Jamal Crawford Named Sixth Man Of Year

9:02am: The league has formally announced Crawford as the winner, via press release. The voting results are below. For a ballot-by-ballot breakdown, click here.

7:59am: Jamal Crawford has won the Sixth Man of the Year award for a record third time, league sources told Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The league is set to officially announce the news as soon as today, Haynes hears. Kevin McHale, Ricky Pierce and Detlef Schrempf are the only other players to win the award for the league’s top reserve more than once, each of them having garnered the honor two times. Crawford will add this year’s Sixth Man trophy to the ones he took home in 2010 and 2014.

The accolade is the culmination of a turnaround season for Crawford, who was the subject of trade rumors this past summer and took to Twitter to say that he wished he was a free agent. The combo guard arrived at Clippers training camp saying he was prepared to sacrifice minutes to accommodate the team’s offseason additions, most notably Lance Stephenson. However, Stephenson didn’t pan out in Los Angeles, and the Clippers traded him and a protected first-round pick for forward Jeff Green at the February deadline. Crawford’s 26.9 minutes per game this season exceeded last year’s 26.6.

Crawford nonetheless put up just 14.2 points per contest, his lowest average since the 2011/12 season, and the 16th-year veteran’s 2.3 assists per night tied his career low. Still, he was an appealing option for award voters amid a field of candidates that lacked an obvious selection.

The honor is a boost for the 36-year-old as he heads into free agency come July. The KnicksHeat and Cavs were reportedly interested in trading for him last summer, and he figures to have no shortage of teams in pursuit of him on the open market this year.

Here are the results of the voting:

  1. Jamal Crawford (Clippers)
  2. Andre Iguodala (Warriors)
  3. Enes Kanter (Thunder)
  4. Will Barton (Nuggets)
  5. Evan Turner (Celtics)
  6. Ryan Anderson (Pelicans)
  7. Jeremy Lin (Hornets)
  8. Ed Davis (Trail Blazers)
  9. Dennis Schröder (Hawks)
  10. Tristan Thompson (Cavaliers)
  11. Shaun Livingston (Warriors)
  12. J.J. Barea (Mavericks)
  13. Boris Diaw (Spurs)
  14. Zach LaVine (Timberwolves)
  15. Darren Collison (Kings)
  16. Allen Crabbe (Trail Blazers)
  17. Jrue Holiday (Pelicans)
  18. Patrick Patterson (Raptors)
  19. Mirza Teletovic (Suns)

Is Crawford a deserving winner? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

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