Bulls' Jimmy Butler named 2014-15 Most Improved Player

With a reported offer for four years and $40 million on the table in October, Jimmy Butler decided to make a gamble.

That risk has now been deemed an emphatic success, with the NBA naming Butler as the 2014-15 Most Improved Player on Thursday.

"It came down to me deciding that I want to bet on myself," Butler said as the deadline for rookie contract extensions passed, ensuring the Chicago Bulls wing would hit restricted free agency in the summer of 2015.

A little over six months later, it's more than clear that Butler's bet has paid off, and while the likely max contract coming his way won't be signed until July, the Most Improved Player award is a nice early return. It was reported Wednesday that Butler would win the award, and it's expected it will be presented to him ahead of Game 3 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.

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The award is also a return that, despite stiff competition, is well-deserved. Butler had already grown into his role as a top-flight perimeter defender but 2014-15 saw him take an enormous step forward as a complete offensive player. Butler posted career-highs in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and true-shooting percentage, with his efficiency taking a step forward even as he took on a much larger offensive role.

The Bulls likely would have been happy with just a return to shooting form for Butler, who shot 38.1 percent from outside as a sophomore but struggled to a 28.3 percent mark thanks to turf toe last season. His 3-point stroke rebounded - he shot 37.8 percent on triples - but he became a far more versatile scorer, too.

His ability to drive to the rim and his strength in the lane placed him seventh in the league in free-throw attempts, and he finished 26th in total minutes played despite missing 17 games, 11 of them with a shoulder injury in March. Butler earned an All-Star nod for his efforts and seems likely to make one of the All-NBA teams.

The award was hardly a runaway, with Butler facing competition from Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, Hassan Whiteside of the Miami Heat and poor, poor Draymond Green. While the max contract he's likely to sign this offseason will reward him plenty, the Golden State Warriors' power forward has now finished as the runner-up for Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year.

In all, 29 different players received at least one vote, speaking to how wide open this year's award was, and how subjective the criteria can be.