The newest contender for Best Sixth Man?

The NBL Best Sixth Man Award is one that has typically been dominated by imports for the past 15 seasons. Could a Brisbane sharpshooter be leading the way this season?

 There was a run of local talent who won the award between 2019 and 2022 when Reuben Te Rangi, Jason Cadee, Jo Lual-Acuil and Shea Ili were named winners, but outside of that, nine of the other 12 winners since Dontaye Draper in 2008 have been imports.

Chris Smith faltered at the start of the season for the Bullets, but since moving to the bench and helping inspire Brisbane to a pair of strong Round 9 victories, he’s thriving.

Smith’s role for Brisbane is eerily similar to that of reigning Best Sixth Man Barry Brown Jr’s at New Zealand in NBL23, and NBL analyst Peter Hooley believes his acceptance of the role has allowed him to turn over a new leaf.

“You talk about a leading candidate, he’s (Smith) definitely in that top conversation for sure,” Hooley said on NBL Now.

“It still took him a couple of games on the bench to understand it’s not a demotion, it was more ‘we just want to get you some different looks. You’re playing against the second unit of the other team, the ball might not be in Nathan Sobey’s hands as much’.

“Once he realised he was going to get out there and get shots up, he’s been terrific. He’s shooting the ball at such a high rate over the last couple of rounds and Justin Schueller’s been in this similar situation at Melbourne United.

“Chris Goulding came off the bench a couple of years ago, Scotty Hopson, these guys who could start and play 38 minutes on any other team, for whatever reason you bring them off the bench and they start to thrive.”

One of the things that makes the Best Sixth Man award one of the most easily debated and hardest to pick is deciding who fits the criteria of best bench player.

Hooley threw Jonah Bolden’s name into the mix for the award, and the former Boomer has spent the opening half of NBL24 backing up fellow local center Jordan Hunter.

“Justin Schueller made the call, it took a little time, but Chris Smith has been unbelievable,” Hooley said.

“I’ve got Jonah Bolden up there as well, he’s been terrific if you talk about Sixth Man of the Year but the ones to keep an eye on are what happens with Jaylin Galloway and Alex Toohey.

“It’s a real tough on to figure out who’s even eligible.”

Brisbane will look to extend its winning streak to three games when it faces Melbourne on Sunday at 2pm AEDT.