Portland Trail Blazers: Could the 2020-21 Sixth Man of the Year winner reside in Portland?

This offseason, the Portland Trail Blazers put together one of the deepest rosters in the NBA. Is it safe to put a few of them on 2020-21 Sixth Man of the Year award watch?

Across the globe, experts have been gushing about what Neil Olshey and the Portland Trail Blazers added to their roster this offseason. Some have gone as far as classifying Portland as a bonafide contender in 2020-21, for two reasons in particular: depth and defense.

Like a globe, it feels everything is finally moving full-circle. Remember the dog days at the beginning of the Lillard-Olshey era in 2012-13, when the Blazers’ bench unit consisted of Eric Maynor, Sasha Pavlovic, and Luke Babbitt?

That group averaged 18.5 points per game. (For reference, the Sixth Man of the Year that season, J.R. Smith, averaged 18.1 points by his lonesome. Yes, it was that bad.)

One has to roll the calendar all the way back to 2008-09 in order to find the last Portland Trail Blazers team to rank among the top-10 in bench scoring. It’d be remiss to not account for Portland’s long-standing philosophy of playing its starters more than nearly every team in the NBA.

But for the first time in a while, it feels safe to say … times could be a ‘changin.

In a perfect world, the Portland Trail Blazers will be churning out bench reinforcements that include some variation of: Gary Trent Jr., Derrick Jones Jr., Carmelo Anthony, Rodney Hood, Zach Collins, Enes Kanter, and Anfernee Simons.

One can read between the lines a bit; in today’s presser, Olshey alluded to Anthony preparing for a bench role. Factor in Lillard, McCollum, and Nurkic as guaranteed starters, and account for the NBA rulebook prohibiting more than five players playing at the same time, and somebody has to come off the bench.

Whether or not it rocks the boat in Portland’s favor the way those Bonzi Wells, Detlef Schrempf, Jermaine O’Neal-led bench units did in 2000 remains unanswered. But for the time being, one has to envision the Blazers having multiple players capable of making Portland the hub for the 2020-21 Sixth Man of the Year winner.

The two obvious preseason candidates would be Gary Trent Jr. and Carmelo Anthony. We’ve discussed how Trent’s emergence as a viable option helped make the Blazers the No. 9-ranked bench from Jan. 18 to Aug. 13.

Over that span, only ten players in the NBA scored more bench points than the second-year guard (329 points). In the bubble, he was No. 1 in bench points scored.

The drawback is that Trent Jr. won’t be sneaking up on anyone in 2020-21. Last year, he was Portland’s best kept secret, but in accounting for what he did in the NBA bubble, he’s well-known in hardcore circles. In my eyes, if his individual shot creation makes even marginal improvements, he should be able to eclipse double-digit scoring.

Anthony is the more intriguing of the two, in my eyes. He remains public enemy No. 1 among analysts who glorify efficiency. But he quietly had his most efficient season since his last All-Star appearance in 2016-17.

The fact that Anthony averaged 0.90 points per possession on post-ups and ranked in the 85th percentile in spot-ups against starters is reassuring. Imagine what he could be capable of against reserves and fringe NBA players?

The Anthony apologist in me hasn’t been forthcoming in wanting to admit it, but a role within the second unit could open his game up even further. His bully-ball style wouldn’t take away opportunities from Portland’s more featured stars. In fact, it could be one of the go-to philosophies against second units.

We’ve seen former noteworthy players in the past reinvent the wheel and lengthen their playing careers in their 30s — think Bill Walton, Danny Manning, or Lou Williams — simply by taking lesser roles and doing their damage in more limited frames.

The drawback for Anthony is that he would be playing less minutes without Lillard or McCollum. The 68 minutes he played without either were disastrous. Statistically, it was a mixed bag, but by nature, Anthony’s game isn’t dependent on a creator. And Portland didn’t have this depth last year.

Anthony’s numbers without Lillard in 2019-20, per StatMuse:
16.0 PPG | 22.6 USG% | 44.3 FG% | 46.9 3P% | 86.4% FT | 255 minutes

Anthony’s numbers without McCollum in 2019-20, per StatMuse:
12.5 PPG | 20.4 USG% | 35.6 FG% | 14.3 3P% | 75.0% FT | 150 minutes

Everything said here relies on one big caveat: Terry Stotts’ trust in his bench. One reason Portland always ranks among the bottom in points is that they historically play fewer minutes than other benches.

Does he believe he finally has the personnel to ensure 30-year-old Damian Lillard and 29-year-old CJ McCollum can spend more time resting?

We figure to find answers to those questions in about a month. But optimistically, it feels safe to conclude that the Portland Trail Blazers will at least have challengers for the Sixth Man of the Year crown in 2020-21.