In five seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, Bobby Portis has finished on the ballot for Sixth Man of the Year three different times, twice in the top three. In 2024-25, he was robbed of any consideration by an unfortunate 25-game ban for unknowingly consuming a prohibited pain drug. Overall it was another strong campaign and he looked even better after returning from his prolonged layoff. With shot attempts up for grabs, could 2025-26 finally be the year Portis takes home the hardware?
Even in crowded Milwaukee Bucks frontcourt, BP should have his chances
The betting market gives Bobby Portis wildly different odds, in a range of +1500 to +3000. That puts him anywhere from fifth to 13th on sportsbook leaderboards.
In his Bucks tenure, Portis’s most valuable asset has been his consistency as a scorer and rebounder off the bench. In 49 games last season, he averaged 13.9 points and 8.4 boards, while adding a career-best 2.1 assists. Both from the field overall and on 3-point shots, his efficiency dipped several percentage points, something he will have to reverse if he wants to contend for Sixth Man.
With Damian Lillard gone, however, the Bucks have plenty of shots to go around. Giannis Antetokounmpo will do the lion’s share of work on offense, but behind him and Lillard, Portis took the most shots on the team last season at 12.1 per game.
Of course, Myles Turner should see his own volume increase after averaging 11.3 attempts in Indiana. Guards Gary Trent Jr. (8.9) and Kevin Porter Jr. (8.2) are slated for a similar boost in the starting lineup.
But there is definitely an opportunity, even coming off the bench as he should, for Portis to play a bigger role. With Turner replacing Brook Lopez, BP probably won’t get more playing time, but that doesn’t mean his involvement won’t go up when he is on the court. Someone has to fill the scoring void left by Lillard. If Trent, Porter, and Cole Anthony don’t make up the full difference – unlikely – extra chances will fall to the frontcourt.
Especially if Turner expends a lot of energy on defense, it would not be all that surprising for Portis to eclipse 15 points per game. The last three award winners have all averaged less than that.
No clear class leaders for Sixth Man of the Year in 2025-26
Portis would have to contribute in other ways, too, doing his job on the glass and putting in defensive effort. Looking at the rest of the field, though, Sixth Man of the Year is a wide-open race. Among players with better odds, only two averaged 15.0 PPG while playing a reasonable number of games.
Bradley Beal (17.0 PPG, 53 games) hasn’t played more games than last year since 2021. DeAndre Hunter (17.0 PPG, 64 games) saw his scoring drop sharply after being traded to Cleveland.
That’s not the whole story, of course, as it fails to consider projections for the 2025-26 season, the only relevant one. Better health, better environments on new teams, another year of growth for young players – all are factors. The point is that no one should be a clearcut favorite.
Not insignificantly, Boston’s Payton Pritchard and and Minnesota’s Naz Reid, two of the top candidates, won in 2025 and 2024. Everyone knows the NBA suffers from early-onset voter fatigue. That’s just one more element that could work in Portis’s favor.
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