Axel Toupane named D-League's Most Improved Player

The NBA Developmental League named Denver Nuggets guard Axel Toupane as its’ Most Improved Player for the 2015-16 season, the team announced today.

The award was voted on by the D-League’s 19 head coaches.

Toupane, 23, was called up to the Nuggets on March 3 and ended up playing 20 games with Denver. The 6-7 wing averaged 3.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 15 minutes per game while shooting 35.7 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from 3-point range.

Before he arrived in Denver, Toupane played in 32 games for the Raptors’ D-League affiliate, the 905, and averaged 14.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals. Toupane also shot nearly 43 percent from the field during his time with the 905.

The Nuggets signed Toupane to a two-year, partially guaranteed contract worth $939.5k after his second 10-day contract ran out in early March. That contract doesn’t become fully guaranteed until Jan. 10 2017.

Toupane’s rise to the NBA was an unlikely one considering he wasn’t viewed as a top-tier D-League prospect when he was called up to the Nuggets. Sean Kilpatrick, who had a successful stint in January with Denver which he parlayed into a multi-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets, was viewed as that clear-cut NBA talent while Toupane was rarely mentioned when discussing likely call-ups.

General manager Tim Connelly showed off his scouting background again, as Nuggets did some digging on Toupane, and might have found themselves a rotation player for next season.