NBA 6th Man

I gotta start by saying I have no idea what the rules and regulations for the official 6th Man Award are. I started by looking at guys that played at least 1500 minutes (roughly) while starting fewer than half of their games played. There a few notable names not eligible by my way of thinking that may actually be eligible for some votes: Hassan Whiteside (41 starts), Bradley Beal (35 starts in 55 games), Michael Carter-Williams (37 starts in 54 games), Clint Capela (less than 1500 minutes played).  

These are the only 59 players that I considered for 6th Man: CJ Miles, Jordan Hill, Shaun Livingston, Jerryd Bayless, Darrell Arthur, Gerald Green, Lavoy Allen, TJ McConnell, Nikola Mirotic, Wayne Ellington, Trevor Booker, Dennis Schroder, Ramon Sessions, Marcus Smart, Wesley Johnson, Randy Foye, Mirza Teletovic, Patrick Mills, Alonzo Gee, Shabazz Muhammad, Corey Brewer, JJ Barea, Stanley Johnson, Ed Davis, Enes Kanter, Frank Kaminsky, Marco Belinelli, Shane Larkin, Terrence Ross, Andre Iguodala, Thabo Sefolosha, Nik Stauskas, Bismack Biyombo, Doug McDermott, Jrue Holiday, Aaron Gordon, Matthew Dellavadova, Omri Casspi, Lou Williams, Isiah Canaan, Jeremy Lin, Langston Galloway, Patrick Patterson, Ryan Anderson, Cory Joseph, Jared Dudley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Allen Crabbe, Hollis Thompson, Dion Waiters, Jamal Crawford, Raymond Felton, Gorgui Dieng, Justise Winslow, Evan Turner, Darren Collison, Tristan Thompson, Zach LaVine, Will Barton

Next I looked at the following 5 stats: FGA, FTA, Rebounds, Assists, Steals. Only 1 player listed above finished in the top 150 in the league in all 5 categories: Gorgui Dieng. 12 other players were in 4 of the categories: Will Barton, Zach LaVine, Darren Collison, Dennis Schroder, Evan Turner, Isiah Canaan, Jeremy Lin, Lou Williams, Omri Casspi, Cory Joseph, Nikola Mirotic, Jamal Crawford. My gut is that these are the guys giving you more bang for your buck.  

Out of this group of 13 the biggest upside surprise is Darren Collison, no idea that guy had such a good year: best asst:to and an eye-popping 48.6% FG%. Evan Turner actually leads this list in assists despite the appearance of number of PGs. Lou Williams is a distant 1st place in FTA, shooting at a solid 83%. Will Barton piled on a lot of points at a good (not great) FG%. But of these players, I gotta go with Gorgui Dieng: 1st in Steals, Blocks, Rebounds (off & def), VORP (2.3) and 2nd in FG% with a solid FTA and FT%. He contributes all across the stat sheet and does so at a reasonable rate--dude's grinding!

I went back and included Enes Kanter and Andre Iguodala because I think they'll get some consideration and I just wanted to see how they compared. Kanter dominates Rebounds (especially ORB) and 2FGs (shooting at 58%!) even though he's next to last in minutes played; yes, his defensive stats are not good (and he sure doesn't pass the eyeball test on D) but his offensive stats seem to fit precisely the role his team needs him to play. As does Iguodala, whose numbers are fine though nothing superlative, but his role off the bench is more specific than the numbers suggest. Hey, man, I like numbers as much as the next guy but there are intangibles in the game that the best team in the league requires that don't get captured by the stats. 

I'll take Gorgui Dieng as 6th Man of the Year. Enes Kanter, Andre Iguodala, Evan Turner, Will Barton and Darren Collison just to round out the top 6.

6th Man of the Year

The voting is in: Lou Williams is the winner of the 6th Man of the Year.  I gotta say, I think he's not the best choice.

6th Man seems like it should about the guys that aren't regular starters but still play an integral role within a regular amount of playing time.  1700 Minutes Played and/or 75 Games played with less than 40 starts would seem to give a good collection of guys that played important roles this year without being starters.  But first let's look at the the guys who played a lot of games without playing a lot of minutes.  

