NBA Position Rankings: Top 15 Shooting Guards for Season's 2nd Half
Points, points and more points.
The NBA's shooting guards are typically responsible for producing plenty of points, but the best of the bunch do more than throw up shots in reckless fashion. They traffic in defensive stops, facilitating chops and rebounds. They play with unrelenting efficiency, eschewing bad looks in favor of the right plays.
They do all that even while trying to produce offense in volume.
Dan Favale and I are here to help you figure out how the premier 2-guards stack up. How high can Devin Booker's scoring acumen carry him? Is Bradley Beal or CJ McCollum ready to burst into the class of elites? Can anyone touch James Harden?
But before we dive into the rankings, let's lay down a few ground rules.
As was the case in our point guard rankings, we're evaluating these players as if we were trying to acquire them for the rest of the current season and assuming health. The distant past and long-term future don't matter, but everything else is fair game as we analyze everyone who isn't out for the remainder of the campaign.
We're also using Cleaning the Glass to determine positions, with players such as James Harden serving as rare exceptions (his role as a point guard will change drastically when both he and Chris Paul are in working order). Fear not when you don't see DeMar DeRozan featured, since he'll show up prominently in the small forward countdown.
Now, let's get to ranking.
15-11: Lee, Mitchell, Smart, Green, Gordon
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15. Courtney Lee, New York Knicks
Age: 32
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 13.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.2 blocks
Advanced Metrics: 14.4 player efficiency rating, 41.97 total points added, 0.73 real plus/minus
Courtney Lee might not boast the well-rounded game of some positional counterparts, but that hasn't stopped him from serving as a three-and-D asset for the New York Knicks. When he's not hounding opposing wings with pestilent defense that maximizes his veteran savvy, he's putting together some of the league's best shooting figures.
The 32-year-old is leading the NBA in free-throw percentage, knocking down 95.5 percent while taking 1.8 per game. He's also firing away 3.9 times per contest from outside the arc and connecting at a 42.9 percent clip—numbers only nine other qualified players have been able to match.
14. Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz
Age: 21
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 18.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.4 blocks
No one could have expected Donovan Mitchell to be this good, this fast. He's proved capable of taking over as the Utah Jazz's No. 1 scorer, routinely dazzling defenders with an endless supply of off-the-dribble tricks, athletic finishes and off-ball prowess. Clearly, he's drawn inspiration from legendary 2-guards of the near and distant past—perhaps none more so than Dwyane Wade.
But is this sustainable? Can he avoid hitting the rookie wall? How much can he show on defense while assuming such heaping offensive responsibilities? Those are the questions he must answer before ascending even higher up the pecking order.
13. Marcus Smart, Boston Celtics
Age: 23
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 9.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.5 blocks
Advanced Metrics: 9.5 PER, minus-26.18 TPA, 0.00 RPM
Marcus Smart is a conundrum. Considering we're in the midst of the pace-and-space era, it's downright disheartening that he remains such an abominable shooter with seemingly no conscience when firing away. He's taking 9.6 field-goal attempts per game, but he's slashing an appalling—avert your eyes if you're squeamish—34.0/30.5/71.3.
And yet, the Boston Celtics always seem to need him. His passing and willingness to do the "little things" remain valuable on offense, and he's a defensive menace capable of baiting James Harden into back-to-back offensive fouls at the end of a tight contest. He's the rare wing who really might not need shooting skills.
12. Danny Green, San Antonio Spurs
Age: 30
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 8.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.1 blocks
Danny Green won't finish many plays around the hoop. He's not a facilitating wing who can pick up distributing slack to help primary ball-handlers. He won't post whopping scoring totals and has moved past the 20-point benchmark only once in 2017-18.
But the 30-year-old remains among the league's premier three-and-D contributors, just as he's been since the San Antonio Spurs unearthed him as a rotation player six years ago. This time around, he's one of only three qualified players who are connecting on at least 38 percent of their triples with a defensive box plus/minus north of two. The other two? LeBron James and Al Horford.
11. Eric Gordon, Houston Rockets
Age: 29
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 19.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.4 blocks
Advanced Metrics: 14.4 PER, minus-56.94 TPA, 0.96 RPM
Eric Gordon may be a mediocre defender with low shooting percentages (41.8 percent from the field, 34.2 percent from downtown), but don't undersell him. The mere threat of his skill set opens up plenty of opportunities for the Houston Rockets, whether he's spotting up on the perimeter or breaking down defenders off the bounce.
