Sixth Man of the Year: Evan Turner
Evan Turner wins this award mostly for what he’s meant to the bench as the club’s new backup point guard and second-unit captain. His stats are fine, but they aren’t necessarily eye-popping.
In this new role, he can play a more natural facilitator role, occasionally looking for his midrange jumper or turnaround from the free throw line. He is currently averaging his most assists (4.0) per game since becoming a Blazer and shooting the best field goal percentage of his career (.473).
He is still putting up a negative box plus-minus (-1.7), and the Blazers are 4.5 points worse per 100 possessions with him on the floor.
Granted, this is likely because he is playing with a full five-man bench unit more than the Blazers have over the past couple years. Last year’s backup point, Shabazz Napier, made the team 0.9 points better per 100 possessions while on the court, but he was also bolstered by often having one of Dame or CJ on the court at all times.
Still, Turner’s leadership and playmaking ability have served the Blazers’ bench well for the most part. He also makes up the Blazers most lethal five-man combination (that’s played over 100 minutes together) when inserted at the small forward position with the starters. This group is +17.2 in 252 minutes together.
Having a bench guy who can both second-units above water and add a punch to the starters makes ET one of the Blazers most versatile options.
Runner-up: Zach Collins
There’s no getting around it: Zach Collins may be another year or two out from where many of us, and even himself, expected him to be this season. But that’s not to say he hasn’t grown as a player and played an important role for this second-unit.
He has improved in virtually every category we can count. And when he finishes a game with a positive plus-minus, the Blazers are 19-1. When Zach Collins has a good game, he oftentimes impacts the result.
The only problem is that he can also become invisible on the floor, get into foul trouble, and/or force shots in the post. This is to be expected. The Gonzaga product is only halfway through his second year.
If he can continue his improvement and be a consistent impact guy, he’ll have a good shot at ousting Evan Turner for Sixth Man.