2017-18 NBA Awards Watch: Final picks for MVP, ROY and more
Sixth Man of the Year: Lou Williams
Final ballot:
- Lou Williams (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Eric Gordon (Houston Rockets)
- Fred VanVleet (Toronto Raptors)
There are plenty of deserving candidates in this category (apologies to Domantas Sabonis, who just missed the third spot), but they all pale in comparison to the soon-to-be two-time Sixth Man of the Year, Lou Williams.
Eric Gordon averaged 18.0 points per game on the season, coming off the bench in 39 of the 69 games he played this year. Fred VanVleet was the driving force behind the best bench in the NBA and deserves recognition for a strong second half push, averaging 10.8 points, 3.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game since the start of January.
However, it’s really no contest compared to Lou Will, who was one of the league’s most notable All-Star omissions and the best player — not just bench player, but player — on a Los Angeles Clippers team that overcame injuries and trades to defy the odds, pushing for a playoff spot until the last week of the season.
Averaging a team-best 22.6 points and 5.3 assists per game on 35.9 percent shooting from 3-point range, Lou Will came off the bench for 60 of the 79 games he appeared in. In those 60 games, he still posted 21.9 points and 5.3 assists per game, so it’s not like his numbers were inflated by his 19 starts.
Let’s not waste too much time here, since Lou Williams is the only candidate who has a Drake song called “6 Man” written about him. By default, that makes him the only Sixth Man of the Year candidate that matters.