Under 1700 Minutes Played, under 40 starts, over 80 games played: Nikola Mirotic, Jae Crowder, Luis Scola, Steve Blake, Kosta Koufos, Andre Miller

Under 1700 Minutes Played, under 40 starts, over 75 games played: Joe Ingles, Trevor Booker, Beno Udrih, Cory Joseph, Kevin Seraphin, Caron Butler, Shaun Livingston, Jason Terry, Dennis Schroeder, JJ Barea, Devin Harris, Austin Rivers, Anthony Tolliver, Marreese Speights, Rasual Butler, Brandon Wright, Kent Bazemore, Jonas Jerebko.

Anyone in those pools stand out as possible 6th Man of the Year winners?  No.  Those dudes all had good years, acquitted themselves admirably, earned their money, deserve to be patted on the back for living the dream of being pro ballers.  Some of those guys had upside years, some of those are guys collecting checks and chasing rings.  But none of those guys are in the running for this award.  

So who are the guys in the top tier?

At least 1700 Minutes Played, under 40 starts (33): Mario Chalmers, Josh Smith, Jarrett Jack, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson, Rudy Gobert, Patrick Patterson, Corey Brewer, Andre Iguodala, Marcus Morris, Marvin Williams, Lou Williams, Grievus Vasquez, Boris Diaw, Mo Williams, DJ Augustin, Jeremy Lin, Aaron Brooks, Rodney Stuckey, Shane Larkin, Bojan Bogdanovic, Ed Davis, Norris Cole, Marcus Smart, Anthony Morrow, Quincy Pondexter, Jason Smith, Hollis Thompson, Alan Anderson, Isiah Thomas, Jaryd Bayless, Jared Dudley, Jamal Crawford (1703 minutes, 4 starts).

Some just seem improbable right off the bat (16): Waiters (come on, man, Waiters?), Thompson (the Cavs were never livin' and dyin' off what Tristan was up to tonight), Marvin Williams (the fact that he wasn't the most disappointing Hornet acquisition is kinda startling), Vasquez (good player, good year, 3rd best Raptor), Diaw (the Spurs are their own special organism, Diaw is one piece of many pieces), Augustin (nice back up, decent season), Lin (could work in the right system, hasn't been in the right system in a while now), Brooks (his biggest contributions this season came logging minutes as a starter), Larkin (a so-so maturation year on a hideous team), Davis (not a bad player, not a bad season, a terrible terrible team), Thompson (kid is big and can rebound, he'll hang around for a while in this league), Cole (makes the most of his minutes), Morrow (makes the most of his minutes), Jason Smith (gotta admit: I don't know who this guy is, plays for the Knicks?), Bayless (kinda liked his D, I think he fits what they're doing there), Dudley (a nice bounce back year).

The next tier (7): Chalmers (under appreciated bench guy), Brewer (his hustle is indispensable at times but not the most efficient of players), Morris (a mediocre shooter still, though a competent swing forward), Mo Williams (less a difference maker off the bench as a classic journeyman guy just having a good season), Bogdanovic (fine rookie season, off the bench wing scorer), Anderson (that guy does more for the Nets than anyone notices), Smart (good rookie, high energy guy, his FG% dropped off, hopefully he can keep it up next year).

My top ten (6-10): Lou Williams (had a great bounceback year off the bench, brought energy, excitement, but not the most efficient guy, not the best at involving teammates, 2nd best Raptor), Quincy Pondexter (an under appreciated 3p threat off the bench for the Pelicans, who need anything they can get, good player seems to have found a place for himself), Jarrett Jack (biggest contribution was as a starter, old man still getting it done, he's a winner, man, has the intangibles), Josh Smith (played 83 games this year, 83!  To paraphrase Raymond Carver: 'He played 83 games...not all of them were good but there were 83 of them.'  Dude, got run out of town but kept working before, during and after, something about that is kinda after school special).

My top ten (2-5): Rodney Stuckey (dude pretty much dragged the Pacers to the playoffs all by himself, deserves some kudos), Jamal Crawford (he's always in the running for this because that's what his game is: offense off the bench), Patrick Patterson (man, his numbers are pretty impressive and he's an integral part of the squad, locked down for a coupla years, perfect role player for an up and coming team), Rudy Gobert (thunder off the bench, can't front on that, loved him last summer, good to see him blossom out from under the Kanter shadow).

