The Knicks are 0-for-1 in their three chances at NBA individual awards this year.
Utah’s Jordan Clarkson was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year on Monday night, beating out teammate Joe Ingles and New York’s Derrick Rose for the honor. Ingles actually awarded Clarkson the trophy, which was given out on TNT’s pregame coverage of the Bucks-Heat game in a cool moment of surprise during an interview with the two Jazz players:
Clarkson, who earned 65 of 100 first-place votes and 407 total points, averaged 18.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game in his first full season with the Jazz. The scoring total was much higher than Ingles (12.1) but the peripherals not as good (4.7 assists/3.6 boards), but Clarkson did shoot 42.5 percent from the field and 34.7 percent from three.
Rose averaged 14.7 points, 4.2 assists, and 2.6 boards per game overall this year, including a 14.9/4.2/2.9 line in 35 games with the Knicks.
He was looking to become just the third player ever to win an MVP and Sixth Man in his career (behind Bill Walton and Brooklyn’s James Harden), but instead watched Clarkson become the first Jazz player to win the award, finishing third with one first-place vote and 43 total votes for 77 points.
Two former Knicks also received Sixth Man votes: Dallas’ Tim Hardaway Jr. finished fifth, and Portland’s Carmelo Anthony finished seventh.
Ex-Net Thad Young received two third-place votes to finish 14th out of 15 players receiving nods.
The Knicks have two more shots at some hardware, as Julius Randle is a finalist for Most Improved Player of the Year and Tom Thibodeau is a Coach of the Year finalist. Utah’s Quin Snyder and Phoenix’s Monty Williams, who won the NBCA Coach of the Year Award, are Thibs’ competition, while Randle is up against Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. and Detroit’s Jeremi Grant.
No Knick has ever won Most Improved, and Thibs aims to be the ‘Bockers’ third Coach of the Year behind Red Holzman in 1969-70 and Pat Riley in 1992-93. Rose would have been the fourth Knicks Sixth Man of the Year, behind Anthony Mason (1994-95), John Starks (1996-97), and J.R. Smith (2012-13).
Utah was the only other team besides the Knicks to place finalists in three of the six categories, as Rudy Gobert is also a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year.
The remaining awards will be given out during TNT’s postseason coverage.
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