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Some shakeups on Sixth Man of the Year Ladder 2.0; Montrezl Harrell still leads

By Phil Watson

Milwaukee Bucks George Hill LA Clippers Montrezl Harrell (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Milwaukee Bucks George Hill LA Clippers Montrezl Harrell (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Sixth Man of the Year Detroit Pistons Derrick Rose
Detroit Pistons Derrick Rose (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

64. . . Previous: . derrick rose. 6. player

Season stats: 16.4 PPG, 6.0 APG, 2.2 RPG in 24.3 MPG; .486/.312/.873
Last 3 weeks: 16.1 PPG, 6.8 APG, 2.6 RPG in 25.0 MPG; .469/.261/.882

Derrick Rose is making a bid to become just the third player in NBA history to win both Sixth Man of the Year and NBA MVP honors. Bill Walton was the first, grabbing the MVP in 1977-78 with the Portland Trail Blazers and earning Sixth Man of the Year accolades in 1985-86 with the Boston Celtics.

The other player to turn the double was James Harden, named Sixth Man of the Year with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2011-12 and copping the NBA MVP in 2017-18 with the Houston Rockets.

The Detroit Pistons are scuffling this season, but Rose has been more than competent while leading the second unit, averaging 6.8 assists per game over his last 12 games after posting 5.3 helpers a night over his first 14 appearances.

Rose is doing more in the restricted area and doing it better than he did with the Minnesota Timberwolves a season ago, taking 31.3 percent of his shots inside of three feet and converting at a 68.8 percent clip. Last season, he made 65.1 percent in there while taking 29.0 percent of his looks at the rim.

The trade-off has been with his 3-point shooting. Last season, he knocked down a career-high 37.0 percent on 2.9 attempts per game; this season he is down to 31.2 percent on 3.0 tries per night. But in what has been a disappointing campaign thus far in Detroit, Rose has been one of the highlights.