NBA Awards Watch: Stephen Curry Holds the Crown

6th Man of the Year

1. Jamal Crawford, Los Angeles Clippers – No one has ever been better suited to a sixth man role than Jamal Crawford. That isn’t exactly breaking news for a player who has been doing this forever (including the fact that he is a previous recipient of this honor), but the 34-year-old is arguably having the best year of his career. Crawford is averaging 16.1 points per game on a very solid 56.9% true shooting, and in sharing creation responsibilities with Chris Paul, the veteran has excelled as a secondary ball-handler and distributor. Crawford is always in the mix here, but right now, he is the favorite.
2. Isaiah Thomas, Phoenix Suns – The knocks against Thomas’ candidacy are real in that he has missed time due to injury and that Phoenix has battled real “fit” issues with his presence on the roster. Still, the 25-year-old is posting a lights-out 21.08 PER with 15.4 points and 3.8 assists per game in only 24.4 minutes, and he has reconfirmed his status as a per-minute monster. It wouldn’t be a shock to anyone if the Suns quickly ran away from the three-PG setup that hasn’t quite worked to this point, but Thomas appears to be a guy who can succeed anywhere if he is given offensive freedom.
3. Lou Williams, Toronto Raptors – Like Crawford before him, Williams is almost exclusively a scorer, with distribution responsibilities as a distant second, but it has been fun to see him reinvigorated in Toronto. Williams gets to the line nearly five times per game in only 23 minutes, and that has really helped to increase his efficiency (20.64 PER). That and his raw production have coupled to make him a real threat to win this award, and he has stepped things up in the absence of star swingman DeMar DeRozan.

Next: Defensive Player of the Year