Knicks Reserve Surprisingly Receives Sixth Man Love From Voter

Now in his 10th NBA season, Bogdanovic was barely eligible for consideration. Prior to being traded, he started 27 of his 28 appearances with Detroit. Bogdanovic came off the bench in all 29 games with the Knicks. Therefore, he made 27 starts and had 30 games as a reserve. A player must come off the bench more often than they started to be eligible for Sixth Man of the Year.

Since nearly all his bench work came with the Knicks, Bogdanovic didn’t exactly light up the league in the role. With the team, he averaged 10.4 points and 2.0 rebounds on 43.0% shooting (37.0% from three). He played 19.2 minutes per contest.

Yes, his numbers on the season look more impressive when including his time with the Pistons. Bogdanovic also wasn’t a reserve for them, and they came on an awful team.

Did the Voter Accidentally Vote for the Wrong Bogdanovic?

There is a Bogdanovic who was receiving Sixth Man of the Year consideration this season. It just wasn’t Bojan.

Bogdan Bogdanovic of the Atlanta Hawks finished fifth in the Sixth Man of the Year voting. He played 79 games (46 coming off the bench) and averaged 16.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.2 steals. His 92.1% accuracy from the free throw line was third-best in the league in 2023-24.

Did the voter accidentally vote for the wrong Bogdanovic? While Bogdanovic of the Knicks did play better as the season went along, not even New York’s fanbase was clamoring for him to receive Sixth Man of the Year consideration. Josh Hart would have been a strong candidate for the Knicks, except he barely made more starts (42) than reserve appearances (39).

Bogdanovic has scored 19 points in the Knicks first two playoff games. New York looks to go up 3-0 in their first-round matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.