The case for Tobias Harris as 6th man of the year

Tobias Harris has upped his play since moving out of the starting lineup for the Detroit Pistons. Does he deserve the NBA’s highest award for bench play?

Tobias Harris was having a solid, if unspectacular season as the Detroit Pistons starting power forward through the first 30 games of the season. Following a disheartening loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on December 21st, head coach Stan Van Gundy decided to make a change in the starting lineup, moving Harris to the bench in favor of Jon Leuer. The move was met with trepidation by some who wondered how Harris would react to being thrust into a high-usage sixth man role.

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In his 21 games coming off the bench since then, Harris has more than survived. In fact, he’s absolutely thrived, shooting nearly 52 percent from the field, giving the Pistons an efficient and necessary scorer with second units while also playing a significant role with the starters. He’s upped both his counting stats and his efficiency considerably, feasting on weaker second units to provide Detroit with a deadly scoring threat off the bench.

Harris has played 17 more games as a starter than as a backup, meaning he’s not eligible for the award yet, but unless a long-term injury hits the Pistons front court, he’ll likely play more than 50 percent of his games as a sixth man. If he reaches that benchmark (pun absolutely intended), Tobias Harris deserves to be squarely in the conversation for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award

Not convinced? Well, lets look at the numbers coming off the bench for the three players I believe should be considered the clear frontrunners:

	Min	PPG	RPG	AST	TS%	USG	Net Rating
Player A	30.1	17.3	2.5	2.8	56.8	23.7	9.2

Player B	29.1	16.9	5.4	1.4	61.1	22.6	1.3

Player C	24.3	19	2.3	3.2	61.7	29.9	-0.9

It’s a tough choice, right? Player A doesn’t stack up to the others in terms of efficiency, but has a tremendous net rating of 9.2. Player B scores the least of the three due to a lower usage, but is highly efficient while also having a positive net rating. Player C plays the least amount of minutes, but certainly makes them count, providing the most efficient individual offense while also sporting an impressive usage. However, Player C appears to be an awful defender as well, with a net rating of -0.9.

You may have already figured out who each player is, but in case you haven’t, Player A is Eric Gordon, Player B is Tobias Harris and Player C is Lou Williams. At this point in time, it would be hard to fault anyone for picking any of these three players, depending on what they value from a sixth man.

Keep in mind, however, that Williams was traded to Gordon’s Houston Rockets during last week’s trade deadline. Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni has shown no indication of moving either Gordon or Williams into the starting lineup, meaning they’ll have to share shots with each other on the second unit.

Additionally, D’Antoni will almost certainly win Coach of the Year, while superstar guard James Harden is deadlocked with Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook for the MVP award. The possibility of Williams and Gordon splitting their vote, as well as voters trying to avoid giving Houston three major individual award is a very real one, opening the door for the only other truly deserving candidate. Should the Pistons make a late season run to the seventh or sixth seed in the East, that will also likely give Harris’ argument a boost.

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That’s not to say Harris wouldn’t be deserving even without those potential factors in his favor. He’s been nothing short of excellent in his new role, taking his individual and team game to the next level, and the next complaint Pistons fans hear from him about coming off the bench will be the first. His professionalism and elevated play deserve to be recognized, and come June 26th, they very well may be.