Fansided

Dark horse candidates for each NBA award

We all know the familiar faces and favorites for every NBA Award. But these dark horses could surprise the field and win some hardware this year.

By Nicholas Chiarito

Boston Celtics v Philadelphia 76ers - Game Three
Boston Celtics v Philadelphia 76ers - Game Three / Tim Nwachukwu/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 7
Next

Dark horse Sixth Man of the Year candidate: Christian Wood, Los Angeles Lakers

The Sixth Man of the Year, the John Havlicek Trophy, is awarded to the best bench player in the NBA. Last season it went to Malcolm Brogdon after having a stellar season and helping the Celtics finish with the second-best record in the NBA.

The main criteria to be in the conversation of this award is to have abundant and efficient production of the bench for a playoff team. Guards have been the main winners over the last decade but Christian Wood is going to make a very strong case this season.

Wood just signed a two-year deal with the Lakers and is planning to come off the bench to start the season. For the Mavericks last season, Wood averaged 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists with 52/38/77 shooting splits while being their primary backup center.

Wood plans on being the leader of the bench unit to start the season with the Lakers. One area that the Lakers have struggled with was bench production and getting Wood is going to help tremendously with that.

Being a part of the most well-known franchise in the NBA and a team that is projected to be a top team in the Western Conference helps with being in the conversation for an award. If Wood puts up similar numbers to what he did last season, he is going to be a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year.

Home/NBA