Detroit Pistons: Best candidates for 2018-19 NBA awards

Sixth Man of the Year: Reggie Bullock

The last seven winners of the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award have fit a certain profile: Shooting guards whose job description mostly called for them to come off the bench and shoot.

Lou Williams (twice), Jamal Crawford (twice), Eric Gordon, J.R. Smith and James Harden — back when he played for the Oklahoma City Thunder and didn’t have to run a whole offense — each earned 6MOY trophies in similar fashion.

The last player who didn’t play that style and won Sixth Man of the Year was Lamar Odom back in 2011. If you go back before Odom, the profile kicks in again: Crawford, Jason Terry, Manu Ginobili, Leandro Barbosa, Mike Miller and Ben Gordon also won Sixth Man honors.

If Reggie Bullock doesn’t end up in the Pistons’ starting lineup, he will enter the 2018-19 season as a worthy candidate for Sixth Man of the Year.

The 27-year-old swingman started 52 times in 62 appearances last season, averaging a career-high 11.3 points per game and finishing second in the NBA in 3-point shooting, hitting 44.5 percent from beyond the arc.

This season, Bullock is expected to compete with Luke Kennard for the starting shooting guard spot. Kennard was Detroit’s lottery pick one year ago, while Bullock has one year left on a contract that pays him just $2.5 million. Kennard could be the frontrunner for the job since the team has made a bigger investment in him.

Who finishes the game is ultimately more important than who starts, and if Bullock is the best 2-guard on the team than he should be in the game during crunch time. However, it may be smart to bring him off the bench to begin with, as he seems like better option for an instant-offense scorer that would make for an effective sixth man.

Odds: Decent, if he doesn’t become a starter