As we patiently await the NBA’s return, one of the things we can do to entertain ourselves as basketball fans is predict the awards that will be handed out eight months from now. And we’re starting with the hardest one.
The Sixth Man of the Year award is handed out to the league’s best bench operator.
Last season that was Keldon Johnson of the San Antonio Spurs, averaging 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds on brilliant efficiency, helping his team to a 62-20 record.
To be eligible for the award, a player has to come off the bench in more games than they start. Injuries, roster movement, and coaching adjustments throughout the season make it almost impossible to predict who will still be eligible come April, but we’re giving it the old college try.
NBA Sixth Man of the Year contenders 2026/27
Dylan Harper
The first name is a teammate of the reigning winner. Harper’s rookie year ended with All-Rookie First Team honors — 11.8 points, 3.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds on 50.5% shooting, with just 2 starts.
Then he went up a level. He passed David Robinson’s 243 for the most points by a Spurs rookie in a single postseason, and averaged 18 points and 6.4 rebounds in the NBA Finals while Johnson faded to 4.4 a night.
De’Aaron Fox is not getting benched, and neither is Stephon Castle. So it is Harper carrying the second unit again. If he meets the requirements, he is the favorite for the award.
Jared McCain
The team with the best record in the league also gets a candidate.
McCain arrived from the Philadelphia 76ers at the February deadline and averaged 10.4 points in 17.9 minutes across 30 games, shooting 39.1% from three. He was better in the playoffs, including a 20-point night in his first career postseason start.
McCain was the early Rookie of the Year frontrunner in 2024-25 before a torn meniscus ended his season after 23 games. This is his first fully healthy offseason since Duke.
Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins and Luguentz Dort are all gone, so the minutes are there. Ajay Mitchell led that second unit last season and finished fifth in the voting, but McCain’s upside is too tempting to ignore for me.
Someone from Portland
The Trail Blazers have added Ja Morant to a backcourt that already had Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe.
Sharpe is out around 6 months with a torn meniscus, and Lillard is back after missing all of last season with an Achilles tear. All that considered, it’s hard to know who will be the sixth man to watch.
It won’t be Morant. Beyond him, whoever ends up running the second unit is going to get serious usage on a team that should be better than 42 wins, and that should convince voters to look their way.
Ayo Dosunmu
The Timberwolves went 49-33 last season and reached the Western Conference semifinals, then sent Julius Randle and Naz Reid out to bring in LaMelo Ball.
Dosunmu averaged 14.8 points, 3.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds across 69 games between Chicago and Minnesota, shooting 51.7% from the field and 43.9% from three.
After the deadline move he put up 14.4 points a night for the Wolves, then scored a career-high 43 in a first-round win over Denver.
Minnesota still needs a forward. Add one and Dosunmu slides back to the bench — a good shooter and a reliable two-way player on a team that should pile up wins.
Klay Thompson
Now for the fun one.
Thompson joins a roster that shipped Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis to Milwaukee for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis.
That trade makes the case. Antetokounmpo bends a defense toward the rim like almost nobody else, and Thompson is arguably the best catch-and-shoot player of all time.
His 11.7 points a game last season was a career low, but we’re backing him to bounce back. The complication is Tim Hardaway Jr., third in last season’s voting, who also signed in Miami. It all depends on who is given the starting role.
The eligibility catch
It’s hard to feel confident in any sixth man prediction.
Any of these players could break into the starting five, and a teammate could be the one to slip into contention. We’ll just have to wait and see.
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