12 Best Pick-and-Roll Duos in the NBA

Any traditional half-court offense these days in the NBA boasts the pick-and-roll as its feature play, as it has been for many years. The biggest reason for the prevalence of the pick-and-roll in the league today is quite simple: it works.

These days so many more outcomes to the pick-and-roll than we ever imagined that we kind of take it for granted, but we still adore it like we should.

It's a common misconception that the pick-and-roll is a play for two people on the floor, but what it does is get the ball moving earlier in the shot clock into the lane so the offense is able to set the tone, generating ball movement and getting each player on the floor involved in either distracting the defense or getting ready to receive the ball in a bailout situation.

The front end of the pick-and-roll is best run by a good ball-handler and an even better decision maker (think Chris Paul or Steve Nash), while the back end is usually best performed by either a powerful (Dwight Howard) or finesse (Pau Gasol) big man with mobility (sorry, DeSagana Diop).

12. Devin Harris and Al Jefferson

Devin Harris has seen a sharp dropoff in production ever since he was leading the Nets to middle-of-the-road finishes behind his 15-20 points per game, but I think he'll bounce back at some point in the next few weeks.

Other than that, this pick-and-roll combo came together midway through last season when Deron Williams was shipped out to New Jersey and it's been a nice caveat to the Jazz offense, which has been shaky recently.

For my money, Al Jefferson is still one of the best finesse finishers around the rim in the league, and getting him the ball on the roll to the basket with a bit of space is nearly a sure thing at this point.

11. Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan

You could swap out Manu Ginobili for Tony Parker and this pick-and-roll combo would be just as good, but this is my favorite the Spurs have, although it's slowly starting to fade away.

The best thing about this combo is the endless number of outcomes this play can have between them. With the tiniest bit of wiggle room, Ginobili is able to get into the smallest of lanes and squeeze his way to the basket, or he can step back and make an off-balance jumper. Meanwhile, with the smallest bit of room himself, Tim Duncan can slide in a lay-in or use his devastating pump-fake to get his man off his feet and draw a foul.

Plus, these two are each so good at shooting the ball that they can alter it just a bit and turn it into a pick-and-pop, giving Duncan the option to bank in a 13-footer if Ginobili has no lane to an open shot.

10. Monta Ellis and David Lee

The guard play of the Golden State Warriors has been so far above par on offense for the past few years that the fans in Oakland are starting to get spoiled. They are able to run a pick-and-roll so smoothly and gracefully that it should be used far more often. However, with their fast-paced offense, it seems it's been pushed to the side for the purpose of pushing the ball.

Still, my favorite combo on this team has to be that of Monta Ellis and David Lee, if only for the fact that giving Monta Ellis the tiniest bit of room automatically gives him an edge. Plus, David Lee is no slouch of a roller himself with a plethora of low-post wiggles and shakes to get himself a shot.

9. Deron Williams and Brook Lopez

Deron Williams to me is the best point guard in the NBA when it comes to taking the ball himself and creating space, which is why almost any pick-and-roll combo involving him is going to work well. Give him that space that he's good at creating and he has room to get even more, and then an open look.

However, with Brook Lopez rolling to the rim with him he's able to know and trust that when he's able to get the pass to the big man, he'll have a pretty good shot a finishing the play.

8. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant

This pick-and-roll combination has the potential to be so much better, but both Durant and Westbrook have had issues lately in terms of decision making.

It seems like whenever they have run this play lately, one of two things has happened: either Westbrook has taken the screen and used that space given to him to step back and take a jumper, or he has taken the screen and Durant has rolled for about four steps and settled for a 10-footer.

They just haven't had the finishes on the pick-and-roll that they should be having; it's been more of a pick-and-fizzle, but considering how well each of them shoot the ball, they still haven't been too bad.

7. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin

Basically, the reason that these two aren't higher on the list is because they've only been together for nine games and are still working out the kinks.

However, the explosive combination of a Chris Paul and Blake Griffin combination has far too much potential to ignore.

I would say Chris Paul is the second-best pick-and-roll guard in the NBA (Steve Nash will always be No. 1 in my eyes). Pair that with a power forward who is determined to get to the rim on the roll and you've got yourself a nice duo.