My pick for 6th Man of the Year: Isiah Thomas (appeared in 67 games, started 1; 348 FTA 86%; 37% 3p%, 284:153 asst:to, gave the Celtics a 4th quarter threat they haven't had since Pierce left town, he was the player they wanted all along now on a reasonable contract, dude can be a Celtic legend if he wants).

NBA: 6th Man of the Year

6th Man of the Year, to my mind, is an award for most impactful non-starter: not necessarily the first guy off the bench or even the most minutes off the bench but the best minutes off the bench, the player that can drive teams in limited appearances.

Active players that have previously won the 6th Man Award: Ben Gordon (2005), Mike Miller (2006), Leandro Barbosa (2007), Manu Ginobli (2008), Jason Terry (2009), Jamal Crawford (2010, 2014), James Harden (2012), JR Smith (2013).  

Harden (Rockets) has long since moved on from his 6th man duties.  Gordon (Magic), Miller (Cavs), Barbosa (Warriors) are deep on the bench of talent-rich squads.  Ginobli (Spurs) could get some votes but realistically the Spurs are a cohesive unit with no cog more important than any other.  Terry (Rockets), Smith (Knicks) are likely to get good 6th Man type minutes, could get hot, could some votes.  Crawford is probably a good bet to repeat as he'll be performing the exact same role on what I think will be an even better team.

Just to look for new possibilities, here are the active players that have received 1st place for 6th Man in the past: Hedo Turkoglu (Clippers), Andrei Kirilenko (Nets), Mo Williams (Wolves), Kyle Korver (Hawks), Nate Robinson (Nuggets), Anderson Varejao (Cavs), Paul Millsap (Hawks), Taddeus Young (Wolves), Lou Williams (Raptors), Taj Gibson (Bulls), Jarret Jack (Nets), Kevin Martin (Wolves), Ryan Anderson (Pelicans), Markieff Morris (Suns), Reggie Jackson (Thunder), Vince Carter (Grizzlies).

Turkoglu, Kirilenko, Jack, Martin, Williams, Robinson don't look to get 6th man type minutes.  Korver, Millsap, Young, Gibson, Morris are starters these days.  

Keep an eye on Varejao, Anderson, Jackson and Carter.  Varejao could be a steadying force for the struggling Cavs.  Anderson is a helluva player, could be a star coming off the bench for the Pelicans.  Jackson might get too many starting minutes to get his proper time off the bench.  Carter will be asked to do the same thing he's been doing for the Mavs, should flourish in Memphis, could well nab himself a tasty accolade near the end of his career.

Other notables that have received top ten votes in the past: Channing Frye (Magic), Jose Calderon (Knicks), Chris Andersen (Heat), David Lee (Warriors), Grievius Vasquez (Raptors), Dion Waiters (Cavs).  

Frye could be the veteran leader that pushes the Magic into the top 8 in the East.  Calderon should feast off the bench for the Knicks.  Andersen has a few more years left in him, could be indispensible to winning Bosh an MVP.  Lee is a forgotten man in Golden State, he could remake himself coming off the bench for a good squad.  Vasquez will get a lot of important minutes with the Raptors this year, could be great.  If Waiters gets with the plan, he could have a career year.  

Other notables that have never received votes before: Shaun Livingston (Warriors), Gerald Green, Isiah Thomas (Suns), Amare Stoudamire (Knicks).  

I think Livingston could really shine off the bench in Golden State.  Green and Thomas will be both get big minutes and plenty of focus for the Suns this year.  Stoudamire could end his time in New York as an overpaid punchline or he could embrace his bench minutes and look forward to the future with a brilliant year in limited time.  

Best bet is Jamal Crawford (especially since my narrative is a dominant Clippers season).  But I like the Warriors to go far, so keep an eye on Livingston or Lee.  

(One wacky suggestion: Watching the Orlando Magic it is clear that Tobias Harris can play and is ready to take a step forward.  While I think he can play just fine with Payton and the starters, I think Harris could be even more valuable coming off the bench, dominating the offense as a 2nd teamer.  Also, considering that he did not get his extension picked up, that seems to make him a trade candidate which could find him coming off the bench for a playoff team (Rockets?  Knicks?).  So while he doesn't look like a 6th Man type guy right now, by the all-star break I think Tobias Harris could be an off the bench badass)