Blazers F Luke Babbitt Receives A 2013 Sixth Man Of The Year Vote

Portland Trail Blazers reserve forward Luke Babbitt received a third-place vote for 2013 NBA Sixth Man of the Year.

Babbitt, 23, averaged 3.9 points and 2.2 rebounds in 11.8 minutes in 62 appearances this season. Babbitt played the ninth-most minutes on the Blazers this season and the team did not pick up the option for the fourth year of his rookie contract, making him an unrestricted free agent this summer.

New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith won the award, beating out Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford, Golden State Warriors guard Jarrett Jack and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Kevin Martin. Click the image to enlarge the voting totals.

During his exit interview, Babbitt suggested that his time with the Blazers could be coming to an end.

"It's always an open door. It's obviously the greatest chances in the world that I'll be back but it's not a closed door either. I haven't talked to my agent about it. We really haven't had any conversations about next year. ... There's uncertainty with free agency. Just going to take it as it comes, there's not much for me to do. See what happens. This is my first time as a free agent, just go with the flow and listen to my agent. ... I haven't even talked to my agent since the season started."

Update: Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com reports on Twitter that Blazers TV color commentator Mike Rice did not select Babbitt as one of his finalists on a recent TrailBlazers.TV episode. Last year, Rice was identified on Blazers.com as the organization's "only broadcaster or employee who has a vote" on year-end awards.

Update: A league spokesman has ruled out any possibility of error in the voting process. The vote for Babbitt, which was tabulated by accounting firm Ernst & Young, was "submitted and counted like all votes."

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter