Utah Jazz: Alec Burks Is the Frontrunner for Sixth Man of the Year

The head coach of the Utah Jazz, Quin Snyder, has big opinions. It’s because of his decision-making this season that the Jazz have the second-best record in the Western Conference at 4-2. The biggest opinion Snyder had this season was to give shooting guard Alec Burks the sixth man role and because of the decision he’s already one of the favorites to win the award.

More importantly, because Burks has been such a blessing as the sixth man, it’s helped Utah win games, since they have a scorer who can come into the game and get his own shot without having to disrupt anyone else’s rhythm. Having Burks come off the bench makes him the primary scorer on the floor instead of him having to worry about getting Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert involved offensively. It was a move that I thought should’ve been made last December (before Burks tore the labrum in his left shoulder) and it’s a move that Snyder has embraced in his second year as head coach.

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Thanks to the decision of Snyder, people will have greater expectation when it comes to the Jazz, and it’s not a bad problem to have — neither is having a bonafide scorer like Burks coming off of the bench.

One of the biggest problems with the Jazz last year was the lack of firepower on their bench. Yes, last season Utah had a deep bench that could play up to nine people who could score 6-to-10 points on a given night. However, what the Jazz were missing was a ball-dominant scorer that could immediately come into a game and drop 20 points or more in his sleep.

Alec Burks is playing that role this season and he’s thriving. Burks is averaging 14.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and he’s shooting 37 percent from the three-point line in only 27 minutes per game. Head coach Quin Snyder was given a hard time by many (including myself) with his decision to start Raul Neto over Trey Burke. But the move that felt justified to me was having someone like Burks — who’s a talented and very underrated NBA player — come into the game and dominate against inferior competition.

The biggest piece of evidence that the bench contributions of Burks are more than validated was when the Jazz scored 41 points off of their bench against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Jazz wore down the Grizzlies because they kept playing awesome defense, while bringing in waves of fresh bodies that could get buckets. The Jazz held the Grizzlies to 33 percent shooting from the floor, had a total of eight players score and Burks only finished that game with nine points. Nevertheless, that was the only game Burks didn’t score in double figures the entire year. He’s also managed to reel off a 21-point game off of the bench against the Portland Trail Blazers.

This season, having a balance of firepower in the starting lineup and bench has been the catalyst for Utah’s success. Instead of thinking of the team as a traditional, my best five players on the court, Snyder and management are taking the “here are my best 10 players are you deep enough to compete with them” approach. Their forward thinking comes in part from the 2014 San Antonio Spurs team (more on that here).

One of the biggest reasons why Burks has been so beneficial to Utah’s bench is because of his ability to take defenders off of the dribble. Burks, unlike a lot of players in the league, can take opponents off the dribble, create space and set up easy shots for either himself or his teammates. As a backup shooting guard, but the de facto point guard of the second unit, Burks has been shining in the role off of the bench. In a game against the Denver Nuggets, Burks came off the bench and had eight assists, in a game where eleven people got into the scoring column.

During an interview with Deseret News, Quin Snyder said this about Burks.

“The number that was real significant is what he had against Denver, he had eight (assists) that’s the part of him that’s growing. His defense is growing. But I’m going to keep publicly challenging him to play defense. He knows where my heart is on that and I know where his is.’’

For Snyder, the defense is the most important aspect of the game, as it should be. For Burks, his role as the sixth man could possibly earn him the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award and put him into some good company; James Harden, Manu Ginobili, Antawn Jamison, Bill Walton and Kevin McHale.