What's great about these two is that the other three guys on the floor work so well with a pick-and-roll that it's scary. Chauncey Billups is the perfect imperfect two-guard to put on the wing waiting for a wide-open swing pass from Paul if his defender gets too antsy, Caron Butler is there to clean up any mess along the outside and DeAndre Jordan is there for a wide-open dunk if his man rotates too eagerly to a rolling Griffin.

6. Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer

After a win over the Detroit Pistons last week, Tom Thibodeau went on raving about the Carlos Boozer-Derrick Rose pick-and-roll, and for good reason.

The now much-maligned Boozer has had some consistency issues so far in his Bulls career, but he's always been there for the pick-and-roll, and as long as he and Rose are able to figure out what the defense is giving them then he is able to get a bucket. Plus, he's got Rose on the other end, which isn't a bad mate to have dish you the ball.

5. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade

Honestly, you can take any two of Miami's three All-Star-caliber players and run a pick-and-roll better than four-fifths of the league.

However, this LeBron James-Dwyane Wade pick-and-roll combination is so good and so intriguing that it's got to be a top-five combination. I do have one problem with it, though: they seem to rarely run the play.

This combo works with either player on the ball, as they are both excellent ball handlers and big strong men able to set a screen, and can end with either of them finishing at the hoop or bouncing out for a pop instead of a roll.

4. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol

Kobe Bryant has always been an interesting part of the pick-and-roll, mostly because he has always had so many different types of players to run it with over the past decade. His three best picking partners have been Shaq, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.

Shaq, as the picker in his early days when he was mobile enough to run it well, would finish strong, whereas Lamar Odom would act as Scottie Pippen did with Michael Jordan in the pick-and-roll, half the time going to the rim and the other half of the time clearing out waiting for a Kobe to bail the ball out to him if he didn't have the shot. And then, there's Pau Gasol.

Gasol has been one of the best low-post players in this generation of basketball men, able to get leverage at times when he works for it with his lean frame, and then able to unleash one of his many finesse moves to get his man off-balance.

3.. Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire

The fizzling, muddled, never-pounding offense of Mike D'Antoni has been hard to watch for the first few weeks of this NBA season, mostly because he refuses to put together a legitimate half-court offense to run.

As with any half-court, it would center around a pick-and-roll, for which a Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire combo has been deadly at times.

In his days with Phoenix, D'Antoni would have a fast-paced pick-and-roll for Steve Nash and Amar'e, and it was the best in the league, with little competition. However, with Camerlo being a methodical player, he needs more of a half-court-set pick-and-roll.

When these two do run it together, Carmelo's offensive progression is fast-tracked, and they have the perfect roller to get to the rim or step back anywhere for a pop.

2. Steve Nash and Anyone

I'll stand by it until he retires or visibly becomes worse at running a basketball team in saying that Steve Nash is the best point guard in the league when it comes to running the pick-and-roll. The Suns are just 4-8, yet I still feel like they're overachieving, and all the credit I have to give for those four wins goes to Steve Nash.

He's without the standout partner he had in years past in Amar'e Stoudemire, but he still has some decent tools to use in Marcin Gortat, Robin Lopez, Channing Frye (more for the pick-and-pop) and even Jared Dudley at times.

Once they get past the initial pick, Nash is better than anyone else in the league at deciding what to do with the ball, whether that's taking it into the chest of a defender to draw a foul, taking a patented off-balance jumper (which he must've taught Dirk Nowitzki while he was in Dallas), or getting the ball to his roller through the smallest of windows.

He works in pick-and-rolls in the way that some artists would work in oils or clay, and it doesn't matter what kind of canvas he paints it on, because it's going to be a masterpiece.

1. Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard

I wish I could still say that Steve Nash is at the top of the pick-and-roll list, as he is truly the master of his generation, but there is a duo that works so well together that they had to be at the top of this list.

Dwight Howard is probably the best finisher of the pick-and-roll in the league these days, as he's a mobile, dominant big man with the willingness to be the pick-setter in a way that Shaq never fully was. He's not as dominant as Shaq, but he's far more willing to run an offense with his team in his early days.

Then there's Jameer Nelson, who playing with any other center would probably just be another point guard, but Dwight is such a distraction that he's able to get more open shots than he would otherwise.

Really, the way the Magic are built at this point, they have a handful of players who can run the play with Dwight, as Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson are all good enough ball-handlers to do well with it.

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