Few sixth men have the luxury of working in constant conjunction with either Harden or Chris Paul, but Gordon has already displayed offensive mastery over both situations. Plus, he can create a supercharged scoring unit when playing alongside both starting guards. Don't be fooled by those low percentages, since his impact is substantial even when he's drawing more iron than nylon.
10. Will Barton, Denver Nuggets
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Age: 26
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 14.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.6 blocks
Will Barton is extra important for a Denver Nuggets squad that needs two things from its wings: playmaking skills and a knack for creating shots off the bounce. Without established point guards who can rack up assists on a regular basis, they rely on unorthodox offensive creation, and Nikola Jokic can't always dish out dimes to everyone.
Fortunately, Barton has filled that role with aplomb and showed tremendous versatility throughout the 2017-18 season. He's been comfortable working alongside both the starters and second-stringers, and he's similarly spent time at just about all of the smaller positions. Basketball Reference has 16 percent of his minutes coming at the point, while another 3 percent are logged as a small forward.
With his athletic burst and timely finishes around the hoop, Barton can succeed anywhere. He's too fast for bigger defenders, and he's physical enough to bully smaller ones. All the while, the threat of his growing game as a facilitator—that isn't his preferred style, but he's capable of picking apart defenses with his passing chops—keeps everyone off balance.
The 26-year-old may not be Denver's best scorer. But his creating abilities and consistency might make him the Mile High City's most valuable one.
9. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
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Age: 21
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 25.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.3 blocks
Advanced Metrics: 19.3 PER, 19.35 TPA, minus-0.07 RPM
Seeing Devin Booker's name appearing at this relatively early stage of the rankings might surprise you. Scoring is the most glamorous aspect of basketball, and his per-game average leaves him trailing only eight players.
But that's misleading.
Booker is a tremendous point-producer. No doubt should exist there, especially now that he's improved his percentages, started to take smarter shots and done a better job earning charity trips. Whereas he posted a below-average true shooting percentage during his sophomore season (53.1), he's fully erased that concern as a third-year player.
Scoring, however, isn't the only facet of the game. And while Booker is a growing facilitator who does solid work on the glass, his defense remains unabashedly putrid. According to ESPN.com's defensive real plus/minus, he sits at No. 93 among 104 qualified shooting guards with a score that more than cancels out his offensive talents and leaves him as a net negative.
Obviously, that's also misleading, in large part because of the role he's asked to fill for the downtrodden Phoenix Suns and the lackluster nature of his teammates. But defense is important, and it won't allow him to rise much higher up the rankings at this stage of his career.
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8. Jrue Holiday, New Orleans Pelicans
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Age: 27
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 18.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.5 blocks
Thanks to the New Orleans Pelicans' dearth of usable wings, Jrue Holiday has been forced into an uncomfortable situation. Basketball Reference lists 68 percent of his minutes at the 2 this season, while Cleaning the Glass indicates the same. That consensus is all we need to deviate from the 27-year-old's traditional classification.
At first, the transition from the 1 was tough for the veteran guard. He's used to operating with the ball in his hands and shooting plenty of jumpers off the bounce while probing for paths to the rim. He's suddenly been thrust into more of an off-ball role than ever.
But especially after he started working in tandem with Rajon Rondo, everything has clicked. The Pelicans (1.1 overall net rating) are outscoring opponents by 2.4 points per 100 possessions with both guards on the floor, per Cleaning the Glass. In addition, Holiday's three-point exploits are bouncing back toward previous levels, he's been an on-ball defensive menace and he's learning how to maximize his offensive touches without turning the rock over.
Holiday is averaging just 2.6 turnovers per 36 minutes, which would be his lowest mark since 2014-15. And maintaining a usage rate north of 20, an assist percentage in the same ballpark and a turnover rate below 15 percent isn't easy. Along with Holiday, only 21 players are doing so while qualifying for 2017-18's scoring leaderboard.
7. Tyreke Evans, Memphis Grizzlies
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Age: 28
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 19.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.4 blocks
Advanced Metrics: 22.8 PER, 101.93 TPA, 2.74 RPM
Heading into the current campaign, Tyreke Evans wasn't thought of as a star-caliber guard, hence his signing a one-year deal worth $3.29 million with the Memphis Grizzlies.
He wasn't mentioned when Dan Favale counted down the league's top 100 players. ESPN.com's #NBArank never noted his presence. Ditto for Sports Illustrated's top-100 countdown. NBA Math's #CrystalBasketball project slotted him at No. 176, directly between Shaun Livingston and Tony Allen. Everyone misfired.
