At the moment, the shooting guard position is marked with wide-ranging skill sets, and is as diverse as any spot the league has to offer.
Some of the Association’s best 2-guards loathe dribbling, preferring to spot-up and drain threes instead; others are poor outside shooters, but use their ball-handling chops and breathtaking athleticism to get to the basket and finish effortlessly among the trees. Some of them take pride in their defense; others have merely improved in that facet only so far as they’re no longer making Shaqtin-A-Fool on a weekly basis. Some can be trusted with primary playmaking duties; others like to be set up on platters by their more creative backcourt partners.
Another important distinction regarding the shooting guard spot is that even though it’s quite top-heavy, it’s also a pretty deep position. Our list only ranks the Top 30, but spots No. 20 through No. 30 all may as well be interchangeable – and could even be considered replaceable by multiple guys who just missed the cut.
Last week, HoopsHype projected the Top-30 point guards in the NBA for the 2018-19 season. This week, we touch on the Top-30 shooting guards.
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
30. Luka doncic, dallas mavericks
Over the past few years, Luka Doncic became the most decorated teenager in European basketball history. Already, the young Slovenian ball-handler has a list of accolades to his name so vast that many overseas-based stars can only dream of one day matching them:
- Euroleague champion
- Euroleague MVP
- EuroLeague Final Four MVP
- 1st Team All-Euroleague
- Three-time Liga ACB champion
- Liga ACB MVP
- Eurobasket champion
There’s more we could include in the list, too, but you get the gist of it.
Although many believed Doncic to be the safest bet in the 2018 draft, seeing as how he has years of evidence to prove he can be a difference-maker on the wing against top competition, the former Real Madrid guard still somehow fell to the No. 3 overall pick on draft night. And even then, the Atlanta Hawks, who held the pick originally, traded him to the Dallas Mavericks for the rights to Trae Young and a protected 2019 first-rounder.
We’ll see how well that trade ages in the years to come.
Nevertheless, for now, we choose to be conservative with our prediction on Doncic’s rookie season. He did dominate against grown men in Europe, but the NBA is, obviously, a different beast entirely. Then again, with the added spacing the NBA offers, and a monstrous pick-and-roll partner like DeAndre Jordan, Doncic’s special play-making abilities should really get a chance to shine Year-1 in Dallas, especially under a head coach as creative as Rick Carlisle, and playing next to another exciting young guard in Dennis Smith Jr.
That said, it’s still always smart to be cautious when dealing with rookies. Just don’t be surprised if Doncic ends up making this ranking look bad once 2018-19 kicks into full swing.
29. malcolm brogdon, milwaukee bucks
Due to the Milwaukee Bucks’ mid-season addition of Eric Bledsoe, and All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo commanding such a huge role as a primary playmaker, we moved Malcolm Brogdon from the point guard rankings to the shooting guards. That’s part of what makes Brogdon so unique anyway though, the fact he has the ability to thrive either on or off the ball.
2017-18 was an injury-plagued campaign for the Virginia product, who missed 34 regular-season contests throughout the course of the year, most of them due to a partially torn quad tendon injury. But when he was available, Brogdon was his usual solid self. He averaged 13.0 points, 3.2 assists and 1.3 three-pointers per contest on healthy 48.5/38.5/88.2 shooting splits.
Brogdon is a tough defender, a good spot-up shooter and has the distribution skills you would expect from a lead guard. And as he continues to acclimate to playing off the ball from Bledsoe, his nightly impact should only continue to improve.
28. josh hart, los angeles lakers
If you think Lonzo Ball was the only Los Angeles Lakers rookie to make a splash last season, Josh Hart (and a player who will surely come up in the power-forwards edition of this series) would like a word.
Despite missing some time due to to a broken hand late in the season, Hart put up an impressive rookie campaign. The Villanova product averaged “just” 7.9 points nightly, but he also chipped in 4.2 rebounds (6.5 per 36 minutes) and 1.2 three-pointers per contest, and shot 39.6 percent from beyond the arc. What’s more, over the last eight games of the year, Hart’s raw stats saw a significant bump – to 16.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.3 triples per game.
It would have been easy to label that late-year run of good form as merely a blip during the closing salvos of the season, when teams were resting starters while gearing up for the playoffs (or for their offseason). But Hart kept the inspired play going in this year’s Summer League by performing like a player who clearly didn’t need to be participating.
