Isaiah Thomas Sixth men of the year?

[DavorCroatiaFan]

For me, Isaiah must win a award.
Bassically is two man race:

Isaiah Thomas 16,5pts, 2,3 rbs, 4,2 ast in 25,8mpg
Jamaal Crawford 16,2pts, 2,0 rbs, 2,5 ast in 26,7mpg

Thomas is favorite. What do you think?

[j804]

Wasn't he a starter at one point this season? I wonder if that takes him out of it

[DavorCroatiaFan]

No, Isaiah started 1 of 64 games.
For example, Kevin McHale in 1985. started 31 of 79 games and won SOTH.
Last year winner Jamaal Crawford started 24 of 69 games for LAC

[colincb]

He was primarily a starter before this year starting 153 of 215 games (71%).  He started 1 game this year.

Interesting that Cs have kept him coming off the bench like PHX did, but he's playing heavy minutes in BOS in the 4th quarter when it counts the most.

[tarheelsxxiii]

I like IT, given he had to adjust to a new team/system. Far more difficult when your role is in flux, not yet concretely defined, and you're in a new system.

[Moranis]

He should win it, but he also should be starting.  He is by far Boston's best player.  He should be starting along side Smart with Bradley coming off the bench.

[Evantime34]

He should absolutely win the award.

[fairweatherfan]

Being on a quasi-contender helps, but Crawford missed too much time right at the point when people are starting to think seriously about who should win.  I think IT gets it. 

...has any major award winner switched teams midway through the season when they won?  I'm sure there's got to be somebody but I can't think of any examples.

[Tr1boy]

Between IT and Louis Williams

IT wins.

Thank you RM

[bdm860]

...has any major award winner switched teams midway through the season when they won?  I'm sure there's got to be somebody but I can't think of any examples.

Mutombo, 2001 DPOY, 49 games with Atlanta, 26 with Philly.

[Forza Juventus]

I think it should be Isaiah. But Crawford and Lou Williams have been great too. Also I think Zach Lowe said Gobert is eligible.

[jpotter33]

He should win it, but he also should be starting.  He is by far Boston's best player.  He should be starting along side Smart with Bradley coming off the bench.

Honestly, I think this is why he's not starting. Isaiah and Bradley are too small to start together, but Brad doesn't really want to bench Bradley.

I don't have a problem with IT coming off of the bench. Basically, the starters just have to keep it close with the other teams' starters, and our bench comes in and blows the other bench away. I think we definitely have the top bench in the NBA, or at least very close to it.

[BudweiserCeltic]

He should win it, but he also should be starting.  He is by far Boston's best player.  He should be starting along side Smart with Bradley coming off the bench.

Honestly, I think this is why he's not starting. Isaiah and Bradley are too small to start together, but Brad doesn't really want to bench Bradley.

I don't have a problem with IT coming off of the bench. Basically, the starters just have to keep it close with the other teams' starters, and our bench comes in and blows the other bench away. I think we definitely have the top bench in the NBA, or at least very close to it.

I don't think that's really the problem considering that Thomas comes in for Smart usually, so he's playing alongside Bradley from the get go.

The reason to not start Thomas is first because of his defensive liability regardless of who he's playing with, and secondly, he has shown that he's extremely productive coming off the bench. You put him in our starting line-up, and our bench will start looking quite deplorable with the lack of ball handling skills.

[bdm860]

Is Josh Smith in the race?  His points are low, but he's got a pretty complete looking stat line besides that.  Plus it helps that Houston could end up with the 3rd best record in the league.  I'm sure the Detroit situation will hurt him, but I'd be surprised if he didn't get some votes.

11.7ppg, 5.9rpg, 2.7apg, 1.2bpg, 0.9spg in Houston where he's mostly come off the bench.
12.0ppg, 6.4rpg, 3.4apg, 1.4bpg, 1.1spg overall, including his time starting in Detroit.

Plus he could play 83 games which is always cool! 

[jambr380]

If the Cs make the playoffs, he absolutely should. I realize guys from 'contenders' are sexier picks for the award, but we weren't really going anywhere before IT arrived and now we are pretty decent - team improvement has to count for something, right?