(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
With the NBA’s regular season about to end this weekend, the frontrunner for the Sixth Man of the Year seems to be New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley.
The other main candidate is Malcolm Brogdon of the Boston Celtics, but he is a distant second when it comes to the odds of winning the award.
However, a look at his stats reveals someone who seems very deserving of the honor.
Among players who haven’t started a single game this season, he is tops in scoring average, second in assists per game, and third in rebounds per game, as well as fourth in 3-point accuracy.
Malcolm Brogdon is the only NBA player that ranks among the top 3 in scoring, rebounding, and assisting among players who haven’t started a game.
14.9 PPG (1st)
4.2 RPG (3rd)
3.7 APG (2nd)
And he’s 4th among all players in 3-point percentage (44.4%).#SixthManOfTheYear pic.twitter.com/0gRwzAC93Y
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) April 7, 2023
Last season, when the Celtics got white-hot during the second half of the schedule and rode that momentum into the NBA Finals, their bench was their weakness.
During the championship series versus the Golden State Warriors, their bench couldn’t produce points or shoot straight, and that problem was magnified by Jayson Tatum’s very poor play.
But Brogdon has single-handily given Boston a respectable bench this season.
This season, the team is 20th in bench points per game, compared to 26th last season, and Brogdon has been the reason why.
He has taken a fair amount of pressure off Tatum and Jaylen Brown, both of whom are having career seasons.
Still, the Celtics’ bench can look a bit weak at times, as Brogdon is their only real scoring threat there.
But since teams shorten their rotations come playoff time, it may not be enough of a problem this time around, as long as Brogdon produces some big games from time to time.
The post Malcolm Brogdon Has Made A Clear Case For An NBA Award appeared first on The Cold Wire.