Bench Ballers: Five Emerging Candidates for the 2011 Sixth Man of the Year Award
The NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award, implemented in the 1982-83' season, is given each year to the top bench player in the league.
Over the past few years, the prime competitors for the award have been players like Manu Ginobili, Jamal Crawford (last year's winner), Jason Terry, Leandro Barbosa, J.R Smith, Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller, and Lamar Odom, among others.
However, an extremely busy and chaotic offseason has shaken up the rosters of the NBA, resulting in a number of new candidates. I have come up with five dark-horse candidates for the Sixth Man of the Year Award who will look to beat out the regular competitors and snag the award.
Honorable Mentions
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Ersan Ilyasova, Milwaukee Bucks
Ilyasova averaged 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season in just 23 minutes per contest. A solid rebounder with great shooting ability, Ilyasova has considerable potential and should continue to improve in 2011.
Anthony Morrow, New Jersey Nets
Anthony Morrow, one of the top three-point shooters in the league, was signed-and-traded to the Nets this offseason. Morrow will compete with Terrence Williams for the starting shooting guard spot, but I predict he will assume the role of bomber off the bench.
Kirk Hinrich, Washington Wizards
Hinrich will serve as a mentor to first overall pick John Wall, backing up both the rookie and troubled scorer Gilbert Arenas. Although Hinrich may have some trouble getting minutes with Wall, Arenas, and Nick Young also manning the wing spots, he should do well as a defensive stopper, shooter and veteran leader off the bench.
Taj Gibson, Chicago Bulls
Gibson turned out to be one of the steals of the draft last season, averaging nine points and 7.5 rebounds per game for the Bulls after being taken 26th in the draft. With the offseason signing of Carlos Boozer, Gibson will lose his starting job, but should still get good minutes playing as the primary backup to Boozer and center Joakim Noah.
Jason Thompson, Sacramento Kings
Although Thompson had a strong start to the 2010 season as the Kings starting power forward, he trailed off as the season progressed and was eventually replaced in the lineup by Carl Landry, who was acquired by the Kings in the T-Mac deal at the deadline. Thompson is very skilled, but will have to compete for minutes with not only Landry but also rookies Demarcus Cousins and Hassan Whiteside, along with veteran Samuel Dalembert.
Wesley Matthews
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2011 Team: Portland Trailblazers
Despite going undrafted in the 2009 NBA Draft, Wesley Matthews turned out to be one of the top rookies in 2010. Matthews averaged 9.4 points in just 24.7 mpg last season, and became the starting shooting guard for the Jazz after the departure of Ronnie Brewer midway through the season.
Matthews was a key contributor for the Jazz during the playoffs, averaging 13.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
He became a restricted free-agent this summer and was signed by the Blazers to a five-year, $34 million dollar contract. Many people felt that his play in 2010 did not merit such a large contract, but the Blazers obviously feel he will be a big part of their organization in years to come.
With Martell Webster gone and Rudy Fernandez likely soon to follow, the Blazers logjam at the wing spots has cleared up. With current-superstar Brandon Roy and potential-superstar Nicolas Batum starting at shooting guard and small forward, respectively, Matthews will likely come off the bench for the Blazers.
However, he should get most of the backup minutes at the 2- and 3-spots, as rookie Luke Babbitt will likely need a couple of years to develop and combo-guard Jerryd Bayless will get most of his minutes backing up the aging Andre Miller.
In his current situation, I could see Matthews averaging similar minutes to last year, but I would expect his stats to improve. Matthews should take over Fernandez's role as a shooter and high flyer, but he is a much better on-ball defender than Fernandez, which will serve him well with the defensively solid Blazers.
I expect Matthews to average around 14 points and 3.5 rebounds per game next season, and he should be a prime candidate for Sixth Man of the Year in 2011.
Rodrigue Beabouis
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2011 Team: Dallas Mavericks
Rodrigue Beaubois proved one thing during his rookie season: He could score, and he could score like crazy.
Nicknamed Roddy Buckets for his ability to fill it up, Beaubois averaged 7.1 point per game last season in just 12.5 minutes per contest, which puts his points-per-48-minutes at 27.2.
That's better than Stephen Curry, Tyreke Evans, Marcus Thornton, and Brandon Jennings. Beaubois' season highlight came when he scored 40 points in 30 minutes vs the Golden State Warriors, while connecting on a rookie-record nine of 11 three-pointers.
Beaubois became the first rookie in NBA history to shoot over 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from the three-point line and 80 percent from the charity stripe.
Although only 6'2 and 185 pounds, Beaubois makes up for his slender size with incredible shooting ability and a 39" vertical. This summer, Jason Kidd stated that he would be willing to suffer a decrease in minutes to allow Beaubois more time to develop. Although Beaubois will have both Kidd, Jason Terry, and J.J Barea to compete for minutes with, he is an extremely efficient scorer and should be a candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year Award.
James Harden
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2011 Team: Oklahoma City Thunder
After an outstanding college career at Arizona State, James Harden was drafted third overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder.
Harden spent the 09-10' season coming off the bench for the Thunder, and he averaged 9.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 23 minutes per contest.
Harden proved to be an excellent scorer during the season, using his athleticism, shooting ability, and wits to score in a variety of ways.
Harden had a solid summer league this year and should get more minutes next year backing up Thabo Sefolosha and Kevin Durant. With a year's experience under his belt, and a ever-present beard to show for it, I expect Harden to average around 15 points and four rebounds per game
Josh Childress
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2011 Team: Phoenix Suns
Josh Childress will join the Suns this season after two years overseas playing for Olympiacos Piraeus. Childress, a 27-year-old wing player, previously played four seasons with the Hawks as a sixth man, posting career averages of 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting 52 percent from the field.
Childress is an excellent defender and a good three-point shooter, but his main asset on the court is his length and athleticism, which makes him an excellent fit on the Suns. Childress will give Steve Nash another option to pass to and should benefit greatly from Nash's outstanding court vision.
Childress should reassume his role as sixth man for the Suns this season, and will take a lot of pressure off of the aging Grant Hill. Childress could potentially start at small forward for the Suns, but it's likely that, for now, he will join the Suns' strong second unit of Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley, Hakim Warrick, and Channing Frye.
If given close to 30 minutes per game, Childress should average around 14 points and seven rebounds per game. He will bring some much needed defense and rebounding to the Suns as they try to rebound from Amar'e Stoudemire's departure.
Anthony Randolph
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2011 Team: New York Knicks
Anthony Randolph had a strong start to last season, but only played in 33 games due to a season-ending ankle injury. Before his injury, Randolph showed many flashes of his enormous potential and put up impressive averages of 11.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game in just under 23 minutes per contest.
This offseason, Randolph was traded by the Golden State Warriors to the Knicks along with Kelenna Azubuike and Ronny Turiaf in exchange for David Lee.
Turiaf will likely be the Knicks starting center in 2011 (although Russian rookie Timofey Mozgov also has a chance), as all-star Amar'e Stoudemire has expressed his desire to primarily play power forward. Randolph's slender build and versatile playing style makes him more fit for the forward positions than center, so he should act as the Knicks' sixth man, backing up Stoudemire, Turiaf, and perhaps Gallinari.
Randolph should thrive in the Knicks uptempo offense, and will likely mesh well with point guard Raymond Felton.
Randolph's versatility and efficiency should allow him to post big numbers if given solid minutes. I expect Randolph to average around 15 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks per game in close to 28 minutes per contest.
He should be a prime candidate for both the Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player awards, and I predict the Warriors will come to regret trading Randolph as he grows into a star.
Thanks For Reading
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