Six players who could succeed Celtics guard as Sixth Man of the Year

1. Naz Reid, Minnesota Timberwolves

Reid won the award after the 2023-24 season when he averaged 13.5 points and made 41.4 percent of his three-pointers as the Timberwolves' backup big man. After Reid signed a five-year deal to stay with the team, he's clearly a big part of Minnesota's future plans and could continue to play big minutes — he averaged 27.5 minutes last season. That's a lot of opportunity to rack up stats for a team that should be quite good next season.

2. Jabari Smith Jr., Houston Rockets

Smith is in a similar position to Reid as an overqualified backup big man who can put up points and shoot from outside. He's not as good from three-point range as Reid, but Smith's defense and shot-blocking are better. Smith may not be a starter with Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson locked into the starting lineup and Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka interested in using "double-big" lineups with Alperen Sengun playing alongside Steven Adams. But he's going to get a lot of minutes for a very good team, especially if the 22-year-old keeps improving.

3. De'Andre Hunter, Cleveland Cavaliers

Like Reid, Hunter is a talented young player who would be starting for the majority of NBA teams. He started all but six games of his career before playing in a sixth man role for the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2024-25. Hunter is capable of providing size, athleticism and scoring off the bench — something the Cavs need with super-sub Ty Jerome gone to the Memphis Grizzlies. The biggest impediment to Hunter winning this award is probably the chance that he becomes Cleveland's starting small forward instead.

4. Brook Lopez, L.A. Clippers

Brook Lopez has only come off the bench in 40 of his 1,105 career games, but that's his new role as a member of the Clippers. Traditionally, Sixth Man of the Year goes to an offensive player, but Lopez is an elite rim-protector, having finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2022-23. Even at age 37, he should be great defensively, and he shot 37.3 percent from behind the arc last season. Especially if the Clippers end up a top team in the Western Conference, Lopez has a real chance at being the oldest SMOY in history, beating out Jamal Crawford, who won at age 36 for the Clippers.

5. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta Hawks

Alexander-Walker is one of the Atlanta Hawks' prized offseason acquisitions and a player whose combination of tough defense, shooting and ball-handling could make him quite valuable. In fact, he might start on a team that hadn't already used the No. 1 pick in 2024 on small forward Zaccharie Risacher. "NAW" was already one of the NBA's best reserves last season for the Timberwolves, so his bigger role could set the three-and-D wing up for some hardware.

6. Jordan Clarkson, New York Knicks

Clarkson already won this award in 2021 with the Utah Jazz in 2021. Now he's in an ideal role with the New York Knicks where his job is simple: come off the bench and get buckets. The Knicks have a new coach in Mike Brown who might actually rest his starters occasionally, with a team that's strong on wing defense and light on wing scoring off the bench. Plus, playing in New York City has never hurt a player's chances of being noticed by the media.