Nate Leading Sixth Man of The Year Race?

by Myles A. Mills on February 28th, 2009 at 2:42 pm

In Marc Stein’s weekly weekend dime, Nate Robinson is listed as the leading candidate for the prestigious Sixth Man Award two trimesters award, but only because of injuries to Manu Ginobli and Jason Terry.

“…Both of the best sixth men in the game — and the likely winner of this award — reside in the Southwest Division. But both Manu Ginobili (shin) and Jason Terry (hand) are injured, too.

So we’re adopting the same approach here that we used in the preceding MIP discussion, focusing more specifically on this chunk of 27 (or so) games so we can recognize little Nate’s monster February.

The combination of Robinson’s five 30-point games this month, including a 41-pointer against Indiana, along with the Knicks’ pesky presence in the race for a playoff berth in the East make him the most legit choice for the season’s middle third. And we say so even when the sixth-man field has no shortage of recognizable names – Leandro Barbosa, Andrei Kirilenko, Corey Maggette and J.R. Smith — and when it would be even deeper if not for the injuries in Lakerland and Milwaukee that have forced Lamar Odom and Charlie Villanueva back into starting jobs.

Yet you can’t expect to see Robinson that high in April, provided that the two Texas supersubs are back reasonably soon. Ginobili ranks as one of the greatest game-changers off the bench in NBA history and will always be favored for this award. Terry, meanwhile, is having his best scoring season in a decade as a pro (19.9 ppg) coming off the bench for the Mavs. So the rim gets raised in a big way for Krypto-Nate when those two return.”

This got me thinking…Nate winning the award would be huge for his free agency this summer.  Some team will be willing to ignore his defensive flaws and recklessness and throw $8-10 million dollars a year at him.  If so, I hope Walsh doesn’t match the offer.  I love Nate Robinson, and this is purely hypothetical, but let’s not overrate him.  He can average 20 a game as a starter, and he’s better than Monta Ellis who pocketed $66 million last Summer, but he is by no means an all-star.  He’s built for New York, and he’s a fierce competitor and a consistent spark off the bench, but he should not interfere with our 2010 plans.

About Myles A. Mills

Myles is a sophomore at The Browning School, an all-boys private school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He's been a Knick fan as long as he can remember, and 02-03 was the last season he could remember in entirety. He hopes to one day see the Knicks in the playoffs. Myles is also fond of the Mets, and follows them vehemently, but his the bulk of his time goes to the Knicks. Myles wants to be a radio hosts on WFAN or ESPN 1050 radio, and he hopes to write for theknicksblog.com for years to come. View all posts by Myles A. Mills →
  • Mucha

    I love Nate Robinson and – paradoxically – that’s why I don’t want him to get the award. I really don’t. By the way Myles, Monta Ellis is a better player in my opinion – I may be wrong though.

  • rico

    I assume you not wanting him to get the award
    is to keep his free agent asking price in check?

    I hear that Nate wants to score this summer with a FA contract
    yet would like to be around when the knicks turn around..

    these two things may not work well together,
    so if Nate starts getting awards he could be a goner..
    of course Mike D antoni should get a piece of the award
    if Nate wins for letting him play like a banshee and not
    benching him when he forego’s playing D (most of the time)

    I think Nate is an asset not just as a 6th man, energy game changer,
    but he’s a show, people will go to the garden to see Nate.

    that said I wish they’d scrap the cap.

  • Myles A. Mills

    I would love for him to get the award, he’s played great since the all star weekend, but either way I don’t think he’ll be there. I expect a sign and trade and I think we’ll get great value for the kid.

  • Mucha

    You shouldn’t expect that, the Knicks would lose a lot of leverage in a sign-and-trade deal. Maybe some teams would love to get Nate Robinson at a high cost for nothing but none of them will be willing to lose one of their valuable assets for Nate Robinson – especially if the offer is big.

    We’d then either have to get BS in a sign-and-trade deal or keep Nate Robinson for a salary that we can’t afford to add to the payroll.

  • Myles A. Mills

    dude if nate robinson wins the sixth man of the year award, teams arent going to offer scrubs for him. the knicks will get value. he’s 24, and some old teams like the spurs maybe celtics need some young talent and they have talent. waslh will also look to get a 2010 first rounder.

  • Orange and Blue

    What if another team makes a large offer to Nate, whether he wins 6th man. Say that offer is around 10 million per year. If the Knicks match, the other team may be willing to deal with the Knicks if they are serious about acquiring krypto nate. Then again the offer may be a bluff offer to have the Knicks match and have to pay Nate to play at a price that could hurt cap flexibility.

    I’m not for slaving to the 2010 cap and I’d like to see some of the players who have been with the Knicks during the prior era stay on when the Knicks have the means to purchase quality complimentary talent.

    But there are cap flexibility consideration that must be kept in mind in order to sign a game changing superstar and a complimentary star to play alongside that superstar.

    What I’d like to know however is what effect the backsliding salary cap and economic problems, which have many NBA teams seeking financial assistance, will have the amount offered on free agent signings this upcoming offseason. Could it be that the shrinking cap may help the Knicks retain either Lee or Nate or both at a more reasonable/viable price?

    Great Blog by the way fellas!

  • Myles A. Mills

    orange and blue i feel you, good post. but Wilson Chandler, David Lee, Danilo Gallinari, our pick this year, and the guy we would bring in with the 2010 superstar (say a Joe Johnson or something like that) is enough to attract Lebron James or Dwyane Wade…or bosh. If those guys wouldn’t come with thtat core, Nate Robinson won’t do shit.

  • jhodgefan

    Here’s the teams with cap space this summer:
    Atlanta 41 mil
    Detroit 33 mil
    Memphis 34 mil
    Minnesota 50 mil
    NJ 50 mil
    OKC 41 mil
    Portland 50 mil
    Sacramento 52 mil
    Toronto 47 mil
    Utah 49 mil (if Okur & Boozer opt out)

    (All salaries from HoopsHype)

    The cap is set at 58.68 mil. You guys are throwing around 8 mil a year. Of those teams I can only see Minnesota, Portland, Sacramento, Detroit or Toronto going after Nate. Atlanta will likely need most of it’s cap to keep Bibby and Marvin Williams. Detroit needs bigs. Memphis has its guards set for the future. NJ won’t add cap. I just can’t see nate going to OKC, but maybe. I just can’t see any of these teams realistically offering Nate 8 mil or really even 6.