NBA award season predictions: Will Nikola Jokic seal the deal for MVP?

NBA Award Season Sixth Man of the Year: Jordan Clarkson

The Sixth man of the Year is always one of the tougher awards, Lauri Markkanen is eligible for Sixth Man but do we really “see” him as a real candidate?

Anyhow, the four candidates in this poll were: Jordan Clarkson, Jazz teammate Joe Ingles, Jalen Brunson and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harell.

The poll was extremely close between Clarkson and Ingles, Clarkson received 12 first-place votes while Ingles received seven, with Brunson getting the last remaining vote.

Brunson has helped the Mavs bench stabilize while Doncic rests and Harrell has just had the misfortune of his entire team being injured, while the roster is filled with centers.

There are two key issues here, do you like a pure scorer as a Sixth man? Or do you like the Sixth man who does it all and helps a unit run smoothly? And they both are on the same team which makes it harder to discern who is more impactful.

The Clippers had the same issue last season with Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell splitting votes. 

Ingles is on pace to possibly break the All-time true shooting percentage and is an excellent playmaker and role player who can fit any role. Jinglin’ Joe been starting at point guard for the Jazz while both Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell have been hurt over the past 14 games averaging 6.7 assists.

While Clarkson is your traditional bucket-getting scorer, Clarkson is averaging a career-high 18 points per game on efficient splits.

The real vote will definitely be between the two Jazz men (is there a better term than this, please tell me) and as much as I’d love my fellow countryman Ingles to win, the Sixth Man of the Year be Jordan Clarkson.