The point guard position in the NBA has quickly become one of the most competitive spots in all of sports. There are so many good lead guards in the NBA that it’s impossible for any player at the position to take a night off.
The position has seen a major increase in talent over the past decade. It’s an ongoing trend. Ever since Chris Paul won the Rookie of the Year award in ’05-06 that teams have realized how valuable lead guards — true lead guards — really are. It wasn’t really until after CP3 that teams began to draft point guards with the first overall pick. Before Chris Paul came along, that was a risky decision and it had happened only four times previously (Allen Iverson, John Lucas, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson). Then after Derrick Rose, it became more acceptable.
Point guards in the NBA are like quarterbacks in the NFL. There are no slouches at the position and each player is different in their own way. In the NFL you have your running quarterbacks and your traditional pocket passers. In the NBA you have your scoring point guards and you have your traditional distributors. The great players are the ones that are able to do both. Here are my top 10 point guards in the NBA this season.
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Honorable mention:
Rajon Rondo: 13.7 ppg, 11.1 apg, 5.6 rpg (only played in 38 games)
Jrue Holiday: 17.7 ppg, 8.0 apg, 4.2 rpg
Brandon Jennings: 17.5 ppg, 6.5 apg, 3.1 rpg
10. MIKE CONLEY: 14.6 ppg, 6.1 apg, 2.8 rpg
Conley is growing a reputation as the most underrated point guard in the league. He’s gotten better every year he’s been a pro so far. What he lacks in size and athleticism, he makes up for with his IQ as one of the smartest point guards in the league. The most impressive part about his game is that he doesn’t depend too much on one particular thing. John Wall and Russell Westbrook depend on their athleticism. Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard lean on their shooting ability. Mike Conley is one of the few point guards in the league that doesn’t depend on anything.
Conley is just quick by nature. His ability to get anywhere he wants on the court is what makes him tough to deal with. When he’s navigating the court and breaking down the defense there are few that can impact a game the way he does. He proved he can hold his own against any point guard in the league. Conley isn’t the most exciting point guard in the league — he has the lowest scoring average on this list and the second-lowest assist average. Statistically, he doesn’t measure up to the other great point guards. But few measure up to his leadership. Mike Conley has always been a winner and a playmaker. He always gets the basketball where it needs to go to give his team the best chance at winning. That’s really what the definition of a traditional point guard is supposed to be.
9. JOHN WALL: 18.5 ppg, 7.6 apg, 4.0 rpg
John Wall returned from his knee injury at the start of 2013. The Wizards were 5-28 without him and 24-25 with him on the floor. After going half the season without a consistent contribution from anybody, the Wizards were ecstatic to get a healthy Wall back on the court. He lead the team in points, assists and steals this season in only 49 games.
As a player that came into the league with such a bright future, it was tough to see John Wall sidelined by that knee. The former Rookie of the Year averaged about 16 and eight in his first two seasons, so Wizards fans were excited to see him continue to grow. Unfortunately, that growth was stunted and some were skeptical about how good Wall would be after returning from the knee injury. Anytime an athletic player like Wall suffers a knee injury, it’s alarming. Athleticism is such huge part of the player he is. Thankfully for John Wall, he was able to come back better than ever.
People have been well aware of what John Wall is capable of. His potential has always been clear as day, but it wasn’t until this season that he began to fulfill that potential. In a game against Memphis at the end of March, Wall put up a ridiculous line of 47/8/7. Those are LeBron numbers.
John Wall believes he’s a max contract player. This summer we’ll find out if the Wizards believe that as well.
8. DAMIAN LILLARD: 19.0 ppg, 6.5 apg, 3.1 rpg
It’s a bit ridiculous, but with the way the game has evolved, people look at a player funny if he’s stayed at a college program for four years. They assume something is wrong with you if you don’t leave college for the NBA at least a few years early. In today’s game, it’s extremely rare for a kid to gain NBA attention as a four-year player, especially at a mid-major program. The odds were stacked against Damian Lillard from the beginning, but he never let that stop him.
For a player to surprisingly win Rookie of the Year the way Damian Lillard did this season, a lot of things have to work out in their favor. First, the player has to be drafted into a situation that benefits him. Secondly, that player must stay healthy. Lastly, that player must gain the respect of their teammates and grow into a leader. Anything else is just icing on the cake. Damian Lillard was able to achieve all of the above and then some. He played all 82 games for the Blazers this season and quickly emerged as one of the leaders on the team. He rallied the Blazers back on numerous occasions. He was trusted to take the last shot and he proved that he could hit it. He was a Super Rookie all year and nobody saw it coming aside from himself.
After winning the MVP of the Vegas Summer League, Lillard finally started to gain the attention he deserved. His summer league success was huge for him, because the Blazers were even more confident in his abilities going into the season and he was able to play freely from the beginning. Once Lillard got into rhythm early on he was able to keep it up. He continued to build his confidence and before he knew it he had set the record for the most three-pointers made by a rookie in NBA history.
