Sixth Man of the Year – Grayson Allen
If there is one player who has fit seamlessly into their role on this roster, it is Grayson Allen. His 12.4 points per game is the fifth most on the team behind only their “Big 3” and Eric Gordon, and his insane 49.2 percent from 3-point range on a team-leading 5.5 efforts per night also leads the Suns.
Allen is sure to cool off some as the season goes on, and it is also true that his role will diminish once Beal is properly back. In fact Allen to this point has started every single game for the Suns, which shows how comfortable head coach Frank Vogel has gotten with him early in the campaign.
Allen is dependable and can plug in and play with anybody else on the roster. The dirty player tag that has followed him around has yet to rear its head, and defensively he is giving as much as you would expect. The real acid test will be seeing if Allen can keep up these levels of production when he is likely moved to the bench once Beal is healthy, and there’s little doubt he’ll be the sixth man.
There was temptation here to slot Allen in as the Most Improved award winner, but his offensive output and game in general is tailor-made for the Sixth Man award. We may not have seen it yet out of necessity, but once the Suns get fully healthy and settle into the flow of this season, Allen is going to be right there for this award. In fact, he’s the most likely winner out of all listed here.