Then again, who could've seen this coming? After years of jump-shooting struggles, Evans has morphed into a legitimate sniper, hitting his 5.2 triples per contest at a 42.2 percent clip. And that's opened the door for the rest of his offensive game, forcing defenders to meet him at the three-point arc and making it that much easier for the 6'6", 220-pound guard to utilize his superior size and strength while bursting past them for an interior finish.
Evans has been sensational for the Grizzlies, to the point that he's challenging Mike Conley and Marc Gasol for individual supremacy on the Beale Street roster. He's clearly been the most effective player, even if that doesn't mean he'll finish the season as the team's premier asset.
But should Evans regress to his career mean from beyond the arc (31.5), he's still demonstrated enough during his age-28 season that he'll never again be overlooked in free agency. Whether he finishes out the season for this downward-spiraling sloth or gets Memphis a first-round pick while joining a contender as a half-season rental, he's finally starting to justify the hype that stemmed from his Rookie of the Year campaign back in 2009-10.
6. CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers
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Age: 26
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 21.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.4 blocks
Advanced Metrics: 16.3 PER, 5.33 TPA, minus-0.77 RPM
CJ McCollum's jumper hasn't lost an iota of aesthetic appeal. He still looks smooth when rising and firing over a defender's outstretched arms, particularly when he's working off the bounce and getting to his preferred spot before entering the shooting motion.
But the results haven't quite been there for a man who entered the 2017-18 campaign primed to challenge for one of the top three spots at his position. Though his three-point shooting and mid-range prowess haven't gone away during his fifth professional season, he's had trouble finishing plays around the hoop.
After knocking down 58.8 percent of his looks inside three feet and 48.8 percent of his tries between three and 10 feet last year, McCollum's numbers are down to 52.7 and 37.4 percent in those areas, respectively. That's made a world of difference for a 26-year-old who relies on his scoring to overcome his limited distribution habits and long-standing porosity on the defensive end.
McCollum has improved on the stopping side, as he's no longer giving up at the sight of screens and is displaying vastly superior positional tactics. But that's not his strength, and the strides haven't been enough to counteract those slipping interior percentages.
5. Gary Harris, Denver Nuggets
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Age: 23
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 16.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.9 steals, 0.3 blocks
Gary Harris might not be capable of carrying a squad all on his lonesome, but he's developed into one of the NBA's premier complementary players. That's not a statement meant in denigrating fashion, since filling a role to perfection is both valuable and often underrated.
The 23-year-old requires assists on 51.4 percent of his made two-pointers and 90.7 percent of his drained triples—both down significantly from last year. He often flits around the perimeter for the Denver Nuggets, waiting for the perfect spot-up or cutting opportunity. It's the ability to fill both roles that makes him a special asset alongside Nikola Jokic and Denver's unorthodox distributing schemes.
Plus, Harris is one of those rare 2-guards who doesn't often function as a defensive liability.
Not only is he willing to assume tough assignments on a regular basis—switching to bigger and smaller players to alleviate his teammates' burden—but he's also found success while doing so. Among the 105 players ESPN.com's defensive real plus/minus lists at his position, only seven (Andre Roberson, Danny Green, Kent Bazemore, Victor Oladipo, Jimmy Butler, Langston Galloway and Jaylen Brown, though not all are classified as 2-guards in our rankings) have submitted superior scores.
4. Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards
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Age: 24
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 23.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.4 blocks
Many of the shot-selection strides Bradley Beal made in 2016-17 are gone. He's no longer sacrificing long twos for basket attacks and three-point marksmanship, and his efficiency levels have suffered. But that's also a byproduct of his assuming even more importance within the Washington Wizards' schemes as John Wall deals with injuries and diminished production.
Beal has proved capable of shouldering a rising usage rate. The ball is in his hands more frequently, and he's been proficient while serving as both a leading scorer and a distributing 2-guard who can rack up 3.6 assists per contest (a high-water mark for the second consecutive campaign). He's also keeping his turnovers in check. And, perhaps most importantly, he's no longer been quite so much of a defensive liability.
Few people, even those wearing Wizards-tinted glasses, would mistake this Florida product for a lockdown perimeter defender. But he's beginning to display more discipline against pump fakes and off-ball action while constantly contesting three-point attempts in an advantageous manner.
