According to the oddsmakers, the Sixth Man of the Year award boils down to two Eastern Conference guards.
The Celtics’ Payton Pritchard is the solid favorite under the current Bet MGM betting lines. Pritchard has spent his entire five-year career with Boston, though he was in and out of its rotation two seasons ago and nearly got traded. The late 2020 first-round pick eventually received an extension and has become an essential and durable part of the Celtics’ second unit.
Pritchard appeared in every game last season and has only missed two games this season. He has posted solid numbers across the board, averaging 14.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 0.9 steals per night. He’s shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 41.3 percent on 3-pointers with a high volume — an average of eight per game.
Pritchard has exceeded the 20-point mark 21 times, including a 43-point eruption against the Trail Blazers.
Pritchard’s main challenger for the award is the Pistons’ Malik Beasley. Entering Sunday’s action, Beasley had made a league-high 292 three-pointers, which is somewhat remarkable for a reserve.
Part of the reason is Beasley’s availability — he hasn’t missed a game for the league’s most surprising team. Beasley has posted averages of 16.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists and 0.9 steals per contest. He’s shooting 43.6 percent overall while averaging just 3.7 two-point attempts per game. He’s taking an average of 9.2 threes per contest and hitting at a 42.3 percent success rate.
Beasley started regularly for the Bucks last season but didn’t attract a lot of interest in the free agent market. He signed a one-year, $6MM contract with Detroit, which has proven to be a huge bargain.
Pritchard has a more versatile role as a combo guard, while Beasley is mainly relied upon for instant offense. Pritchard has the advantage of playing for one of the league’s premier teams. Beasley has been a major reason why Detroit has become just the second team in NBA history to triple its win total from the previous season.
That brings us to today’s topic: Who’s your selection for the Sixth Man of the Year award – the Celtics’ Payton Pritchard or the Pistons’ Malik Beasley? Or is there another player more worthy of that honor?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Boston fan, I’m out. We sure Kuminga isn’t getting this award? Seems like a logical step before becoming a perennial all star.
Is someone feeling a bit insecure tonight. What does Kuminga have to do with this? I was going to this what happens when give a player time to develop. But, you had to move on to something irrelevant.
Nope, just new you’d come running. If my teams healthy, I don’t care when and who we play, lol.
You are sounding a bit insecure. Kinda hard to win an award with an eligibility requirement of 65 games. Kuminga has missed 31. Lots of players have never won 6th MOY awards and been perennial All-Stars. So, not really a logical requirement.
Shouldn’t all fans be confident about their teams. You wouldn’t really be a fan if you weren’t.
Wait, kuminga doesn’t qualify? You don’t say, lol. I’m still sure he’ll be robbed for 6th man as Steph will MVP and Draymond DPOTY on route to the chip. Like I said, we not ducking or looking for the easy road. Put any and everyone infront of us. Start preying for multiple serious injuries for Boston…anything can happen.
Kuminga has played 41 games.
Familiar with sarcasm mate?
Nothing is sadder than being so bitter that you take pleasure making comments to get attention.
Payton Pritchard hands down.
What about Westbrook?
Just noticed he probably doesn’t qualify as he has played more games as starter…
Correct, a requirement is Games Started needs to be less than 50% of Games Played.
Josh Hart Started 42 of 81 last year.
If Russell Westbrook comes off the bench the rest of the way, he will qualify (currently 35 GS / 68 GP with 7 to go).
Surprised last season’s winner, Naz Reid, wasn’t mentioned.
DeAndre Hunter is no longer eligible (59/75 games) as 3 games were under 20 minutes. Caris LeVert lost his chance when he got traded for Hunter.
Ty Jerome only averages 19 MPG so even though he gets brought up all the time, he was never a real candidate. Aaron Wiggins falls into this category too.
Bobby Portis, Jonathan Kuminga, Santi Aldama, and Tari Eason didn’t play enough games.
For what it’s worth, the 65-game rule doesn’t apply to Sixth Man of the Year.
The damn AI Overview on Google
Aaron Wiggins and Ty Jerome are the other 2 in the running but behind PP and MB.
Just my opinion but I think it should not go to a starter. Cade is having a great season but 6th man? Kind of a stretch. It’s all political footballs anyway
Pritchard