Although Lillard proved to be an above-average offensive player, he struggled on the other side of the basketball. He openly admits that his defense was mediocre this season and is making it a priority going into next year. That’s why he’s chosen to learn from the only point guard to win Defensive Player of the Year in the history of the game. If Gary “the Glove” Payton can turn Lillard into the same type of tenacious defensive player he used be, the rest of the league better watch out.
7. DERON WILLIAMS: 18.9 ppg, 7.7 apg, 3.0 rpg
A few years ago, it was a toss up between Deron Williams and Chris Paul for the title of the best point guard in the league. Paul was the league’s best distributor and Williams was the best scorer at the position. Keep in mind, this is back when Westbrook, Rose and the rest of the guys on this list were still young bucks. Times have changed now. The position is evolving and those guys have caught up. Now that those other players are reaching their potential, it hasn’t been as easy to separate for Williams and Paul.
In the Brooklyn Nets’ first season, Deron Williams was supposed to set the tone. The majority of the responsibility to lead the team fell on his shoulders. The Nets expected him to play like one of the league’s best guards. Unfortunately, this season he got off to a rocky start. Williams didn’t make the All-Star team for the first time since 2010. He was stuck in a shooting slump for the majority of the year and didn’t start to pick it up until after the All-Star break. The Nets were still a solid team all season regardless of Williams’ woes.
The Nets are a perfect example of a team that will ultimately only go as far as their point guard takes them. They know what Deron Williams is capable of. Against the Wizards in April, he scored 42 points, hitting 11-of-16 threes. That’s the Deron Williams they need if they want to become one of the best teams in the East anytime soon.
6. TY LAWSON: 16.7 ppg, 6.9 apg, 2.7 rpg
Ty Lawson and Mike Conley are similar in more ways than one. Both players navigate the floor as well as anyone at the position. They’re two of the quickest players at the position. They both have improved every year, and they both have turned their respective teams into perennial playoff contenders. But what sets Lawson apart is his gifted scoring ability. The Memphis Grizzlies are never going to count on Mike Conley filling it up for them. The Nuggets, on the other hand, really lean on Lawson’s scoring production, and he delivers on a regular basis.
Lawson plays much bigger than he is. He attacks the basket and finishes at the rim as if he was 6-4, yet doesn’t even crack 6-0. His speed and agility allow him to get past pretty much anyone at will and from there it’s all about his ability to finish. Lawson has dunked on a few cats before and it didn’t come as a surprise. He’s quickly become one of the most electrifying players at the position because of his slept-on athleticism.
Lawson’s shooting ability has seen vast improvements as well. He didn’t come into the league as a three-point threat. He’s developed that aspect of his game over the years and takes full advantage of it now. As the glue of the Denver Nuggets, he must get all his teammates involved, but if he were just a bit more aggressive, Lawson could become a 20-point scorer very soon.
5. TONY PARKER: 20.3 ppg, 7.6 apg, 3.0 rpg
Easily the most accomplished player at the position, Tony Parker continues to stay on top. The crazy thing about Parker is that he had his best season as a pro in his 12th year in the league. This season, Parker averaged on the plus side of 20 points for just the second time in his career and he averaged just .1 assists shy of his career-high. The Spurs finished with the second-best record in the West (third-best in the league) and are currently still competing for a championship.
As a three-time NBA champion and former Finals MVP, Tony Parker has achieved things that other point guards on this list can only strive for. His success as a point guard is something that few have accomplished. What makes him extremely unique is his ability to do what he does without a legitimate outside game. Parker has never been a lights-out shooter, but it doesn’t matter. He’s so good inside the arc that teams know what he’s trying to do and they still can’t stop it. As the only player at the position to ever lead the NBA in points in the paint, Tony Parker is a rare breed. With the new batch of young talent in San Antonio, Parker has found away to gel the group together and utilize each young player in a different way. He knows where each player likes the basketball and he’s made his teammates better players as a result. Guys like Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green live off of Tony Parker’s penetrations. He makes their lives so much easier. At 30 years old, Parker proved he’s still a top-five player at the position with his efforts this season.
4. STEPHEN CURRY: 22.9 ppg, 6.9 apg, 4.0 rpg
This season, Stephen Curry officially earned the title as the best shooter in the world. Reggie Miller passed the torch to Ray Allen and Ray Allen has now passed it down to young Steph. Curry set the record for most three-pointers made in a NBA season this year, hitting 272 long-range daggers. (A record previously held by Allen, who hit 269 threes in the 2005-2006 NBA season.)
What people don’t realize is that only about 60 percent of being a great shooter is actually the shooting itself. So many people think that if you can shoot, that alone makes you a shooter. But that isn’t the case.
If it weren’t for Curry’s amazing ballhandling ability or his knowledge of how to come off screens, he would’ve only made a fraction of the amount of threes he made this year. His ability to consistently get off his shot in a comfortable manner against defensive pressure is what makes him a great shooter. Open threes are like layups to Steph Curry. Opposing defenses know that so they don’t allow him to get much daylight. Curry knows he’ll only get about one or two clean looks a game and he’s not satisfied with that, so he takes matters into his own hands and creates his own shots.
