Could the Aces have the WNBA’s Most Improved Player?

The unofficial campaign began Friday night moments after the Aces’ 97-69 home victory over the Los Angeles Sparks. The instigator was Las Vegas forward A’ja Wilson, who knows a thing or two about winning awards.

“I’m pushing for Jackie Young to be most improved player,” Wilson declared. “It’s literally night and day. She’s opening up. She’s coming out of her shell. She’s just dominating her defender pretty much every single game. … I knew it was going to come around. It was just a matter of time.”

A resounding endorsement from the reigning WNBA MVP.

Young is off to a torrid start in her third WNBA season, averaging 16.7 points in 32.3 minutes per game — trailing only Wilson in both statistical categories among Aces players. The third-year guard from Notre Dame hardly resembles the tentative rookie who debuted for the Aces in 2019 as the No. 1 overall pick in that year’s draft.

She’s confident, aggressive and decisive, producing like the player the Aces drafted her to be.

“She knows what she’s doing. She knows what she’s about and she’s going and doing it,” Las Vegas coach Bill Laimbeer said. “It’s a matter of fact. She doesn’t get emotional about it. She just goes and plays. Says ‘this is what I’m gonna do. This is how I’m gonna do it.’ And she’s been very successful.”

Young hasn’t always played with the confidence she displaying this season. She admitted as much Friday night after scoring 17 against the Sparks.

She often floated as a rookie 2019, averaging 6.6 points, 4.5 assists and shooting 32.2 percent from the field as the Aces’ starting point guard. But she was better last season as a reserve, averaging 11 points on 49.2 percent shooting as what Laimbeer termed an “energy player.”

Laimbeer believes it was in the WNBA’s bubble in Bradenton, Florida, that Young began to build her confidence — calling her time “a great learning experience.”

Young built on her experience in the bubble by building her body, adding lean muscle mass through strength training while playing abroad in Israel. She said she was a “little bit bigger” last season, but still plays with power and grace on the perimeter.

Without injured star Angel McCoughtry in the lineup, the Aces have relied on Young to absorb minutes on the wing and score more than she ever has before.

Her explosive first step helps her beat defenders off the bounce. She’ll either drive to the basket and finish, pull up to shoot what’s become a formidable mid-range jumper or lurch into overzealous opponents to draw fouls and earn free-throw opportunities.

Young leads the Aces in free-throw attempts through three games with 19, a figure that ranks sixth in the WNBA and a tangible sign of her newfound aggression. She’s also morphed into a menacing perimeter defender, capable of containing her opponent on the ball and plugging gaps in help situations.

“A lot of it is having a different mindset,” said Young, 23. “It’s just having an aggressive mentality and coming into every game with confidence. I know my teammates trust in me.”

Like Wilson, for instance, the Aces’ leader and the captain of Young’s most improved player campaign.

“Jackie for MIP,” Wilson reaffirmed. “Let’s start the hashtag.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.