Darren Collison Could Be The Sixth Man Of The Year

Although he’s most likely lost his starting spot to Rajon Rondo, this could still be a great year for Darren Collison. He’s finally in the position that I believe actually suits him best–a relief guard who can come in and rain buckets when some starters are resting up.

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Collison is a score-first guard–last season he averaged nearly three times the amount of points (16.1) as assists (5.6) per game, and shot over twelve times per contest. Compared to Rondo (8.9 points, 7.9 assists and under ten shots per game) it’s clear Collison has more of a scorer’s mentality.

And there’s nothing wrong with that considering Darren Collison can score very well. In fact, his scoring numbers and efficiency actually are clearly better than Lou Williams–who just so happened to take home the Sixth Man of the Year honors this past season.

Which brings me to the title of this article. I believe that if he accepts his new role and stays healthy all season that Darren Collison has a legitimate chance to win the Sixth Man of the Year award for the 2015-16 NBA season. The comparison between Collison and Williams’ per 36 numbers make DC’s case look good.

Rk	Player	G	MP	FGA	FG%	3PA	3P%	FTA	FT%	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PTS
1	Darren Collison	45	1565	12.7	.473	3.7	.373	4.2	.788	3.3	5.8	1.5	0.3	2.6	16.7
2	Lou Williams	80	2016	16.6	.404	8.0	.340	7.1	.861	2.7	2.9	1.6	0.2	1.8	22.2

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/3/2015.

Although Lou Will managed to score more total points per 36, he was seven percent worse than Collison from the field and three percent worse from long-range. Williams also had significantly less assists and rebounds per 36 than Collison, who is at least partly a point guard.

If Collison kept those efficient numbers and managed somewhere close to 20 points per 36 along with a couple assists and rebounds, his case for the Sixth Man of the Year award would be pretty solid. The biggest factor aside from Collison’s play itself at that point would be how the Kings are doing as a team.

Like most NBA awards, team play factors in more than anybody wants to admit. If the Kings don’t make the playoffs or implode during the regular season again Collison won’t sniff the award. But, if Sacramento bands together like it appears they’re going to and actually play some good basketball and string together enough wins to make a playoff push, then Collison will have a decent shot.

Maybe even better than decent. These awards always have some sort of narrative to go along with them, and Collison doing serious work from the bench to help propel the Kings to a winning season for the first time in recent history would make his 6MOY case very solid.

Just like Rudy Gay will need the Kings to be good to make the All-Star team, Darren Collison needs a basketball renaissance in Sacramento to push for the Sixth Man of the Year award. He also needs Rajon Rondo to stay healthy–even a few starts would hurt his case a lot. And that might be the biggest detractor from Collison winning the award this season.

But still, he should at least have an opportunity to establish himself as an elite sixth man this season, which could be the best thing in the long run for Collison. Knowing your role is important in the NBA, and as much as I love DC’s game I don’t see him as a championship-quality starting point guard.

But his mix of efficient scoring, passing and rebounding make him a perfect fit to lead a bench unit, so he should shine despite losing his starting spot to Rondo this season. Hopefully Collison can swallow his pride and realize the opportunity he has going forward in Sacramento.

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