The current NBA is being driven by a bevy of talented, young point guards. Since hand-checking has been taken out of the league, quicker players have been given a clear path to create and attack. There has never been a time in the NBA where the point guard mattered more. The league has always been a place where giants roam and generally succeed. In many ways, this is still the case but teams are trying to take advantage of the leeway that has been given to perimeter players. I always recollect big men being the most coveted players in the draft but now, it seems that point guards have taken over. You have John Wall, Derrick Rose, Ricky Rubio, Russell Westbrook and many other quality guards being snatched up quickly at the top of the draft order. We're fortunate to have so many quality ones playing right now but the real question is, who is the best? This is a constant debate amongst my friends. It seems to change daily with each match up or new amazing highlight. Choosing the best point guard is a matter of substance really.
In a traditional sense, a point guard's main duty is to be the quarterback on the court. They set the offense and create the tone for the entire game. With more freedom for creativity, athletic guards who are more combo than creator have become the norm. Court vision seems like an afterthought and now teams want to know about vertical leap, 3/4 court speed and wingspan. Players like Westbrook and Rose are a highlight reel waiting to happen but I am old school in how I like my point guards. That being said, I present my top 5 point guards in the NBA currently. This will probably change by tomorrow but I'm sticking with this for the next fifteen minutes. My picks come with a caveat. I am more Magic and Stockton than I am Iverson and Billups. Watching a true point guard set the stage for his team is my favorite thing to watch in basketball. You need to be able to score when you have to but that should not be your primary focus, in my opinion. Feel free to disagree but this debate is maybe the most exciting one in the modern NBA.
5. Rajon Rondo: I love Rondo's game. As a Suns fan, I cringe when I see him play for Celtics. He would be amazing in the Suns system and I can't believe his lack of a jumper supposedly kept D'Antoni away from him. A guy can dream right? Rajon leads the league in assists with 14.1 per game. I LOVE his game. He is always pushing the tempo and creating for others. He is a joy to watch on the fast break and his creativity is breathtaking at times. He is great on the glass, fantastic in the passing lanes and is perpetually attacking. His lack of an outside shot is a bit of a turn off for me but the only true issue I have with Rondo is his attitude. I was not shocked to see him booted of Team USA. I have always heard that he is difficult and I don't want that in my leaders. It also doesn't hurt that a few of the guys listed ahead of him on this list outplayed him recently.
4. Derrick Rose: Rose is part of the new breed of point guards. He is a phenomenal athlete that is constantly in attach mode. He soars above the rim and explodes past defenders with an array of lightning quick dribble moves. He was solely living in the paint for his scoring initially but you can tell that he has been working on his 3-point shot. He is shooting .35% on the season thus far and this has helped boost his scoring avaerge to 25.7 ppg. He is distributing much better at 8.1 apg and that was the biggest knock on his game to me. As I have stated, I prefer a point guard that passes first and then looks to score second. I appreciate his improved vision but he will always be a score first kind of point guard. The thing that has risen him to this level is that he can take games over now. There are few players out there that make me fearful at the end of games and Rose is one of them. There have been several occasions this season that he put the team on his back and won games while Boozer was out. He is quite impressive and the Team USA glow seems to have rubbed off on him as well.
3. Deron Williams: I always feel badly for Deron Williams. He is a tremendous player that always has to be compared to Chris Paul. Deron was blessed with a perfect body for the point guard position. He is nearly unstoppable when he is on and his strength and size overwhelms most opposing guards. There is little that he can't do offensively and he displays an all-around game that is played inside/out and he can kill you with the pull up jumper or on the pick and roll. Deron just isn't extremely long or explosive and this limits him somewhat defensively. He will never lead the league in steals and while he is good laterally, most quick guards can beat him to the spot. Like I said, Deron is great but he will never have the all-around game that Paul has and we all need to stop comparing them when their games are very different.
2. Russell Westbrook: I never dreamed that Russell Westbrook would be in this place. We have all seen that Howland's system can hide some players with its conservatism, but Westbrook did not seem like he had the point guard gene in his blood. He seemed like the prototype new age point guard that attacked opponents and did nothing more than that. Westbrook has become a point guard that I have never seen before. He shows the abilities of a versatile small forward but has the ability to score and distribute like a point guard. His outside shot and confidence grew with team USA and he has stepped up and become the early season MVP on a team that includes the early favorite for MVP. His creativity, turnovers and outside shot still need to improve but he has become almost unstoppable and effects the game in so many different ways.
1. Chris Paul: It's amazing how quickly people forget about you when you are hurt. Paul was the best player in the league a few years ago but while he was injured, people questioned who the best point guard in the league truly was and even had the audacity to claim that the Hornets did not need him since Darren Collison was playing so well in his absence. As a floor general, the best comparison I can find to Paul is Nash. Paul may not be the shooter that Nash is but he is a MUCH better defender, is better at attacking the rim and turns the ball over much less. Nash plays the game almost perfectly but Paul is still superior to him. That is as high a compliment that I can think of for a point guard and remember, I'm a Suns fan. People also need to recognize how much Paul is getting out of a team that really doesn't have much to it. He is making everyone around him better and is leading his team and pushing them as far as they can go. They might not win it all or be in the same position by the end of the year, but I guarantee Paul will lead the league in PER and also get the most out of his team that any point guard truly could.
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