Lou Williams Believes he and Montrezl Harrell Deserve Sixth Man of the Year Award
LA Clippers guard Lou Williams believes he should be strongly considered to win this year's Sixth Man of the Year Award — so long as his teammate, Montrezl Harrell, can share it with him.
Following the team's first scrimmage in Orlando, Williams told reporters why he feels they both deserve the award this year:
"Over the years, we've made history, and we're on the No. 2 team in the West," Williams said, following a 22-point performance in LA's win over the Magic. "We've sacrificed and we've still been able to be successful, and as for conversation— whatever reason, we are not one of the top guys in that conversation.
"I feel like we both deserve it. I really would love to share that award with Trez, and if not share it, I say give it to him outright."
Williams has a point — assuming he and Harrell can keep their numbers in the bubble consistent with what they were during the regular season, they'd become the first duo in NBA history to average 17+ points per game off the bench. On top of that, the Clippers have the highest-scoring bench in the league this season at 51.5 points per game.
Being named co-sixth men is certainly a possibility, but Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder has a strong argument to win the award as well.
The 26-year-old is averaging 19.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 31.0 minutes per game this year, and he's got efficient shooting numbers to boot.
That said, Schroder averages more minutes per game than both Williams and Harrell, and the Clippers' star reserves both score more points per 36 minutes.
Earlier this week, the NBA announced that award voting for the 2019-2020 season would be conducted from July 21-28 — before the seeding games begin. It's part of a measure to ensure that voters only take into account everything that happened before the season was suspended on March 11, as not all of the league's 30 teams will be resuming play next week.
At the very least, Williams and Harrell will almost certainly be considered finalists for the award, but Lou has his sights set higher than that — and it's tough to blame him for it.
