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We've reached the midpoint of an NBA season that has been filled with surprises — Detroit and Boston lead the East, San Antonio is second in the West — and also far too many injuries to stars. It's also given us jaw-dropping moments, and not just the ones Victor Wembanyama seems to deliver us on a nightly basis.
The midpoint also means it's time to take stock of the NBA postseason awards. All week long, I will make my picks for some of the NBA's top awards at this point in the season, plus get betting angles from NBC Sports experts. Today: Sixth Man of the Year.
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NBA Sixth Man of the Year: Naz Reid
2. Jaime Jaquez Jr.
3. Ajay Mitchell
Analysis of Sixth Man of the Year race
Naz Reid won Sixth Man of the Year two years ago with stats that are not as good as the ones he is putting up for the Timberwolves this season, including a career-high 14.5 points per game. He is also someone coach Chris Finch leans on in clutch minutes (depending on the matchup) because of his versatility and ability to play both ends of the floor (he is a plus defender and a big shooting 38.8% from 3-point range).
Usually, the Sixth Man of the Year race sees a lot of movement in the second half of the season, but it feels like someone else is going to win the award this year, they are going to have to prove themselves better than Reid. Good luck with that.
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Miami's Jamie Jaquez Jr. — who has carried the Heat offense for stretches — might be the guy to pull that off, although he needs to be a little more efficient with his scoring to win this. Ajay Mitchell has been a revelation off the bench in Oklahoma City in his second season, and the fact that he tends to be on the court with a stacked roster — have you seen the Thunder bench? — shouldn't be held against him. Mitchell has been fantastic.
Three other names to watch in this race are Reed Sheppard in Houston, Keldon Johnson in San Antonio, and the hot Anfernee Simons in Boston. Any of them could climb into the top three — or the top spot itself — with a strong second half of the season.
Orlando's Anthony Black, Atlanta's Nickiel Alexander-Walker and Phoenix's Collin Gilespi are not on this list because all three have become regular starters and have started more than half of their team's games to this point.
Betting Sixth Man Race
We reached out to the NBC Sports betting experts for their thoughts on the Rookie of the Year race and how they might bet it.
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Drew Dinsick, NBC Sports Betting Analyst
The rubric for this award is the most productive bench player in terms of raw scoring for a Top 3 seed in either conference. We've seen a rotating cast of favorites for this award throughout the season at this point but the man coming on strong at the moment is clearly Anfernee Simons of the Boston Celtics. His price at 14/1 does not capture the recent surge which find him Top 3 in points scored off the bench, slightly behind Naz Reid and Jaime Jaquez Jr. It seems likely he will lead bench scoring by the All-Star break for the 2-seed Celtics which will likely mean he will be the market favorite and the best awards bet on the board at this time.
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