His is the candidacy that never should have been, the positive recognition his own Rockets never would have wanted, the consideration that came faster than anyone could have imagined.
Of course it did. Speed. Aaron Brooks. Package deal.
Not like this, though. Yao Ming got hurt. Tracy McGrady got hurt. Or stayed hurt. Carl Landry got traded. Houston remained respectable.
Instant Kia Most Improved Player.
Not merely a leading candidate, and the deserving candidate, Brooks is the most unique of the possibilities in a field doused with unique. He is the point guard running an offense that lost its offense, a 25-year-old who developed as a leader in a battlefield promotion out of necessity.
In short, this amount of improvement has been forced on him. Fate spent months playing tetherball with the Rockets' emotions, from hearty finish last season to bad news on the Yao injury to the relief of finally getting away from the McGrady saga. But this has all lined up to where they'll leave 2009-10 with a lot of reasons to feel good despite missing the playoffs. An undermanned team is 41-39 and at worst will finish .500, as if many people outside the locker room would have believed that on opening night. Houston is set up nicely for next season and beyond, Yao's health willing, and they've got a starring point guard out of the deal.
That the last part might not have happened if it had been business as usual is impossible to avoid.
"He had to grow up fast," said Landry, a candidate himself and a teammate before going to the Kings in the Feb. 20 deal that included Kevin Martin going to Houston and McGrady to New York.
Some are born to Most Improved, others have Most Improved thrust upon them.
"Being consistent, being able to play point guard, being able to run the show," Landry said of Brooks' greatest strides. "His rookie year, his sophomore year, a lot of veterans were in his ear about being more of a floor general and how he didn't always do good at it. This year, he's become a leader."
Such an intangible is impossible to measure, but it is obviously valuable. It's especially valuable for the Rockets, a team of mostly good guys who in the past have lacked the player who would take control behind the scenes. Brooks keeping that role next season, when the landscape will undoubtedly shift again with the scheduled return of Yao, becomes a major boost to the chances of climbing back into the playoffs.
The part that is possible to measure is that Brooks has gone from 8.8 points his first two pro seasons and 11.2 in 2008-09 to 19.8 this season in becoming the leading scorer among players who have spent the entire season with Houston. He has gone from 2.5 and 3.0 assists, respectively, to 5.3. His shooting percentage has gone from 40.6 and 40.4 to 43.2.
"It's not anything that's been a goal in terms of trying to win the award," Brooks said. "I've improved every year. At least, I think that's the case, and I'm pretty sure the team feels that way based on the moves they've made. I plan to continue improving each year I'm in the league. Every year I've made a jump in something I've done. This is my third year and I've made the biggest jump because I got the time and responsibility. This season was a real big step up the ladder for me. That's something I've done before. Did it going from junior high into high school and I did it again going to college. I had to take my game to the next level and I did. There are not too many players in the league right now who started out averaging only five points a game in their freshman year in college. For me, most of my career has been about improving and taking the next step. That's why I don't look at this season as any extra special. It's a continuation of the work I've put in ever since I've been playing."
Winning will require emerging from a crowded and varied field. Andrew Bogut of the Bucks, Chris Kaman of the Clippers, Josh Smith of the Hawks and Gerald Wallace of the Bobcats will probably get votes, but the award calls for the salute to go to "an up-and-coming player who has made a dramatic improvement from the previous season or seasons. It is not intended to be given to a player who has made a 'comeback.'" Kaman is in his seventh season and in a successful comeback from injuries, Smith his sixth and Wallace his ninth. So much for up-and-coming. Bogut is in his fifth. At some point, youth becomes a judgment call.
Kevin Durant of the Thunder will probably get votes. Let the great debate begin. Or let it continue, because this intriguing conversation has been coming for a while. Durant averaged 25.3 points a game last season. Maybe he's already lapped up-and-coming. But he has made such impressive gains in his third season -- better discipline to his offensive game to challenge for the scoring title, better defense to set a tone for the Oklahoma City turnaround, better leadership -- that kicking down the door for superstar status is impossible to ignore.
Brook Lopez of the Nets and Danilo Gallinari of the Knicks may get votes. But players are supposed to make major strides from the rookie to second seasons, and lottery picks are supposed to be showing signs of becoming something special. That will hurt their candidacy.
That leaves a group of Brooks, Landry, Corey Brewer of the Timberwolves, Marc Gasol of the Grizzlies, George Hill of the Spurs and Joakim Noah of the Bulls as the more-traditional fits. The broadcasters and writers who regularly cover the NBA will vote for three players in order of preference, with five points awarded for a first-place selection, three for second and one for third.
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