Now set to play with LeBron James, Hart’s output could flat-out explode, as his spot-up shooting and transition prowess will function as the perfect complement for the four-time MVP. It would be downright shocking if Hart didn’t blossom into a high-end shooting guard in 2018-19. In fact, we could very well be underestimating his upside with this ranking.
27. dwyane wade, free agent
Dwyane Wade is still available as a free agent not due to what he has left in the tank, but because he’s not sure if he wants to participate in a 16th season. (If he does decide to play for another year, the Miami Heat are the heavy favorites to keep his services.)
Wade’s return to South Florida midway through last season was one of the feel-good moments of 2017-18…
…and it didn’t happen just for good publicity, either: The 2006 Finals MVP can still contribute to winning basketball.
In the 2018 postseason, Wade averaged 16.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per contest while shooting 44.3 percent from the floor, and 80.8 percent on 5.2 nightly free-throw attempts. He hit clutch shot after clutch shot in a Round 1, Game 2 road victory over the Phildelphia 76ers, and jawed with Kevin Hart and Allen Iverson about it afterwards.
So when the lights are brightest, Wade still manages to show up. Heck, the Cavs probably could have used him in the playoffs last year. Hopefully we get to see him in uniform for one more year, because it just wouldn’t feel right if the 12-time All-Star and future Hall-of-Famer’s career ended so abruptly.
26. bogdan bogdanovic, sacramento kings
Another young European guard with promise, Bogdan Bogdanovic also had a huge amount of success overseas (though not quite on the Doncic-level) before arriving to the NBA. And in his first year with the Sacramento Kings, he didn’t disappoint. Bogdanovic averaged 11.8 points, 3.3 assists and 1.7 three-pointers per game last season, on efficient 44.6/39.2/84.0 shooting splits.
He’ll need to improve defensively and learn how to draw more fouls (just 1.5 attempts from the stripe per contest in 2017-18), but as is, he has one trait special enough that it helps set him apart from other 2-guards: his shooting.
According to Synergy Sports Tech, Bogdanovic ranked 22nd in spot-up accuracy (at 1.181 points per possession, or PPP) among players with at least 150 such attempts last year, which was a more accurate mark than Klay Thompson (1.175 PPP). What’s more, Bogdanovic placed 11th in pull-up jumper accuracy among men with at least 250 tries, outpacing the likes of Kemba Walker, Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant.
So yeah, that’s not bad. He’ll need to show he can translate more of the juice he had as a one-on-one scorer in Europe, but we believe he’ll do just that in his sophomore campaign – hence, his ranking.
25. evan fournier, orlando magic
If he were just a bit more consistent, Evan Fournier would have fared better on this list. Even so, the French swingman is coming off a nice year (arguably his best as a professional), one in which he averaged a career-high 17.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per contest, on healthy 45.9/37.9/86.7 shooting splits.
He can shoot, handle the ball and is very comfortable using screens to set up buckets either for himself or teammates. And although the advanced metrics don’t love him, Fournier was the league’s sixth-best spot-up shooter (min: 175 possessions), and, with passes included, the 15th-best pick-and-roll point-producer (min: 250 possessions) last year, according to Synergy Sports.
His defense is far from perfect, but he’s got such an intriguing package for a 2-guard – thanks mostly to his 6-foot-7 frame and underrated distribution skills – that it would be fascinating to see how he’d perform in a different (i.e., more competent) team setting.
24. danny green, toronto raptors
In his first five seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, Danny Green played lock-down defense while adding plus-value as a three-point threat, hitting an impressive 42.3 percent of his triples over that span. More recently though, Green’s defense has still been good (though maybe not as great as it was in his peak), but his shooting has fallen off considerably. Over the past three years, the former North Carolina Tar Heel has hit just 35.7 percent of his looks from deep, which hovers just under league average.
Still, his point-stopping prowess on the wing for the Toronto Raptors, along with that of Kawhi Leonard, should make the Canadian team one of the stingiest in the league next season. As long as his three-point percentage can hover right around where it has been over recent campaigns, he’ll maintain his status as one of the Association’s top two-way 2-guards.
23. dion waiters, miami heat
Back-to-back injury-plagued campaigns, all due to a bum ankle, finally forced Dion Waiters to shut things down and opt for surgery to strengthen the ailed area in 2017-18. Before his season ended, Waiters was averaging a meager 14.3 points and 3.8 assists per contest on lackluster 39.8/30.6/73.9 shooting splits.
