NBA: Top 5 6th Man of the Year Candidates for the 2015-2016 Season

Apr 4, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Celtics guard

(4) dribbles up court past Toronto Raptors guard

(23) and Celtics forward

(7) during the second half at Air Canada Centre. The Celtics won 117-116 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

With the NBA regular season upon us, we take a look at a few potential Sixth Man of the Year candidates for the 2015-16 campaign 

If the Golden State Warriors showed anything last season, it was how vital depth can be to a team’s championship aspirations. Without the bench production of Shaun Livingston, David Lee, or Festus Ezeli, one could argue they would have never beaten the Cleveland Cavaliers – and that depth was the ultimate separator between the Warriors and the short-handed Cavs.

Cleveland’s shortage of efficient reserves ultimately led to a worn down LeBron James, who was just too short-handed to will his team to victory. Nine times out of 10, the deeper team will ultimately overwhelm a team where depth is an issue (see the Los Angeles Clippers monumental collapse against the Houston Rockets).

Any team can benefit from having a scorer, hustle guy, or defensive stopper off the bench. Basketball is a game of matchups and the more tools you can have in your toolbox the better.

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Ultimately the stars carry the game, but it is the few minute stretches when reserves collide that can help seal a victory. Plus you know, there is that factor everyone hates; injuries.

Normally, whoever wins the NBA Championship is the team that is clicking the best and is the most healthy. There has been a lot of conversation about the Golden State Warriors title and how they were “lucky.” Any team that wins the title has some semblance of luck involved. But I digress back to the topic at hand.

There are several players who just narrowly missed the cut. Most notably Andre Iguodala, Enes Kanter, Jamal Crawford, and the new San Antonio Spur David West. It is not easy to narrow this down by any means. The talent pool in the NBA is at an all-time high, so talented back-ups are not all that challenging to find.

There is no shortage of qualified candidates for the Sixth Man of the Year, but ultimately you have to narrow them down. So let’s take a look at who I think the top 5 candidates are entering the season.

Next: No. 5