Dion Waiters would be happy to win Sixth Man of the Year

Dion Waiters wants to start. He’s never hidden that.

But pulled from the Cavaliers starting lineup for Shawn Marion (or maybe, soon enough, Joe Harris), Waiters seems to be embracing his new role.

He’s even discussing Sixth Man of the Year.

Waiters, via Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group:

“I would be very grateful, thankful for the opportunity [to win the award],” Waiters told Northeast Ohio Media Group. “I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing. Hopefully we can keep winning and I’m able to walk away with it.”

“I’m a leading scorer on the bench, I’m a leading scorer in the starting five,” he said with a dead-serious expression on his face. “It doesn’t matter. You know what I’m saying.”

In context, it seems Waiters was asked about the award rather than bringing it up. So, let’s not blindly criticize him for arrogantly putting himself in the race.

I don’t expect him to win Sixth Man of the Year – or deserve to. Beyond not fitting in a starting lineup with LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, Waiters is not the caliber of the league’s top reserves.

Waiters’ strength is scoring, and he’s averaging 12.2 points per game since becoming a backup. That’s tied for ninth in the league among players who’ve come off the bench a majority of their games:

Player	Team	PPG
Jamal Crawford	LAC	19.0
Michael Carter-Williams	PHI	16.0
Ryan Anderson	NOP	15.8
Isaiah Thomas	PHO	15.6
Gerald Green	PHO	13.9
A.J. Price	IND	13.0
Anthony Morrow	OKC	13.0
Manu Ginobili	SAS	12.2
Gary Neal	CHA	12.2
Dion Waiters	CLE	12.2
John Jenkins	ATL	12.0
Mario Chalmers	MIA	12.0
Giannis Antetokounmpo	MIL	11.8
Amar’e Stoudemire	NYK	11.1
O.J. Mayo	MIL	11.1

Waiters doesn’t have the secondary skills of a few players above him on that list, either.

But, as the second part of his quote showed, Waiters still has plenty of confidence. As long as he understands how to balance that confidence with embracing his place on the team, he’ll do just fine as a reserve – Sixth Man of the Year or not.