NBA Futures: Fade the Favorite for Sixth Man of the Year
The NBA Sixth-Man of the Year award might as well be named the Lou Williams Award, as the longtime sharpshooter, Williams, is once again of the top candidates again this year.
Over at FanDuel Sportsbook, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schröder is the betting favorite at -190. Schroder has been having a great season averaging 19 points per game, with four assists and three rebounds per game, Schröder is playing 30 minutes a night for a Thunder team that could actually end up being the third seed in the East.
I think Schröder deserves to be in the conversation for Sixth Man of the Year, but not the favorite.
The Thunder are a great team with no one piece of the puzzle greater than the other. I even think Billy Donovan has a great case for Coach of the Year.
Yet when it comes to Sixth Man of the Year, I would put my money on Williams (+420) because winning this award is simply what he does.
Williams has taken it home three times in the last five years, but as AllClippers Insider Farbod Esnaashari reminds us, Williams may actually sit out the rest of the season and not participate in the bubble in Orlando.
“Finding that balance is the hardest part of an NBA return. The difficulty in finding that balance is why it's so difficult for Lou Williams to commit to a decision. In the upcoming days, he'll be figuring out ways to maximize his voice as an NBA player.”
If Williams sits out, that leaves his teammate Montrezl Harrell in the driver’s seat for the award. Harrell is having a career season averaging 18 points per night for the team with the third-best record in the league.
With voters potentially focusing on his career year, the +210 value for Harrell could be the extra boost to get bettors on-board.
