Sound the cannon, as the first week of the 2014-2015 season is officially a thing of the past.
As far as players impressing off the pine goes, there has been a handful of pleasant surprises thus far, with 24 bench players averaging at least 10 points per game. Early in the season, the talent pool is pretty deep, so it’s tough to pick just ten bench players who stand out.
Although it has been just one week, much has changed since the last edition of the Sixth Man of the Year rankings. Jarrett Jack has been replaced by a different combo guard — a former All-Star — and the Knicks have a new representative on this list, with J.R. Smith missing this week’s cut. Two of last week’s wing-nominations, Vince Carter and Andre Iguodala — who was originally considered a potential favorite to win the award — have since been knocked off in favor of two of the league’s up-and-comers.
A new dark-horse candidate, one who was an afterthought in the Sixth Man of the Year conversation a week and a half ago, is taking these rankings by storm, vaulting himself into the top-five behind his absurdly-efficient play. Hell, even the Milwaukee Bucks have someone on the list. And, in most exciting part of this week’s rankings, a new player slides halfway up the ladder to come in at the top spot.
I don’t want to give too much away, though, so here is how the Sixth Man of the Year race stacks up in week two.