Curry has the formula all figured out. His shooting ability has opened up so much for him and now he’s quickly become one of the best players at the position as a result. He’s such a threat from long range that the rest of the game comes easy to him. Defenses overplay his jump shot so that allows him to get to the basket with ease and either finish at the rim or create for his teammates. He’s mastered the art of playmaking and is one of the NBA’s best scoring point guards. There’s no question that being snubbed from the All-Star team this year lit a new fire under Curry. It wasn’t long after then that he torched the Knicks for 54 points on 18-for-28 shooting (11-for-13 from three). From then on, he’s played with a chip on his shoulder and if he keeps this up he won’t have to worry anymore about being on that snub list.
3. KYRIE IRVING: 22.5 ppg, 5.9 apg, 3.7 rpg
It’s tough to choose who’s better between Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry. To me, the edge is slightly in Kyrie Irving’s favor. While being a great shooter is what makes Stephen Curry a great playmaker, Irving is a great playmaker by nature. His game isn’t defined by one particular thing. Irving can do it all. Offensively there isn’t one thing that he struggles at. He can hit shots from any spot on the floor. He probably has the best handle in the league, and his unique ability to finish at the rim is remarkable. To me the difference between the two players is clear. On a bad night, Stephen Curry can be locked up. It’s hard to imagine Kyrie Irving getting locked up by anybody.
Irving is the future of the point guard position. He’s like a blend of all the best point guards in the NBA rolled into one. He’s already proven he can be a great scorer. What we want him to prove is that he can become a true point guard. At 5.9 dimes a night, Irving is the only point guard under six assists a game on this list. To me, that’s the difference between the Cavaliers being under .500 and becoming a winning team. The next step for Irving is to use the respect he’s earned as a scoring threat as a way to pick up those assist numbers. If there’s one aspect of Curry’s game that Irving needs to take, it’s the ability to find open shots for teammates by passing out of the double-team.
2. CHRIS PAUL: 16.9 ppg, 9.7 apg, 3.7 rpg
By popular demand, Chris Paul is still the best point guard in the NBA. When you think “pure point guard” he’s the first name that comes to mind. Over the years, he’s been able to separate himself from the bunch with his playmaking abilities. When he won Rookie of the Year, Paul set the standard for all the young players at the position. He became the barometer of what a Rookie of the Year point guard should look like. Paul’s success opened the door for guys like Derrick Rose, John Wall and Kyrie Irving because it wasn’t until Paul came along that teams felt truly comfortable selecting a point guard with the first overall pick. When the league’s best point guards began to get older, it was Chris Paul that came and revived the position. He’s the leader of the new school and, without question, the most complete point guard in the league.
Chris Paul is such a fierce competitor and he lays it all on the line every night. With the deep team the Clippers had this season, they needed Chris Paul to be Chris Paul. They needed him to lead the team and get the ball where it needed to go. He found a way to make sure everybody got their shots and shared the sugar. Only a player like Paul is capable of leading a unit like the Clippers had. Guys like Matt Barnes, Caron Butler and Jamal Crawford all had really great years because Chris Paul always kept them in rhythm. There is more than enough shots to go around when Chris Paul is on the floor.
The next step for Chris Paul is to lead his team to the Finals. He’s lead the Clippers to the playoffs in each of the last two years, but it’s about time he made something of it. He’s earned a reputation as a winner and one of the NBA’s best leaders, but in the end there’s always something holding him back. Chris Paul is a player that belongs on the game’s grandest stage. Hopefully the Clippers make the necessary moves to help him get there next year.
1. RUSSELL WESTBROOK: 23.2 ppg, 7.4 apg, 5.2 rpg
Russell Westbrook is by far the most criticized point guard in the league. Some would say the criticism is fair. But the fact is Russell Westbrook is the most gifted point guard in the NBA. He came into the NBA as an undersized shooting guard and he was forced to adjust and play point. So the accusations of him not being a natural point guard are true. But people take it too far when they call him a ball hog or a selfish player. Westbrook is as fierce a competitor as there is. He wants to win at all costs, regardless of if he gives up the last shot or takes it himself. People can criticism that all they want but they can’t knock him for his passion and determination.
This season, Westbrook left little room for criticism, dishing out 7.4 assists a night, in addition to his remarkable scoring numbers. As a top-10 scorer this season, (sixth to be exact) Westbrook had a unique responsibility to both score and distribute the basketball every single night. The Thunder need Westbrook’s scoring contributions but they also need him to make sure KD, Martin and Ibaka get their fair share of shots as well. That’s a lot to ask.
Offensively, Westbrook is a huge part of OKC’s success, but he really leaves his mark on the defensive end. There isn’t a more tenacious and relentless player at the position. Westbrook imposes his will on a nightly basis and is a matchup nightmare for any other player at the position.
Westbrook holds a huge amount of value to the Thunder and it’s becoming more evident than ever. With the Thunder down 3-1 to the Grizzlies, and sitting on the brink of elimination, Westbrook’s presence is definitely missed. The situation could easily be reversed if Westbrook was on the court. The Thunder would be gearing up for anther trip to the Western Conference Finals. It’s safe to say all the folks that claimed the Thunder were a better team without Russell Westbrook feel like complete idiots right now.
What do you think of this list?
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