NBA Roundtable: 2015-16 Midseason Awards
Who is your midseason 6th Man of the Year?
Jason Coldiron: Ryan Anderson, who would probably start for 28 teams in the NBA, but is coming off the bench in New Orleans.
Clevis Murray: Okay, so my candidates for the guys that barely know what warming up the bench means are: Will Barton (Denver), Ryan Anderson (New Orleans), Victor Oladipo (Magic), Jeremy Lin (Hornets) and Enes Kanter (Thunder). This was tough. Barton and Anderson are contenders, but won’t win it because they’re teams aren’t in playoff contention.
Oladipo and Lin are on fringe playoff teams that are currently out of the East’s Top-8 as of now. Then with Kanter, he’s a possibility because his team is actually winning while averaging 11.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per night. With that being said, my pick goes to Kanter.
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Evan Caulfield: Ryan Anderson. He’s played phenomenal off the bench for the Pelicans, averaging 16.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 treys per game. Other than Will Barton, Anderson deserves major praise for how he’s played halfway through the season.
John Armstrong: Okay, for the rest of these, I’m going to avoid the Warriors. My Sixth Man of the Year is Darren Collison of the Sacramento Kings. I love his energy off the bench and his ability to change the tempo from Rajon Rondo‘s steady, cerebral pace. The Kings’ second unit, now that Omri Casspi is a starter, is somewhat devoid of offense, featuring Willie Cauley-Stein, Marco Belinelli – who’s struggling from the field, and Kosta Koufos.
Collison is able to get his shot at any time because of his speed on the break and reliable pull up jumper from mid range. He’s more of an attacking guard than a playmaker, so he’s not good for too many assists, but his motion forces defenses to converge, opening up the floor for shooters.
Michael Saenz: This is the one award where it doesn’t matter if your team wins or not. If Marcus Smart were healthy, Isaiah Thomas would be running away with the award right now. But, Thomas has assumed the starting role in Boston, so he’s eliminated from contention. I’ll go with Will Barton, though.
Barton is having a breakout season, averaging 16 points and six rebounds for the Nuggets this season.
Next: Coach of the Year