Golden State’s midseason awards

Sixth Man of the Year – Ian Clark

Honestly, this one could have gone to nearly every guy on the bench. The Warriors had to nearly gut their entire team after signing Kevin Durant and let a lot of important players go. The bench they signed with a limited budget has been just as good if not better than last year’s.

This was a toss up. If you argued that it deserved to be Andre Iguodala/JaVale McGee/David West/Shaun Livingston, I wouldn’t get mad. That’s how close this call was.

While Ian Clark has struggled as of late, he got off to a great start early on. He’s still having a pretty nice season, giving the Warriors a nice boost off the bench. He’s exceeded all expectations.

Clark isn’t putting up huge numbers, but he’s gotten the job done. He’s averaging 6.5 points, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 rebounds. That points per game average actually puts him fifth on the team, the highest for any member outside of the Core Four.

The guard is shooting a career-best 39 percent from three and 47.8 percent from the field. He has a higher usage percentage than West and Livingston. He has a higher PER than Iguodala. who is playing 11 more minutes per game.

The Warriors had to let Leandro Barbosa go while Livingston has dealt with having his worst year in the bay Area. Clark had no choice but to step up and he has. He was amazing in November, hitting 51 percent of his threes.

His jumper hasn’t been as consistent lately and he, seemingly, doesn’t know how to make a layup, but he’s done what he’s supposed to. He hasn’t tried to do anything too crazy during his 14 minutes per game. He’s picked his spots carefully and given the Warriors a spark off the bench.

Clark has developed from an afterthought cheerleader to an actual rotation player on the favorites to win the title. He’s put in the work and produced enough to “win” this award. He won’t be winning the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award, but he is this team’s at this point.