Is Klay Thompson Really the Best 2-Way Shooting Guard in the NBA?

With a three-point rocket in his arsenal and the defensive versatility to slide anywhere along the perimeter, Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson is among the top two-way players at his position.

For Thompson's agent, Bill Duffy, that distinction isn't enough. Duffy, who has until October 31 to negotiate a contract extension for the fourth-year sniper, said his client needs no qualifier.

Thompson, as Duffy told USA Today's Sam Amick, is the NBA's premier two-way player at his position:

"

I  don't want (Los Angeles Lakers star) Kobe Bryant to go crazy, but there's some uncertainty as to who he is right now (because of injuries that limited him to six games last season). But I think Klay Thompson right now is the top two-way, two-guard in basketball. I think when you look at his body of work, when you look at what he accomplished guarding point guards on a regular basis (last season), I think it's pretty clear.

"

Duffy's comments capture a number of different sentiments, not the least of which is the incredible wave the former Washington State star has been riding of late.

Thompson's stock is soaring.

During the 2013-14 campaign, the 24-year-old posted personal bests in points (18.4), field-goal percentage (44.4) and three-point percentage (41.7). He also pushed his career three-point total to 545, 54 more than any other player has converted during their first three seasons in the league (Kyle Korver ranks second on that list with 491).

According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, the Warriors' unwillingness to unload Thompson played a major part in their trade talks for perennial All-Star Kevin Love falling apart this summer. While other factors went into that decision, Thompson's defensive ability was hardly lost on his employer.

"Klay guarded Chris Paul the entire Clippers series," first-year Warriors coach Steve Kerr told Amick in July. "He has allowed [Stephen Curry] to conserve some energy at the defensive end, and to slide over to a shooter."

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After the trade winds subsided around Thompson, he raised his profile again during Team USA's gold-medal sprint through the 2014 FIBA World Cup. He ranked second on the team in scoring (12.7), but his play at the opposite side may have opened even more eyes.

"Everyone had talked about his offense, but he has been consistently excellent on the defensive end," Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski told reporters. "The fact that he's tall, he's been able to play defense on the one, two, and three. He's become our most versatile defender."

In other words, Duffy was doing more than negotiating when he sang his client's praises. Thompson's talent does extend to both sides of the floor.

But is he really the league's best two-way shooting guard? The numbers don't exactly see him as such—and that's putting it kindly.

There are different ways to measure a player's two-way impact, none of which shine the most favorable light on Thompson.

One method is ESPN.com's real plus-minus metric, which the website notes measures a "player's estimated on-court impact on team performance, measured in net point differential per 100 offensive and defensive possessions. RPM takes into account teammates, opponents and additional factors."

Thompson's real plus-minus number is plus-2.03, which checks in at No. 11 among all shooting guards. While weighing his statistics among the other top 30 players at the position, he doesn't grade out as elite at either end of the floor.

Thompson ranks fairly well at the offensive end (ninth overall), but fairly well shouldn't describe anything the top two-way shooting guard does. As for his defense, well, this metric actually puts him in the bottom half of his position (17th).

Of course, those aren't the only numbers available to us.

We also have PER, which former ESPN.com columnist and current Memphis Grizzlies vice president of basketball operations John Hollinger said, "sums up all a player's positive accomplishments, subtracts the negative accomplishments, and returns a per-minute rating of a player's performance," via Basketball-Reference.com.

The website 82games.com also tracks the PER allowed by each player. Subtract a player's PER allowed from the PER they produce and you get...an even lower rating for Thompson (plus-1.9, 15th overall).

Altogether, these two measures rank six players ahead of Thompson in both: Manu Ginobili (San Antonio Spurs), Vince Carter (Grizzlies), Danny Green (Spurs), Goran Dragic (Phoenix Suns), James Harden (Houston Rockets) and Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls). Despite ESPN's inclusion of Dragic at the shooting guard spot, he'll fall out of our consideration since he spent more time at the 1 (52 percent of his minutes) than the 2 (47 percent).

So, what exactly does this all mean?

For one, none of us should have been surprised by the Spurs' title run last season. They had two of the top two-way forces at the shooting guard position, neither of whom ranked among the team's top three in either field-goal attempts or points per game.

Getting back on track, it means that Duffy's claim isn't easy to buy. But it's not impossible, either.

A lot of it depends on your definition of a two-way player.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

These measures weigh a player's offensive production against what they give back at the opposite side. That can allow a player with supreme one-way talent to shine despite having some serious drawbacks at the opposite end (see: James Harden, "Defensive Juggernaut").

If two-way player means someone who excels on both sides of the ball, the discussion changes. Then it becomes harder to overlook Harden's defensive ineptitude or the offensive limitations of Butler (career 8.9 points per game) and Green (8.8).

As for the other two players still standing (Carter and Ginobili), it's tough to ignore the fact that Father Time is closing in on the 37-year-olds. Ginobili had an effective, efficient 2013-14 season, but he missed 14 games and logged only 22.8 minutes a night when he played. Carter played all but one contest, but he saw just 24.4 minutes of floor time each game.

Thompson, meanwhile, averaged 35.4 minutes across his 81 games. And he carried heavier loads at both ends of the floor than either of the aging shooting guards.

That's why this conversation can't be based off statistics alone. These numbers need context.

It's impossible to weigh these defensive numbers side by side when they weren't compiled against the same caliber of player. Thompson took on the Warriors' toughest backcourt assignment on a nightly basis, chasing track-star point guards one game and holding court with bigger, stronger shooting guards the next.

According to one former Warriors assistant, Thompson even outperformed teammate Andre Iguodala, who captured All-Defensive first-team honors last season.

"Klay is a much better defender," the coach told Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher. "It's not even close. It's all based on reputation and stats."

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Thompson is, without a doubt, among the league's best two-way shooting guards.

However, for the first time in a long time, the position's top seat is empty. There is a changing of the guard going on—Kobe Bryant is 36 years old and coming off a six-game season, Dwyane Wade is 32 and has missed 58 games the last three years—but that process isn't complete.

And Thompson isn't the only one aiming for that throne.

"Throw Bradley Beal, Lance Stephenson and Jimmy Butler into the conversation with Thompson, DeRozan and Harden, and it should be a fun battle for Bryant's shooting guard torch in the 25-and-under crowd," wrote Yahoo Sports' Ben Rohrbach. "But there's no obvious heir apparent."

Thompson has the talent to ascend the shooting guard ranks, but he isn't there yet. No one is.

For now, Duffy will have to take solace in the fact that he represents one of the finest two-way 2-guards in the business. As long as his words help his client net max-contract money, then the agent will have his done his job.

Then the hard work will begin—Thompson living up to his agent's claim.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.

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