NBA's Top 2013-14 Sixth man of the year candidates

2. Tyreke Evans, New Orleans Pelicans

2012-13 stats: 15.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.5 APG, 47.8 FG%, 33.8 3P%, 18.16 PER

The former rookie of the year joined the Pelicans this season. While he’s more than talented enough to be a starter, it would be more sensible to bring him on as the no. 3 guard after Jrue Holiday and Eric Gordon. At 6’6″, Evans is big, athletic and is capable of both driving to the rim or setting up shots for others.

Due to his latter ability, Evans was cast as a Point Guard when he was playing with the Sacramento Kings. This was a huge mistake as Evans is a better scorer than a facilitator. But then again, there was nobody in the atrociously bad Kings squad to play the role of the PG. Despite Evans’ athleticism and long wingspan, he’s a poor defender. This is probably his only drawback.

He generally gambles for steals and hopes other players will make up for his deficiencies on defence. However, this might not pose much threat if he plays as a sixth man as his role would be to provide instant offence of the bench and not carry the team as he did with the Kings.

Evans is improving his outside shooting and this will be another plus point as both Holiday and Gordan like to have a high usage percentage. At $11 million, Evans is one of the most highly paid sixth men in NBA History, but is worth every penny, at least on paper. The Pelicans are bound to be hoping that he can deliver what he’s promised.