Perhaps finally getting surgery on the bad ankle will help Waiters regain his 2016-17 form, when it looked like he was finally ready to realize his potential. The Syracuse product had a 22-game stretch that season in which he averaged 19.3 points, 5.0 assists and 2.7 triples on 46.4/45.0/62.9 shooting splits, leading the Heat to a 18-4 record in those outings. That hot streak is primarily what led to Miami offering Waiters the four-year, $52 million he’s currently signed to.
Whether that deal ends up looking foolhardy in hindsight will ultimately be answered by how Waiters performs in his 2018-19 return. If he regains that excellent 2016-17 form, his contract may wind up looking fair. But if it turns out it was just a hot stretch not indicative of who he is as a player (entirely plausible), the Heat could end up regretting the deal entirely.
22. jj redick, philadelphia 76ers
It goes without saying, but unless your 2-guard is a rim-slashing stud like a prime D-Wade, or a playmaker with flair like a Doncic, you ideally want them to be knock-down three-point shooters.
Well, over the past four seasons, few have been as accurate as the 76ers’ JJ Redick.
In that span, Redick ranks second league-wide in beyond-the-arc accuracy (at a whopping 43.9 percent), trailing only sharpshooting legend Kyle Kover (at an even more ridiculous 44.6 percent), who just barely missed the cut for our list.
Redick’s defense has never been great (it’s gotten even worse as he’s entered his mid-30s) and he’s never been much of a distributor, but his shooting is so pristine that it more than makes up for his deficiencies in other areas.
21. andre roberson, oklahoma city thunder
If there were a player who could be called the complete inverse of Redick, it would be Oklahoma City Thunder swingman Andre Roberson: He can’t shoot worth a lick, but his defense is so absurdly impactful that it doesn’t really matter.
Roberson was well on his way to a second-straight All-Defensive Team honor, and perhaps to his first career Defensive Player of the Year nod (an impossibly hard feat for a wing) before a patella injury ended his year abruptly in late January. To that point, the Thunder had the league’s fifth-highest net rating (+3.8) and fifth-best defensive rating (103.1), while posting strong offensive marks as well, as the NBA’s 10th-best team in offensive rating (106.9). According to NBAWowy, lineups featuring Roberson, Russell Westbrook and Paul George, sans Carmelo Anthony, allowed opponents to score an insanely low 91.7 points per 100 possessions, and boasted a very healthy +6.5 net rating, which, if prorated for the year, would have been the NBA’s fourth-best clip.
On the other hand, after Roberson went down, through the end of the season, the Thunder fell to 15th in defensive rating (107.0) and 13th in net rating (+1.6). It probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise when, afterwards, the Thunder were eliminated from the playoffs in a quick five-game series by the Utah Jazz.
At the end of the day, if last season proved anything, it was that Roberson is such an adept defender – one who can jump passing lanes and shut down positions 1 through 3, and even most 4s – that Oklahoma City was miles better when he was available. Thus, despite his ordinary counting stats (5.0 points and 4.7 boards per game last season), he should still be considered one of the most game-changing 2-guards in the league, even while lacking any semblance of a jump shot.
20. kentavious caldwell-pope, los angeles lakers
The fact Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a career-best 38.3 percent of his triples last year is probably at least part of the reason why the Lakers wanted to keep him around to play with their new superstar acquisition in 2018-19. To go with his newfound health three-point stroke, Caldwell-Pope also put up 13.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per contest – decent all-around averages for a player in his age-24 campaign.
He still has to grow into a more dependable offensive option (some of his mental lapses are absolutely infuriating to behold), but Caldwell-Pope’s defense – particularly how he uses his agility to get through screens and attached to ball-handlers – sets him apart from other youngish shooting guards who still haven’t arrived at their primes.
If Caldwell-Pope’s above-average three-point shooting proves to be sustainable, he could be a great weapon for the Lakers if and when they get back to the playoffs.
19. avery bradley, los angeles clippers
A league-average three-point shooter with above-average defensive tenacity, Avery Bradley is going to have to prove he’s fully healthy again before he can be considered among the Association’s top 2-guards once more.
The last time he was at least semi-fit, in 2016-17, the Texas product had the best year of his career, averaging 16.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 2.0 three-pointers per contest while shooting 46.3 percent from the floor and 39.0 percent from deep.
