{"id":522423,"date":"2026-01-07T11:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T11:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/522423\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T11:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T11:56:11","slug":"nba-sixth-man-of-the-year-odds-prediction-ajay-mitchell-is-the-dark-horse-in-the-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/522423\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Sixth Man of the Year odds, prediction: Ajay Mitchell is the dark horse in the race"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\tGambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our\u00a0editorial standards<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n

If you take a look at some of the NBA<\/a> futures markets, oddsmakers have priced several races as if they are already decided. Some favorites are running away with certain awards by a mile, while others have an unusually comfortable margin considering it\u2019s only January.<\/p>\n

One wide-open race, both at the sportsbooks and on the court, is Sixth Man of the Year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The leader in the clubhouse, Timberwolves big man Naz Reid, narrowly won the award in 2024 and has +350 odds to become the sixth multi-time winner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rounding out the top five choices are Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (+400), Magic guard Anthony Black (+750), Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (+900), and Reed Sheppard (10\/1) of the Houston Rockets.<\/p>\n

But the player catching my eye is a bit further down the list.<\/p>\n

Ajay Mitchell (22\/1) has burst onto the scene this season for the Thunder as a do-it-all force off the bench. The second-year guard is averaging 13.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.5 steals, doubling his numbers from his rookie season in nearly every category.<\/p>\n

The box score numbers don\u2019t do Mitchell\u2019s season justice. He is the definition of an impact player. When he\u2019s on the floor, the Thunder outscore their opponents by 16.2 points per 100 possessions. For context, the Thunder outscore their opponent by 16.1 points per 100 with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in action, so Mitchell is in good company.<\/p>\n

\"TimberwolvesTimberwolves center Naz Reid backs down Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell. Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

A big factor in his success has been his defense. The Thunder allow just 100.8 points per 100 possessions with Mitchell on the floor, which is the third-best mark on the team behind Jaylin Williams and Cason Wallace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mitchell isn\u2019t just locking up second-unit players and getting spare minutes. He\u2019s playing 25.7 minutes per game and has been on the floor for 12 of the Thunder\u2019s 14 games that went into clutch time (last five minutes with the game within five points).<\/p>\n

Betting on the NBA? <\/p>\n

I think other players ahead of Mitchell on the odds board will eventually drop off, which is why now is a good time to grab the value on him at this number.<\/p>\n

Black, for example, has been a starter for the Magic since early December and has 16 starts in 36 games. With Orlando\u2019s multitude of injuries, he could end up being ineligible if he starts too many games. Suns guard Collin Gillespie is in a similar situation with 17 starts in 36 games.<\/p>\n

At the top of the board, Reid and Jaquez are certainly formidable candidates, but come with their own drawbacks. Reid is slightly better now than he was two seasons ago when he won Sixth Man of the Year, but he doesn\u2019t have the same out-of-nowhere energy he did when he took home the trophy. <\/p>\n

Jaquez is leading all bench scorers with 16.2 points per game and looks like the biggest threat to Mitchell for this award, but the Heat need to be better as a team for him to get more attention. Mitchell\u2019s all-around game and the Thunder\u2019s dominance over the rest of the league will make his case stronger.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll grab his 22\/1 odds before this line moves.<\/p>\n

The bet: Ajay Mitchell Sixth Man of the Year (22\/1, bet365<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Why Trust New York Post Betting<\/p>\n

Malik Smith has been immersed in the sports betting industry since 2017. He\u2019s a data nerd with a particular focus on the NBA and combat sports. He spends his weeknights in the winter looking for edges on plus-money NBA player props.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,212,6,214,310,475,179,3966,3965,66,215,216,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-522423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-betting","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-nba-betting","12":"tag-oklahoma","13":"tag-oklahoma-city","14":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","15":"tag-oklahomacity","16":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-sports-betting","19":"tag-sports-picks","20":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115853694734191030","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}