2021 NBA awards: Final picks for MVP, Rookie of the Year and every other award

Sixth Man of the Year

3. Tim Hardaway Jr., Dallas Mavericks
2. Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz
1. Joe Ingles, Utah Jazz

A month or two ago, this was Jordan Clarkson’s award to lose. Then his shooting took a nosedive, and his teammate Joe Ingles became even more important to the Utah Jazz‘s success once Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley got hurt.

The result? A slight upset on this Sixth Man of the Year ballot, given the difference in raw production:

• Joe Ingles: 12.1 PPG, 4.7 APG, 3.6 RPG, 48.9 FG%, 45.1 3P% (6.1 3PAs)
• Jordan Clarkson: 18.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 42.5 FG%, 34.7 3P% (8.8 3PAs)

Clarkson has been the best volume bench scorer in the association, and that shouldn’t be dismissed. But as an irrational confidence guy, he also has a bit longer leash to take bad shots, almost out of necessity for his particular role. When you factor in the drastic difference in efficiency, defense, ball-handling and passing, Ingles’ case gets a lot stronger — even with a sizable six-point gap in their scoring averages.

Ingles’ absurd 67.2 true-shooting percentage dwarfs Clarkson’s 54.9 percent. Ingles is far more important as a pick-and-roll operator, more reliable as a spot-up shooter and more intrinsic to Utah’s success overall — even factoring in Clarkson’s hot-or-cold nature that can either push Utah into unstoppable territory or make them seem very vulnerable. It may matter to some voters that Ingles has started in 30 of his 67 games for Utah, compared to just one start in 68 appearances for Clarkson, but that kind of purist approach to Sixth Man of the Year voting is really the only argument for Clarkson over Ingles aside from points.

There are tons of deserving candidates for that third spot. Derrick Rose has been sensational for the New York Knicks on both ends, and there might not have been a more impactful bench player in the NBA since he was traded to the Big Apple, but he’s only played 35 games there. Reigning Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell has put up 13.5 points and 6.2 rebounds a night on 62.2 percent shooting, but his role tapered off as the year went on. The same goes for Dario Saric, who was once a plus/minus god with the Suns before hitting an extended rough patch.

Carmelo Anthony is canning 40.9 percent of his 3s and filling the ideal sixth man role many wanted him to accept years ago. Chris Boucher has quietly put up 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game on .514/.383/.788 shooting splits. Bobby Portis has posted a hyper-efficient 11.4 points and 7.1 rebounds in just 20.8 minutes per game off the Milwaukee Bucks’ bench, all while shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from deep. You could make a case for Danilo Gallinari, Shake Milton, T.J. McConnell, Kyle Kuzma, Terrence Ross and basically anyone coming off Suns’ bench for this third spot too.

Ultimately though, it comes down to the Dallas Mavericks‘ 1-2 punch of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jalen Brunson. Brunson has a more well-rounded skill-set and has been more efficient (52.3 percent from the field to Hardaway’s 44.7 percent), but the 3-point shooting is neck-and-neck and Hardaway has been on fire lately, all while only missing two games. Brunson’s only missed four, so it’s not some massive gap, but adding in Hardaway’s advantage in scoring (16.6 points per game to 12.6 per game) gives him the slight edge.