-making with the ball.

"He's picking up the whole idea of seeing what are they giving me," coach Marc Iavaroni said. "If the defense says you should be going to the basket, then you should be going to the basket. If they give you a shot, then it's your duty to take that shot."

Despite the frustration of losing five games by three points or fewer, the 6-12 Grizzlies have shown big competitive gains over their 22-win season of last year, and Gay's newfound confidence is helping. The former UConn star had a career-high 31 points (on an efficient 24 shots) against Portland in the second week of the season, and other nights he's kept Memphis alive with big threes or acrobatic tip-ins in the final minute.

3. Beno Udrih, Sacramento Kings -- Udrih has gone from a 5.2-point scorer over three in-and-out years with San Antonio to a 14.3-point starter in his brief time with the Kings. The 25-year-old point guard has added 4.0 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals in his 35.2 minutes as the Kings have gone 6-5 since his Nov. 10 debut (though the return of Ron Artest from a season-opening suspension of seven games has a lot to do with it, too).

While sidelined with a broken finger in the preseason, Udrih was traded by San Antonio and waived by Minnesota before arriving in Sacramento for the minimum $826,046 as a replacement for Mike Bibby, who underwent preseason thumb surgery. The 6-3 Udrih showed he had recovered from the loss of Gregg Popovich's confidence in him by haunting San Antonio with a career-high 27 points in a 112-99 Kings' win last week. If Udrih keeps this up, he'll make it easier for the Kings to eventually trade Bibby and further hasten their rebuilding.

2. LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers -- The 6-11 forward/center has gone from 9.0 points to 18.6 this year in 34.5 minutes, filling in for the departure of Zach Randolph and the season-ending knee injury to Greg Oden. Aldridge has emerged as a 22-year-old leader of the league's youngest team. The No. 2 pick of 2006 is the leading scorer and rebounder of his sophomore class and is -- so far, at least -- clearly superior to No. 3 pick Tyrus Thomas, whom the Bulls preferred in that draft.

The Blazers have reconnected with their fans (they are 5-3 at the Rose Garden), and Aldridge has a lot to do with it. Averaging 7.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and shooting 52.3 percent this season, he shows signs of developing the versatility of Rasheed Wallace, but with a friendlier approach to the outside world.

Aldridge also has bulked up to fight his way to the line at a far higher rate than last year, and his approach to hard work is setting the franchise standard for his teammates. While Aldridge finished strong last year with 14.7 points and 7.4 rebounds over his last 18 games, his numbers mean more now that he is being targeted by the defense. Imagine the potential of this front line next year if Oden's health permits.

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