Indiana Pacers: Team Awards 2019-2020

Sixth Man of The Year- Justin Holiday

Yes, you read that right, one of the last signings of the offseason turned out the be the most important bench player this year. Justin Holiday‘s season averages aren’t going to jump off the stat sheet and slap you in the face, but man was he good this season. Justin Holiday finished the season with averages of 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists on .428/.405/.791 shooting splits, making him one of the league’s top three-point shooters percentage-wise.

Beyond his great three-point shooting year, the defensive end was Justin Holiday’s bread and butter. His defensive stats of 1.2 steals per game and 0.6 blocks per game are great as a bench player, with a few starts here and there. Justin also provides so much flexibility for any NBA team because he can play SG, SF, and PF on both ends of the ball.

Like Sabonis, Justin’s overall impact on the game doesn’t fully show up on the stat sheet, his great perimeter defense and his role as a leader and a veteran on this team (being the oldest at 31) don’t show up on the stat sheet but are huge parts of his game.

Justin Holiday hits free agency this upcoming offseason and teams are going to bring out the money bags for him. Hopefully, the Indiana Pacers can resign him but not at an unreasonable amount, although he had such a positive impact on this team.

Sixth Man Runner-Up- Domantas Sabonis (I know he started, but his impact playing with the bench was too great to not be recognized)