5 Reasons Ray Allen Will Be 2012-13 NBA 6th Man of the Year

The 2012 NBA offseason will be remembered as the time in which the Los Angeles Lakers reaffirmed themselves as an elite power in the NBA. What appears to have gone unnoticed, however, is the fact that the Miami Heat became one of the most high-powered offenses in league history.

As for why, two words can answer that question: Ray Allen.

The greatest three-point shooter in NBA history joins an already stout cast of stars, led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. In turn, he becomes the most high-profile Sixth Man in recent memory.

Barring injury, he also becomes the 2013 Sixth Man of the Year. Here are five reasons as to why.

5. No Two-Timers Since 1992

Entering the 2012-13 NBA season, the virtually unanimous choice to win the Sixth Man of the Year award was James Harden. Considering Harden is now the starting shooting guard for the Houston Rockets, however, this is a wide-open race.

Of the candidates, the favorites have to be Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs, Jason Terry of the Boston Celtics, Jamal Crawford of the Los Angeles Clippers, Lou Williams of the Atlanta Hawks and Kevin Martin of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Fun fact: Ginobili, Terry and Crawford have all won the award before. The last player to win the Sixth Man of the Year award twice was Detlef Schrempf in 1992.

History is against the leading candidates.

Of the other candidates, Williams and Martin pale in comparison to Ray Allen. If they continue to score at a rate of 20 points per game, of course, this could all change.

Let's all opt to take the safe route and assume that they won't. Instead, their numbers will look quite similar to those of Allen.

The difference is, Ray Allen plays for the Miami Heat and will be of a much higher profile based off of name value alone. With no statistical separation, that creates a scenario in which Allen takes home the hardware.

If he doesn't, how exactly do we justify such?

4. Much More Than Threes

Through the first four games of the 2012-13 NBA regular season, the Miami Heat have learned what many fans seem to have forgotten: Ray Allen is about much more than making three-pointers.

Allen currently has averages of 15.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 0.8 steals per game. He has also posted a slash line of .576/.600/.923.

In other words, Allen is doing exactly what the world has expected him to do. His influence, however, has gone well beyond his production from beyond the arc.

Allen finished the Heat's 124-99 victory over the Phoenix Suns with 15 points, six assists, six rebounds and one steal. During the game, he was in Hall of Fame form while moving without the ball and played intense on-ball defense.

This resurgence is exactly why Allen will restore his legacy as an everlasting force in virtually every facet of the game. It will also lead to his winning the Sixth Man of the Year award.

3. Creating Man Defense

With Ray Allen in the fold, however, the entire dynamic of the Miami Heat offense changes. There is no reliance upon role players to make the big shots off of a LeBron James drive-and-dish, but instead a superstar who was born for the clutch moments.

Most importantly, they have a player whose shooting enables LeBron to work off of the ball instead of dominating it.

Thus far, the results have been phenomenal. The Heat are averaging 111.8 points per game, with a major outlier when they posted just 84 against the New York Knicks.

Take that number out and you have yourself an average of 121.0 points per game.

This is all a result of the infusion of Ray Allen into the Miami rotation. His sharpshooting forces every opponent to place a distinct focus on Allen's whereabouts and his unstoppable motion offense.

This creates man-to-man situations for the elite of the elite like James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. In turn, the Big Three will be able to avoid double-teams and perform at as consistent a rate as they've ever produced.

For that reason, who's to say that the team can't flirt with an average of 110 points per game?

2. Most Dominant Offense of the Decade?

As previously stated, the Miami Heat are currently averaging 111.8 points per game. This has come with an average of 10.0 three-point field goals per game, as the likes of Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Shane Battier, James Jones, Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers are, how do I say this?

Well, they're doing exactly what they're expected to do. Make one or two three-pointers apiece on every given night.

What this leads to is an average of anywhere between 21 and 30 points per night from the Heat's three-point shooters. Paired with the cumulative average of 67.2 points per game from the Big Three in 2011-12, that's a rough estimate of 90 points per game before we even speak about the points that don't come on threes.

Keeping up?

Five-to-six points non-distance points from Allen, Chalmers, Norris Cole and Udonis Haslem suddenly brings this numbers well above 100.0 per game. In case you've yet to catch on, there is absolutely no reason the Heat cannot top that mark every time out.

There's actually no reason to believe they can't hit 110 every time out. Not when Ray Allen spreads the floor, creates man defense on elite teammates and produces at a rate of 15 points per game.

In turn, how could anyone vote against the man responsible for the greatest half-court offense since the 1990s?

1. Reputation

Claim this has nothing to do with it if you'd like, but a big name almost always trumps a smaller one when the production is at a similar rate. In this case, Allen will be on par with every three-point shooter in the NBA.

He'll also average roughly 15.0 points per game, all the while flashing a rediscovered ability to rebound and facilitate.

Don't believe me? Look beyond the numbers and acknowledge how Allen is playing. Numbers may fluctuate, but playing style does not.

With it already established that he'll be one of the top scorers amongst sixth men, it comes down to a matter of who means the most to their team. Although Jason Terry, Manu Ginobili and Co. will garner their fair share of attention, there is a great deal of value to be placed on a player who makes the defending champions better.

After all, who really thought the Heat could get any better?

Ray Allen is known as the greatest shooter in NBA history. He is also a player who has never once won an individual award, which is quite the interesting factoid about the greatest three-point shooter in league history.

Expect that to change while it still can.