Can Jarrett Jack win the ‘Sixth-Man of the Year’ Award ?

When the NBA season is set to begin, everyone puts in their preseason predictions for award recipients.

LeBron James is always going to be the favorite for MVP with Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin and Kevin Durant being in the conversation.

More from Basketball

“Rookie of the Year” is up for grabs among a few players such as the Milwaukee Bucks’ Jabari Parker, Minnesota Timberwolves’ Andrew Wiggins, Sacramento Kings’ Nik Stauskas, and San Antonio Spurs’ Kyle Anderson among others.

The “Sixth-man of the Year” award has it’s usual suspects this year with the Clippers’ Jamal Crawford, the Knicks’ J.R. Smith, and the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili in contention.

However, when you list the “Sixth-man of the Year” award contenders for this season, you really have to like the chances for Brooklyn Nets guard, Jarrett Jack, to stake his claim for it.

Jack was traded to Brooklyn from the Cleveland Cavaliers this offseason as part of a three-team deal so Cleveland could create cap space for LeBron James.

This will be Jack’s 10th season in the NBA out of Georgia Tech. Over his career he has averaged 10.9 points and 4.3 assists while shooting 44.3% from the field and 35.6% from 3-point range.

What makes Jack a valuable player for BK is his durability. He has played 79 or more games eight times in his career and has played in all 82 four times.

Jack is also capable of being an impactful player on the court as he showed with the Golden State Warriors in the 2012-13 season.

He was solid during the regular season for the Warriors averaging 12.9 points and 5.6 assists while shooting 45.2% from the floor and 40.4% from trey.

Jack was even better in the playoffs for “The Dubs” dropping 17.2 points per game on the stat sheet on 50.2% shooting.

Oct 19, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Jarrett Jack (0) shoots during the first quarter against the Boston Celtics at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Last year Jack’s play was uninspired it seemed. Though he played in 80 games he only shot 41% from the floor and averaged 9.5 points per game.

He really had nothing to play for in Cleveland last season, but in Brooklyn he is on a playoff contender and is playing for a coach in Lionel Hollins that will be able to find use for a player with Jack’s skill set.

Jack is going to be used to spell minutes for both Deron Williams and Joe Johnson at times during this season, so opportunities will be available for him to get his minutes and get his numbers.

When he plays the point he is going to be strong on pick and roll opportunities since he can knock down mid-range jumpers and when he plays the two-guard he will be able to spot up and look for his shot from beyond the arc and look for his points off the ball.

The versatility that Jack brings to the Nets roster is going to be a big help to Lionel Hollins this season in BK. It is highly unlikely that BK will be getting the uninspired Jarrett Jack that played along side a ball-dominant point guard in Kyrie Irving.

This is a situation where Jack will be able to get some redemption for himself and get back to the form that had his name being mentioned for the “Sixth-man of the Year” in seasons past.

So can Jarrett Jack win the “Sixth-man of the Year” this season? Definitely!

The opportunity is available for him to have a big year in BK and make a solid contribution to the Nets in 2014-15.