Miami Heat: Was Goran Dragic snubbed from sixth man ballot?
The NBA announced the finalists for each of their six annual awards on Saturday, and Miami Heat point guard Goran Dragic’s name was nowhere to be found.
Players from this Miami Heat roster can be found all over the NBA’s regular-season accolades list from this season, or at least; it should be that way once they’re all finalized.
Yet somehow, when they announced the finalists for each of their six annual awards, veteran point guard Goran Dragic didn’t make the Sith Man of the Year ballot.
The Dragon has been a force off of the bench for Miami this season, after spending the majority of his career within a starting role: 16.2 points, 5 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game.
Dragic fell behind Dennis Schroder of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and both Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams of the LA Clippers as finalists for the award. But was he snubbed?
All three of the aforementioned finalists are averaging more points than Dragic this year, with Williams the only one out passing the point guard in assists per game. But can you really have two sixth men on one (already championship-caliber) roster out West?
That’s up for debate. The NBA awards aren’t perfect, with Zion Williamson somehow having found his way on to the Rookie of the Year ballot after playing just 23 games this season.
Dragic’s teammate Bam Adebayo missed the cut for Defensive Player of the Year after posting 1.3 blocks and 1.2 steals per game along with a 106 Defensive Rating per 100 possesions.
And the Dragon himself, well you know the details there.
He’s been a key piece for this Heat team that’s found itself sitting as the Eastern Conference fourth seed with four games to play before the playoffs commence.
While Schroder has been a vital part of the Thunder’s identity this year, how worse off are the Clippers without one of Harrell or Williams? Dragic’s been more essential to what the Heat have accomplished than at least one of LA’s sixth (and seventh) men.
With his missing the finalists cut, the longtime tradition of the Heat never having had a Sixth Man of the Year award winner continues. Perhaps next year, if Dragic returns to South Beach.
Goran Dragic and the Miami Heat will look to put the awards ballots behind them, and their championship aspirations as the main focus on Saturday when they take on the red hot Phoenix Suns in one of their four remaining regular-season games. Tip-off is at 7:30 pm est.