The year following, Bradley required season-ending abdominal surgery, which ended his campaign midway through February. What’s more, before going down, he was averaging just 14.3 points nightly on 41.4 percent shooting, without playing his usual brand of hard-nosed defense. How he recovers from going under the knife will decide whether the Los Angeles Clippers pick up his option for 2019-20; if they choose not to, he’ll enter 2019 free agency coming off two bad seasons in a row and approaching his age-29 season. It’s not a spot he’ll want to be in, so hopefully he can regain his pre-injury form and go back to being one of the best two-way shooting guards in the NBA.
18. Zach lavine, chicago bulls
Despite Zach LaVine’s vast potential, there are a few questions about his game that have yet to be answered (which makes the Chicago Bulls agreeing to pay him $80 million over the next four years all the more befuddling).
For one, no team LaVine has ever been on has boasted a positive net rating during his time on the floor. The best net rating LaVine has had in his four-year career came in 2016-17, when the Minnesota Timberwolves were merely 4.3 points per 100 possessions worse with the high-flying shooting guard in the game. To be fair, it’s at least a little hard to figure out why that’s the case, considering LaVine has boasted above-average shooting marks multiple times since reaching the NBA. Then again, maybe it isn’t, since LaVine’s play-making is severely lacking, and his defensive effort, most usually absent entirely. The UCLA product will have to improve across the board in order to live up to that massive contract.
Nevertheless, that coming to fruition can’t be totally ruled out since LaVine’s still just 23, and the overall package he brings – size, length, athleticism and shooting stroke – is nearly impossible to find in most shooting guards. He just has to find a way to put it all together.
17. will barton, denver nuggets
Per all of the advanced metrics, Will Barton had the top season of his career in 2017-18. His averages – 15.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per contest – showed an improved all-around player, and thanks to those betterments, Barton landed himself a four-year, $54 million deal from the Denver Nuggets this offseason.
Barton used to be purely a one-on-one scorer, but now, thanks to advancements in his vision and distribution skills, he’s become a more versatile threat with the ball in his hands. His defense is still nothing to write home about, but he’s such a potent weapon off the bench as a point-producer that it doesn’t matter. Plus, with the departure of Wilson Chandler to the Sixers, it’s possible, if not likely, Barton snags himself a starting job for Denver in 2018-19.
16. marcus smart, boston celtics
Marcus Smart labored his way through an injury-riddled 2017-18 campaign, finishing the year having participated in just 54 out of 82 regular-season game. He didn’t show much improvement as far as efficiency goes either, averaging 10.2 points and 4.8 assists nightly on ugly 36.7/30.1/72.9 shooting splits.
And yet, for the third year in a row, the Boston Celtics were still – statistically – a better team with him on the floor.
It’s not hard to figure out why: Smart makes winning plays, often laying his body out on the line simply to get his team an extra possession, and to go with that all-out effort, he’s also arguably the best defensive guard in the league, period.
The Celtics appreciate Smart’s contributions so much that they re-signed him to a four-year, $52 million contract this summer, which will keep the Oklahoma State product in Boston until the 2022 offseason. If he can become at least a league-average three-point shooter, Smart’s impact would get even more ridiculous.
15. nicolas batum, charlotte hornets
His numbers were pretty weak – by his standard, at least – last season, mostly due to lingering elbow troubles, among other things. But when healthy, Nicolas Batum is one of the better 2-guards the Association has to offer.
Last season, Batum, playing through various injuries, still averaged 11.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per contest on 41.5/33.6/83.1 shooting splits. He’s a great play-maker for an off-ball guard, and if his shot-making accuracy can get back to his normal career marks, he could be due for a nice bounce-back season for the Charlotte Hornets next year.
14. tyreke evans, indiana pacers
Tyreke Evans had such an impressive career resurgence in 2017-18 that it feels like we may even be underrating him by placing him No. 14 on this list. Last season, Evans averaged 19.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per contest while shooting 45.2 percent from the floor, and 39.9 percent from three. The only other players to likewise put up a 19/5/5 season in 2017-18 with at least 39-percent three-point accuracy were Durant and Stephen Curry. Not bad company to be in for the 2009-10 Rookie of the Year.
