“Bench Mob Breakthrough: Meet the Unsung Heroes Shattering NBA Norms and Redefining Success!”

As we inch closer to the conclusion of yet another exhilarating NBA season, the spotlight is shining brightly on a thrilling competition for the Sixth Man of the Year Award. With a month left to play, two players, Malik Beasley and Payton Pritchard, are both crafting seasons that could very well be written into the record books. Who would’ve thought that the race for the coveted title would not only be so close but also showcase historical shooting performances from players coming off the bench? While we’ve seen plenty of jaw-dropping highlights throughout the 2024-25 campaign—from the Cavaliers’ offense making defenders quake to the Thunder’s fortress-like defense—the brilliance displayed by Beasley and Pritchard deserves its own round of applause. Let’s dive in and explore how these two athletes are redefining what it means to be a “bench player” in today’s NBA… LEARN MORE.

Malik Beasley and Payton Pritchard are competing for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year. Both are having historical shooting seasons for players who come off the bench.

In less than a month, we will wrap up what has been yet another fantastic regular season. 

The 2024-25 campaign has been filled with many tantalizing storylines (the Cleveland Cavaliers’ unstoppable offense, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s impenetrable defense, the Portland Trail Blazers’ historic turnaround, etc.). 

But one narrative thread that hasn’t received enough attention is the two-man race taking place for the 2025 Sixth Man of the Year Award.

Not only are the two players involved both worthy of receiving the greatest honor a second unit star can achieve, but they are also putting together some of the best bench seasons in NBA history. 

Malik Beasley, Detroit Pistons

The Pistons are one of the best feel-good stories this year. After finishing with the worst record in the NBA in 2023-24 (14-68), the Pistons are 41-32 with a serious chance of hosting a first-round playoff series (they are 2 games back from the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers). 

According to our in-house, all-in-one metric DRIP (which projects a player’s contribution to a team’s plus/minus per 100 possessions), their best offensive player this year has, of course, been All-NBA hopeful Cade Cunningham. 

But right after him on that list is Malik Beasley with an offensive DRIP (O-DRIP) of 0.1 (79th percentile). On the season, Beasley is averaging 16.2 points (third on the team) on 42.1% shooting from downtown (first). However, those numbers alone undersell the immense value Beasley is providing. 

One could argue he is having one of the greatest shooting seasons in league history. For starters, despite the Pistons still having nine games left in their season, and Beasley already has more total 3-pointers made this season (283) than any other “bench” player (over 50% of games played coming off the bench) in a single season in NBA history.

If Beasley can hit at least 17 more 3s this season (which should be easy considering he’s hitting 3.9 per game), he will be the only bench player in league history to hit 300 3-pointers in a single season.

This is one of only 22 seasons when a bench player has taken at least 500 3s in a season. However, Beasley is only one of two players ever to come off the bench for more than 50% of his games, take at least 500 3s, and shoot at least 40% on those attempts – we’ll discuss the other player shortly.

Beasley’s season hasn’t just been great by bench standards. In NBA history, there have only been two players to average at least 9.0 3-point attempts per game while shooting at least 42% on 3s. One of those guys is, of course, Beasley. Meanwhile, the other is none other than two-time MVP and the greatest shooter of all time Stephen Curry (who has done it five times).

Payton Pritchard, Boston Celtics

For how great Beasley has been this year, he isn’t even the favorite to land the 6MOY Award. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, that honor currently belongs to Payton Pritchard. 

Do you remember how we were saying Beasley is one of two “bench” players to ever shoot at least 500 3s in a season while shooting at least 40% on those attempts? The other guy is Pritchard, who is hitting 41.8% of his 3-point shots.

Pritchard’s 2024-25 is “only” seventh in terms of highest single-season 3-point total from a bench player (231). However, if Pritchard keeps his current pace up (3.3 made 3s per game)  for the Celtics’ last 11 games of the season, he will have the second-most 3s made in a single season by a bench player, behind only Beasley.

To widen our search from earlier, only 11 players have ever played at least 50 games in a season, shot at least 41.5% on 3-pointers and taken at least 7.5 attempts per game: Curry (eight times), Beasley, Ray Allen, Davis Bertans, Buddy Hield (twice), Zach LaVine, CJ McCollum, Duncan Robinson, Dennis Scott, Klay Thompson, and, last but not least, Pritchard. The only other guy to be considered a bench player on that list is Bertans.

Pritchard’s shooting season is slightly lagging behind the one being had by Beasley in Detroit. The reason that Pritchard is currently the frontrunner in the 6MOY race is that he’s able to combine excellent spacing/shooting with self-creation and three-level scoring. 

Only 16.8% of Beasley’s field goals have been unassisted (17th percentile, per NBA.com), and his rim field goal (54.7%) and midrange percentages (41.7%) sit in the 35th and 51st percentiles, respectively. 

On the flip side, 40.1% of Pritchard’s field goals are executed without an assist (74th percentile). Meanwhile, he’s hitting 68% shots at the rim (84th percentile) and 50.8% of his midrange attempts (86th percentile). 

His well-roundedness is a big reason why Pritchard boasts the best O-DRIP (1.5, 92nd percentile) among all “bench” players this year. 

It’s a shame that only one of these two deserving candidates can take home the John Havlicek Trophy. But regardless of who wins, it is safe to say that Beasley and Pritchard are having two of the best offensive seasons by a bench player that we have ever seen.

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