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SportsOnEarth: 6th Man Award Thomas' to Lose

Isaiah Thomas, 2014-15 Sixth Man of the Year.

Michael Pina of SportsOnEarth.com has already called it. And why wouldn't he? Thomas averaged over 20 points per game last season and is coming off the bench.

Yet Thomas' reserve role will have little bearing on his actual minutes played. There are 96 total minutes to go around between both guard spots. Suns Head Coach Jeff Hornacek is intent on keeping a dual point guard lineup on the floor as much as possible. That means roughly 32 minutes apiece for Thomas, Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic (though Hornacek will play some nights by ear, hot/cold hand, etc.).

That's the straight-up analysis. Pina gets a tad more colorful:

"But Thomas coming off the bench is diabolical. It's "Wow, can someone just hand this dude the Sixth Man of the Year award before things get ugly?" levels of perfect. Unleashing him on opposing second units is the ultimate cheat code."

We agree. What happens when Backup Point Guard X matches up against a borderline All-Star talent? Our prediction: great and terrible things.

Thomas has already given us a preview. In the Suns' first preseason game, he scored 18 points in the final 17 minutes of the game. He rung up another 15 points (including four three-pointers) in just 20 minutes against the Spurs.

"Rare are situations as mutually beneficial as the one Phoenix is about to embark on with Thomas...But it'd be a tad surprising if anyone else waltzed their way towards Sixth Man of the Year."

Read Pina's piece for extra analyitcal reasons as to why Thomas is a glove-fit for Phoenix, including the ways he shoots better than Dirk Nowitzki or Stephen Curry.