Numbers to Know – Sixth Man of the Year award

With two weeks left in the season, it’s time to consider the candidates for each of the league’s regular season awards. After looking at the Kia Most Improved Award, we tackle the Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.

This isn’t an argument supporting or opposing any specific player. It’s merely an examination of some pertinent figures for contemplation.

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More articles from this series:

• Numbers to Know – Kia Rookie of the Year
• Numbers to Know – Kia Most Improved Player
• Numbers to Know – Kia Defensive Player of the Year
• Numbers to Know – Kia MVP

THE BASICS

Here are the players who top the league in specific boxscore categories as bench players, up until Wednesday…

• Minutes: Jordan Clarkson (2,025)
• Points: Lou Williams (1,403)
• Rebounds: Ed Davis (635)
• Assists: Lou Williams (369)
• Plus-minus: Davis Bertans (+311)

The numbers mentioned do not account for any games that these players might have started. Notably, neither Clarkson nor Williams have started in any game, while Davis has only started in one. The information below encompasses all games played by Sixth Man candidates.

These are the players who, having played a minimum of 1,000 minutes and started in less than half of their games, have the highest average of points, rebounds, and assists per game.

EFFICIENCY

Here are the leaders in true shooting percentage, a measure of scoring efficiency, among players who have taken at least 400 field shots and started in less than half of their played games. This list includes some Sixth Man candidates and winners, who are often volume scorers.

Williams has a true shooting percentage of 55.6 percent, which is slightly below league average (55.9 percent), but better than the average true shooting percentage for guards (54.3 percent).

Here are the leaders in assist/turnover ratio, providing a glimpse into playmaking efficiency. These players have logged at least 1,000 minutes of play and started in less than half of the games they’ve participated in.

TEAM SUCCESS

Top reserves can significantly contribute to their team’s success by aiding in outscoring the opposition. The following are potential sixth man contenders – those who have played a minimum of 1,000 minutes and started in less than half of their games – who have the highest on-off-court differential in NetRtg (team’s point differential per 100 possessions).

Domantas Sabonis ranks 20th here, with the Pacers having been 3.6 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor (plus-5.7) than they’ve been with him off the floor (plus-2.1). Montrezl Harrell ranks 27th, with the Clippers having been 2.9 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor (plus-3.0) than they’ve been with him off the floor (plus-0.1).

CLUTCH

How important a sixth man is to his team could be determined by whether or not he’s on the floor down the stretch of close games. Here are the sixth man candidates who have played the most with the score within five points in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.

This is the one knock on Sabonis’ resume. As important as Sabonis has been to the Pacers (and though he’s shot 8-for-9 with the score within five points in the last five minutes), Nate McMillan has generally gone back to Myles Turner with the game on the line. Sometimes, it’s an offense-defense platoon, but Turner (79) has played more than twice as many clutch minutes as Sabonis (38).

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John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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