Now a member of the Indiana Pacers, it’ll be interesting to see how Evans acclimates to playing with another ball-dominant shooting guard in Victor Oladipo. There’s a chance Evans earns the starting small forward gig for Indiana, but don’t count out him coming off the bench and putting together a Sixth Man of the Year-type campaign, either. Evans would have more leeway to take over the primary play-making duties if his minutes with Oladipo are staggered, less so if they’re starting next to each other and have their playing time overlapping.
If he’s used in the former manner, expect another strong year for the Memphis product.
13. eric gordon, houston rockets
The once-removed Sixth Man of the Year, Eric Gordon posted another strong campaign for the Houston Rockets in 2017-18. The Indiana product averaged 18.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.2 triples per outing last season, on 42.8/35.9/80.9 shooting splits. Among guys with fewer than 2,200 minutes played last year, only Wayne Ellington, who just missed the cut for our ranking, had more total three-pointers than Gordon’s 218 makes.
The main thing that hurts Gordon’s production is the fact he comes off the bench behind the reigning league MVP, who plays the same position that he does. However, next season, due to the departures of two rotational wings in Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Trevor Ariza, head coach Mike D’Antoni may have to resort to playing Gordon more minutes alongside the team’s superstar backcourt. So don’t be surprised if Gordon has an even better season in 2018-19 thanks to a potentially expanded role.
12. louis williams, los angeles clippers
The actual reigning Sixth Man of the Year, Louis Williams went from potential mid-year trade candidate to recipient of a three-year, $21 million extension from the Clippers throughout the course of last season. Although it may be debatable as to why a rebuilding L.A. team would give a player entering his age-32 season an extension of any sort, there’s no questioning whether or not Williams’ play merited a commitment of that size. Because if anything, he probably deserved even more guaranteed money.
Williams is coming off a year in which he averaged 22.6 points, 5.3 assists and 2.4 three-pointers per game on 43.5/35.9/88.0 shooting splits. He gets to the free-throw line at an absurd rate, makes his freebies at an elite clip once he does get there and he can score on the most able defenders the league has to offer, even despite his physical limitations. According to NBA Math’s Offensive Points Added metric, only eight men who played as many minutes as Williams had a better point-producing score last season than his total of 202.3.
If he played even a modicum of defense, there’s no doubt Williams would have ranked even higher on this list.
11. gary harris, denver nuggets
Barton isn’t the only top-notch shooting guard on the Nuggets’ roster. Gary Harris is also quite the low-key stud, coming off a career-best campaign where he put up 17.5 points, 1.8 steals and 2.3 three-pointers per outing while shooting 48.5 percent from the floor, and 39.6 percent from three. He’s a decent defender, but, more importantly, the perfect off-ball weapon in an offensive scheme predicated around a strong frontcourt, featuring Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap.
Harris ranks in the 81st percentile as a spot-up shooter and the 83rd percentile as a cutter (per Synergy), making him an absolutely deadly secondary option on head coach Michael Malone’s squad – and one of the most efficient players in the league. If he continues on the trajectory he’s currently on, Harris will certainly crack the Top 10 of this list sooner rather than later.
10. jaylen brown, boston celtics
Another exciting prospect at the 2-guard spot is the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown. The Cal product averaged 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.7 triples in his sophomore campaign, hitting a quite healthy 39.5 percent of his looks from deep along the way. Brown’s improvement as an outside shooter, which was considered a possible weakness of his at the time he was drafted, is what makes him so enthralling of a player.
To go with that respectable three-point stroke, Brown possesses fantastic size and length (he’s 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot wingspan) for a shooting guard – physical tools that should help him become a lock-down defender on the wing. Brown’s two-way ability, and the fact he put up 17.0 points and 5.8 rebounds nightly in a surprisingly deep playoff run for Boston – in his age-21 postseason, no less – is what gave him the edge over Harris in our countdown.
As his offensive game continues to blossom, the sky could be the limit for the young Georgia native.
9. devin booker, phoenix suns
The knocks on Devin Booker’s game are oft-cited: He’s experienced zero team success since reaching the NBA, he’s a shoot-first gunner and he doesn’t (can’t?) defend. And while those arguments have some merit, as is often the case with almost all built-up narratives, they don’t tell the whole story.
Booker’s Phoenix Suns teams do have a brutal 27.6 win percentage since was drafted. His usage rate did hit a career-high of 31.7 percent last year. And because he’s not some uber-long athletic freak, his defense is subpar – at best.
