Phoenix Suns: Isaiah Thomas The Favorite For Sixth Man Of The Year
When the Phoenix Suns fleeced the Sacramento Kings in a sign-and-trade for Isaiah Thomas, it was to provide insurance for Eric Bledsoe‘s possible departure. Phoenix’s star restricted free agent hadn’t been re-signed at that point and the two sides were far apart on an extension.
At four years, $27 million, Thomas was a steal whether he was meant to replace Bledsoe or back him up off the bench.
Now that we know Bledsoe’s long-term future is in Phoenix, we also know that Thomas’ role will be that of a sixth man off the bench for the Suns. Earlier this summer, I had Isaiah Thomas at No. 3 on my list of top 10 Sixth Man candidates, but he was only that low because at the time, Bledsoe’s status was still up in the air.
Make no mistake though; the Sixth Man of the Year award is now Thomas’ to lose.
When the Suns made their free agent pitch to Isaiah Thomas, Jeff Hornacek said that all three PGs would play together. Looked good tonight.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) October 17, 2014
Last season with the Sacramento Kings, I.T. was one of the highest scoring guards in the league, averaging 20.3 points, 6.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game. He had the 17th-highest scoring average in the league and put up the 11th most assists per game in the NBA. He also got to the line a ton, despite his 5’9″ frame, and was not afraid to get to the basket and draw fouls.
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Thomas was a bit of a defensive liability as a starter and his shoot-first tendencies didn’t mesh particularly well on a team that needed to get DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay touches, but if you take a look about everything I’ve written about Thomas in the last two paragraphs, even his flaws make him a perfect fit off the bench for the Phoenix Suns.
Last season, the Suns were the seventh highest scoring offense in the NBA (105.2 PPG) despite Ish Smith being the team’s backup point guard. They weren’t a terribly strong defense, however, giving up 102.6 points per game (21st in the league).
Gerald Green and Markieff Morris were both phenomenal off the bench, and Morris actually finished fourth in Sixth Man of the Year voting, but this season, Thomas appears to be tailor-made for Jeff Hornacek‘s up-tempo offense.
Last season, the Suns were eighth in pace and Hornacek wants to speed up the tempo even more this season. That makes sense for a team like Phoenix, since they have three (or possibly four) point guards to give minutes to between Bledsoe, Goran Dragic, Thomas and rookie Tyler Ennis.
How Hornacek divides those minutes will depend on who has the hot hand on a nightly basis, but the three-headed point guard hydra of the Dragon, Bledsoe and Thomas should average around 30 minutes per game.
With that in mind, Thomas will not only get plenty of opportunities to put up shots off the bench, but he’ll also benefit from playing against opposing team’s second units. If Thomas is capable of averaging 20 points per game against other teams’ starters, the havoc he’ll wreak on backup point guards is almost unfair for a guy who can do things like this:
During the preseason, Thomas looked more than comfortable coming off the bench. He averaged 14.1 points, 4.1 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 22.9 minutes per game while shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from 3-point territory.
Thomas should get more playing time during the regular season, so his numbers should improve even more as the year goes on.
In the last 10 years, only one forward — Lamar Odom in 2010-11 — has won the Sixth Man of the Year award. The rest have all been shot-happy guards who have averaged at least 13.7 points per game.
In the last two years, Jamal Crawford and J.R. Smith won the award despite shooting pretty mediocre percentages from the field because they averaged around 18 points per game.
Looking at the competition for the Sixth Man award, Thomas’ skill set bodes well for his chances of taking home the award. Ryan Anderson and Taj Gibson are great options, and Crawford is a perennial contender for this award, but I.T. is still the favorite here.
In fact, his greatest competition may come from his own teammate, Gerald Green, who will be hoisting quite a few shots of his own off the pine.
Though his numbers will dip in fewer minutes, it’s not impossible for Isaiah Thomas to put up 17 or 18 points per game. He shot 45.3 percent from the field last season and that kind of efficiency is more than enough to get Thomas recognition for the award if he’s putting up big numbers in the scoring column.
At this point in time, the 2014-15 Sixth Man of the Year award might as well have Isaiah Thomas’ name penciled in on the trophy.