The start of the NBA season is less than a month away and the rosters are basically set, with little to no changes expected for most teams. Today, we take a look at the top 10 point guards in the league for the upcoming season.
10 – Kyle Lowry
The Raptors point guard brought a chip home to Toronto in June and did so with some impressive performances throughout the playoffs and finals. After being awful in the first game against Orlando, Lowry fully turned it around and balled out, definitely against the Warriors in the finals.
But Toronto’s leader is getting up there in age – he turns 34 in March – and also missed quite a few games last season. His quality and leadership are certainly top notch, but can he sustain it as father time catches up to him?
9 – Trae Young
Young had one of the best rookie seasons ever without winning the ROTY-award last year. 19 points and 8 assists per game on a Hawks team that didn’t come near the playoffs. This year might be different as playoff spots in the East are up for grabs.
The Hawks also improved their team quite significantly in the draft, which means that teams won’t be able to focus on Trae so much. His range and passing ability are already up there with the best in the league, so it isn’t ridiculous to think that Young will end up being a top point guard in the league by the end of the season.
8 – Mike Conley Jr.
People are sleeping on Mike Conley too much. The Grizzlies star had a career season last year, but wasn’t talked about as much due to the team’s poor record. When the Grizzlies decided to pick Ja Morant with the second pick in the 2019 draft, it was clear that they were entering full rebuild, and that Conley’s time in Memphis was coming to an end.
He found the perfect home in Utah however with the Jazz. A team that prioritizes defense and that was in desperate need of a point guard to relieve Donovan Mitchell of some ball-handling duties. Conley will fit right in with the team and will certainly be amongst the 10 best point guards in the league next season.
7 – De’Aaron Fox
A breakout second season for De’Aaron Fox after a tough rookie season. Fox and the Kings were in playoffs contention for much of the season, right until a few injuries and tough losses got them out of it. Fox himself averaged over 17 points and 7 assists on great shooting numbers (46% from the field and 37% from deep), while playing every game but one.
The Kings’ core of Fox, Hield, Bogdanovic and Bagley now has another year of experience and playing together, so it is a safe bet that Fox will be knocking on the door of being a top-5 point guard in the league by the season’s end.
6 – Ben Simmons
Ben Simmons still doesn’t have a shot beyond the paint and we still haven’t seen him make a 3 in an NBA game. Even without it, Simmons is already one of the best point guards, if not players, in the league. When going to the rim the ‘Fresh Prince’ is just unstoppable and very efficient. Around 17 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists on 56% shooting.
You either like Simmons’ game or you don’t, but you can’t deny that his numbers are very impressive for a 22-year old in his second season. If you consider that he took the least amount of shots per game amongst all the starters for the 76ers, you can only guess that his stats will start going up with high-volume shooter Jimmy Butler and J.J. Reddick gone.
5 – Kemba Walker
Kemba balled out last year and got rewarded for it. He became an All-Star starter in Charlotte, home of his Hornets, for the first time. Fast forward a few months later and Walker isn’t on the Hornets anymore, as they were unwilling to give the supermax to their star.
Now on the Celtics, Kemba Walker can try to do what Kyrie Irving wasn’t able to: Be a leader for the young team in Boston. He has one of the best supporting casts in the league and a playoff berth is a given for the talented squad. The same can be said for another All-Star appearance for Kemba, who went unconscious last year averaging almost 26 points and 6 assist per game.
4 – Kyrie Irving
We’ve arrived at the elite point guards. Kyrie Irving is, no matter what happened last year, still a superstar point guard in this league. His time in Boston was definitely a huge failure, but he now wants to turn it around in Brooklyn.
His meltdown in the second round against the Bucks is still fresh in our minds, so it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to take a step back and decide not to be ‘the man’ anymore, as he teamed up with Kevin Durant. However, Kyrie still has a year to show us that he can be the superstar that leads a team, as Durant will almost certainly miss the entire 2019-2020 NBA season.
3 – Russell Westbrook
New chapter for The Brodie this summer. After 11 successful and historic seasons with the Thunder, Westbrook got traded to the Houston Rockets as OKC hit the rebuild button. He teams up with James Harden, former teammate in Oklahoma, to form a unique backcourt of 2 MVP’s.
Russ doesn’t rank higher however, as he was outbattled in the first round of the playoffs by the next person on this list. That and the fact that he has a huge adjustment period ahead of him, as the 2 highest usage players (Westbrook and Harden) in the league are now on the same team.
2 – Damian Lillard
It’s safe to say that no one sleeps on Damian Lillard anymore. General consensus is that he’s the second best point guard in the league, and his play last season definitely backed it up. He outdueled Westbrook in a series where the Blazers were seen as the underdog and carried the Blazers all the way to the conference finals.
Same as for Westbrook, Lillard got outmatched by the next person on this list in the conference finals. Dame now has another season to prove himself, as the Western Conference is a dog-fight amongst the top teams. No clear title contender and no playoff locks.
1 – Stephen Curry
No debate here. Steph is still the best point guard in the league, by far. Another quiet season, with not a lot of MVP talk because of the Warriors’ plethora of stars, but another season in which he was first-team All-NBA and another season in which he got to the Finals, his 5th straight.
His performance when Kevin Durant went down speaks for itself. Closed out against Harden and the Rockets, swept Lillard and the Blazers and ultimately went down against the Raptors after losing KD for the second time and losing Klay Thompson. Nevertheless, there is no argument for anyone else on this list. The stats don’t lie, the wins don’t lie, the rings don’t lie, but most of all, the eye-test doesn’t lie.
Courtside 