NBA Awards: Fifth Man of the Year
The Obvious Choices
Boston Celtics -Evan Turner
Brooklyn Nets – Markel Brown
New York Knicks – Lou Amundsen
Milwaukee Bucks – Zaza Pachulia
Charlotte Hornets – Cody Zeller
San Antonio Spurs – Danny Green
Oklahoma City Thunder – Andre Roberson
Utah Jazz – Joe Ingles
Los Angeles Clippers – Matt Barnes
Los Angeles Lakers – Wesley Johnson
Indiana Pacers – Solomon Hill
Orlando Magic – Channing Frye
These are men who wear the title of fifth man like a second skin. In any team – nay, in any universe – they are the fifth man of the starting lineup. A quick look down this list is a stare into the depths of semi-adequacy.
Let’s start with the anonymous rookies. Markel Brown is a rookie shooting guard who was thrust into the starting lineup for a playoff team, and he can do this.
He has a bright future on a Brooklyn squad that is unfortunately living in the now, but the team is defined by their veteran core.
Super-Aussie Joe Ingles tea-bagged Evan Turner once in a momentous meeting of fifth men.
Beyond that, he is a hopelessly slow player who can shoot.
Turner, Cody Zeller and Wes Johnson are high draft picks living out non-descript NBA lives. It’s not too late for Zeller, but it might be for Turner.
Johnson might actually be the most medium player in the NBA. He is the Foo Fighters of the NBA; everyone who is better is good, and everyone who is worse is bad. (Note to Dave Grohl fanboys and fangirls: Your band is mediocre no matter how often he claims to be saving rock ‘n’ roll. Learn to deal with it.)
Lou Amundsen and Zaza Pachulia are defenders who can’t shoot. Danny Green and Andre Roberson are shooters who can’t defend. Channing Frye fills the rare role of the fifth man as a stretch four. Solomon Hill made the absence of Paul George an open wound in an already bedraggled Pacers offense. And our man Matt Barnes is usually on the receiving end of stupid plays.
It is players like Matt Barnes, and Joe Ingles and Wes Johnson, for which this award is designed to acknowledge: players who exist within the margins of the NBA conversation, yet their presence has influence over the game itself.
The Sad Choices
The entire Philadelphia 76ers roster
The Philadelphia 76ers are a team of sixteenth men in a sport that allows fifteen men. Bravo, Sam Hinkie.
The Tough Selections*
*either because of changing lineups or difficult decisions
Houston Rockets – Donatas Motiejunas
Detroit Pistons – Caron Butler
Miami Heat – Mario Chalmers
Minnesota Timberwolves – Zach LaVine
Phoenix Suns – P.J. Tucker
First, let’s take a look at the players on teams with fluid starting lineups.
Mario Chalmers would normally be an obvious choice as a fifth man in the Pointless Guard role, but isn’t playing very much anymore for the Miami Heat since the team completed a trade for Goran Dragic. Ideally, with everyone healthy the Heat’s starting lineup would be Dragic-Dwyane Wade-Luol Deng-Chris Bosh-Hassan Whiteside, but Dragic and Bosh played exactly zero minutes together this past year. So Rio gets the nod as the fifth man despite his current status at the end of the season as about the tenth man.
Similarly, Zach LaVine gets the nod for a terrible team without much consistency in their starting lineup. With more significant playing time, Adreian Payne, Shabazz Muhammad and Corey Brewer would fit the role well as the fifth man. But Brewer is a Rocket, Muhammad started only 13 games and Payne played a large chunk of the season in the D-League.
With Kyle Singler moving on to Oklahoma City, Caron Butler takes on the role in Detroit. The problem is that he only started 21 games. That’s more than Anthony Tolliver so he gets the rather shaky distinction as starter for the Pistons.
Other players have stiff competition for the fifth man designation, like Phoenix’s wing P.J. Tucker. Tucker’s main competition is Alex Len, and Len played most of the year as the team’s starting center. Tucker was a fairly anonymous starter for the Suns, a tough-as-jerky wing in the Handyman role, whereas Len made an impact as a rebounder in his limited minutes this season. Tucker is a consummate fifth man.
Finally, one of the toughest choices was determining the fifth man of the Houston Rockets. Patrick Beverley was constructed for the Pointless Guard role, as his defense and smart play helped to elevate the Rockets above the remainder of the Southwest division. Similarly, Donatas Motiejunas gave the Rockets a second high end rebounder with a quickly developing post play.
While Beverley fits the archetype, Motiejunas’ contributions, while admirable, are made redundant by the makeup of the Rockets roster and therefore less essential to the success of the Rockets, so the latter takes up the mantle. Of course, Houston will be without either one for the remainder of the playoffs, leaving Jason Terry as the Rockets’ postseason fifth man.
Next: Your NBA Fifth Men: Part II