Defensive growth typically occurs in conjunction with offensive backsliding. The fact it's taking place while he just about stagnates on the scoring end is a massive positive for Washington.
3. Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
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Age: 27
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 20.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.6 blocks
Don't be fooled by Klay Thompson's low scores in many defensive metrics, even as they push his overall marks lower than you might expect. ESPN.com's Kevin Pelton covered this in detail during a recent mailbag:
"Players with box score defensive stats like Thompson's are typically poor defenders, so his defensive box plus-minus rating is far worse than league average. That rating is similar to the one RPM uses as a starting point to rate players, which means it's beginning with the assumption that the Golden State defense is succeeding in spite of Thompson rather than because of him.
"The lack of steals suggests that Thompson's defense is probably somewhat overrated, since these contributions tend to be undervalued in favor of one-on-one defense by most observers. Still, this isn't a case like Avery Bradley, in which elite individual defense doesn't seem to be translating at the team level. Thompson is clearly a very good defender, just in a way that's difficult to measure for a system designed to provide the best estimate for all players and not unusual cases like him."
Of course, the offensive results are more obvious.
Thompson has made minor gains as a facilitator, and he's still scoring 20.8 points per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the field, 45.1 percent from downtown and 88.5 percent at the charity stripe—all career highs. In fact, he's on pace to join Stephen Curry (in both 2012-13 and 2015-16) as one of only two qualified players in NBA history to take more than seven three-point attempts per contest and connect on at least 45 percent of them.
Breaking news: A historically effective shooter remains historically effective.
2. Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers
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Age: 25
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 24.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.0 blocks
The surprisingly successful Indiana Pacers lose their potency when Victor Oladipo isn't in the lineup. They dropped all five contests he missed with injuries, and they aren't the same team when he's riding the pine.
With the breakout shooting guard on the floor, Indiana has played its way to a 5.0 net rating—for perspective, that would be No. 5 in the season-long hierarchy, trailing only the Boston Celtics (5.1), Toronto Raptors (7.5), Houston Rockets (8.0) and Golden State Warriors (11.0). But without him, they're outscored by a staggering 8.2 points per 100 possessions, which would beat only the Sacramento Kings (minus-10.5).
Not only is that a massive differential, but it's also the largest among Indiana's rotation members. Thaddeus Young (6.6 better on the floor) and Myles Turner (4.1) have the next biggest on/off swings in the positive directions among regular contributors, and neither comes close to matching Oladipo's impact.
This isn't a fluke, hence the aggressive placement that puts him ahead of more than a few established options. The Pacers are using him correctly, allowing him to handle the rock and thrive in all different kinds of offensive scenarios while still leaving him time to buckle down on the defensive end. It's a luxury the Orlando Magic or Oklahoma City Thunder never granted him.
With two-way talent, a deadly three-point stroke and enough pick-and-roll skills to sit in the 86th percentile as a ball-handler, Oladipo has entered the realm of elites. He's not going anywhere.
1. James Harden, Houston Rockets
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Age: 28
2017-18 Per-Game Stats: 32.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 9.1 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.5 blocks
Advanced Metrics: 30.5 PER, 273.46 TPA, 6.57 RPM
James Harden is an offensive machine. His current hamstring injury won't change that, and the fact that he'll be out at least two weeks doesn't impact his ranking one bit.
Even though the NBA implemented rule changes designed to slow his constant parade to the free-throw line, Harden's racking up double-digit shots per game from the charity stripe for the fourth consecutive season. He's displaying a fundamental mastery of basketball within the half-court set, always searching for the right play within the Houston Rockets' uptempo schemes.
If that involves his breaking down a defender in isolation, he's capable of putting on a dribbling display while his matchup buckles up his skates. If he needs to find the open man with a skip pass, he'll put the ball right on the money. Need him to finish a play on the interior or drain a step-back triple? He's plenty capable of scoring from either spot.
Turnovers can still be problematic for Harden, though he's such a high-usage individual that his cough-ups are more understandable. He might rank No. 2 in turnovers per game (behind only DeMarcus Cousins), but 92 qualified players have higher turnover percentages. His defense follows a similar story: often mediocre but nowhere near as bad as many would assume.
Harden may not be an impeccably complete player. Few men underneath the NBA umbrella are. Thing is, his offense is so devastatingly effective that he doesn't have to be while pursuing the first MVP trophy of his career.
Unless otherwise indicated, all stats from Basketball Reference, NBA.com, NBA Math or ESPN.com and are current heading into games on January 5.
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