End of Season Thunder Awards: Sixth Man of the Year

Unlike Monday’s Most Valuable Player ceremonies, pegging a winner for Oklahoma City’s sixth man of the year award comes with some hoops to jump through.

Due to long-term injuries surrounding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, and Josh Giddey, among others, Mark Daigneault jumped through rotational hoops all the game until game No. 82. The Thunder rolled out an NBA record 29 unique starting lineups with multiple rookies on board this year. That stat doesn’t even account for the 17 games in which one or fewer rookies entered for tip-off. Due to this, it’s a tough task separating the starters from the second unit, because in reality, just about everybody had their taste of the starting lineup.

For today’s award ceremony, the Sixth Man of the Year will follow the same rules listed by the league – the winner must come off the bench in more games than he starts. Based on those parameters, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Josh Giddey, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Darius Bazley, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Roby are wiped from the ballot. Additionally, the recipient must play in 30 or more games, leaving 10-day standout Jaylen Hoard in shambles. Though, he already failed to meet the first criteria.

In a race headlined by Tre Mann, Aleksej Pokusevski, and Kenrich Williams – Gainesville’s own Tre Mann takes the hardware home.

Given that Oklahoma City had three guards and No. 6 Pick Josh Giddey leading into Mann’s selection at Pick No. 18, there was some skepticism that the former Gator would easily breach the regular rotation. After a sporadic Summer League stint, Mann was third in line for a backcourt battle that lasted until December. However, he became a hot commodity, recording averages of 15.0 points and 3.9 assists across seven games with the Blue, including a 30-point outing.

Patience 🏁🙏🏽 https://t.co/WABnd1cvTO
— Tre Mann (@tre2mann3) November 24, 2021

The rookie’s minor league success spilled over to the big leagues.

After establishing a 20-minute role in January, the 6-foot-5 guard became the man of February – dominating in the starting unit with SGA out with injury. In the combo guard’s monumental month, he posted double-digits in 8-of-9 games in which he logged 30+ minutes. Additionally, Mann opened the month with a career-high 29 points. In the Garden, he rallied the troops with 30 points on the night.

Mann’s mark moved into March seamlessly, as with the keys to the offense, he averaged 15.9 points and 4.9 assists while having his Kodak moments against the Boston Celtics. In the contest, he showed off his unique archetype, taking over the game for a 20-point quarter, pioneered by 15 points in a three-minute span, and a career-high 35 points in the game. That total set the most points by a rookie in Thunder franchise history.

By the season’s end, Mann earned the Thunder’s top bench honor averaging 10.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists on a 36.0% output from distance. He logged 34 of his 60 minutes in a bench role across 22.9 minutes.

This season, Tre Mann separated himself as one of the premier shot creators from the 2021 Draft class. As an on-ball threat, he’s a lit fuse. With a bag of tricks headlined by an elite stepback, a move only comparable to No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green, he was able to hound defenders one-on-one, at some points being the Thunder’s top option. Even with a fully-loaded roster.

If Mark Daigneault elects to keep Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey as the starting backcourt next season, Tre Mann has a real shot to take honors not just at the team level, but at the NBA Award Ceremony.

Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.