Regardless, Booker’s overall offensive package (i.e. not just his scoring) helps set him apart from most of the other shooting guards in the league, especially when you consider how young he is. In his age-21 season, Booker up 24.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.7 three-pointers per contest, on 43.2/38.3/87.8 shooting splits. The only other players in NBA history to put up at least 24/4/4 as 21-year-olds? LeBron and Michael Jordan. So yeah, that’s decently impressive company for the young Booker.
As the Kentucky product’s play-making has started to develop (his assist rate has gone from 16.1 percent in his first two seasons to 24.2 percent in his third year), his overall efficiency has also started to rise with it:
Admittedly, we are going to have to start seeing even more improvement – both from the Suns as a team and from Booker on the less glamorous end of the floor – pretty soon, but after Phoenix’s strong offseason, in which they added Ariza and Deandre Ayton, we expect it to come in 2018-19. Not so coincidentally, we also think that’ll be the year Booker truly cements himself as an elite NBA shooting guard.
8. cj mccollum, portland trail blazers
Few players possess a scoring package as potent as the one belonging to the Portland Trail Blazers’ CJ McCollum.
Although his shooting marks took a bit of a dip last season, McCollum still put up 21.4 points per contest on 44.3/39.7/83.6 shooting splits. You know you’re dealing with a great scorer when 39.7 percent can be seen as a disappointing season from beyond the arc, but in his prior two years, McCollum had converted 41.9 percent of his three-point chances – the sixth-highest rate in the league over that time span.
Odds are, McCollum’s shooting percentages will normalize themselves in 2018-19, and he’ll get back to putting up crazy scoring performances on a nightly basis.
However, truth be told, it would be fascinating to see what the Lehigh product could do in an offense built around his strengths, one in which he didn’t share the backcourt with another ball-dominant (but beastly in his own right) guard in Damian Lillard. McCollum has the tools to be at least a 25-point-per-game player in a more expanded role.
7. bradley beal, washington wizards
Bradley Beal earned the first All-Star bid of his career last season. Afterwards, the Florida product finished the year out 2017-18 averaging 22.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game on 46.0/37.5/79.3 shooting splits.
Like McCollum, for whatever reason, Beal saw his shooting marks take a bit of a dip last year; the season prior, he slashed much more impressive 48.2/40.4/82.5 shooting percentages.
Nevertheless, Beal was still a stud in 2017-18, becoming a much-improved playmaker (he posted a career-best 21.0 percent assist rate last season), along with getting tougher on the defensive end. But we’re going to have to see the Washington Wizards have more playoff success before we feel comfortable ranking Beal higher among the league’s top shooting guards. We also have to make sure the 6-foot-5 guard hasn’t stagnated in his development – a very real possibility considering he’ll be entering his seventh season in 2018-19, and the fact that his numbers didn’t get much better between his fifth and six league years.
6. donovan mitchell, utah jazz
In basically any other season, Donovan Mitchell would have easily garnered the number of Rookie of the Year votes required to take the award home. Unfortunately, his first-year campaign came in the same season as Ben Simmons’, one of the most freakish talents to join the NBA in recent memory, so it wasn’t meant to be.
Matters not, as the motivation from the slight should only fuel Mitchell to get even better in his second campaign – a terrifying proposition for his contemporaries at the 2-guard spot. As a rookie, the Louisville product averaged 20.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.4 three-pointers per contest, on 43.7/34.0/80.5 shooting splits. Mitchell’s numbers got even more ridiculous in the playoffs, when he put up 24.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per outing. Among men with 11 or fewer playoff games in their first years (in modern league history), only freaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (352) himself scored more points in their rookie-season playoffs than Mitchell (268).
The Utah Jazz stud has the whole package, which is why we project him to have a stronger 2018-19 than various more experienced shooting guards who have plenty of hardware to their name. Mitchell’s got insane athleticism and length (6-foot-10 wingspan), which doesn’t just flash on offense, but on defense as well:
.@spidadmitchell climbs the water spout for the block on THJ
pic.twitter.com/dhhZvjU8dx
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 20, 2018
The player many compared Mitchell to last year was a young Wade, and just by watching him play, you could surmise why. On defense, they both rack up steals and blocks few other guards can match, while on offense boasting the slippery moves needed to get to the rim, plus the otherworldly hops needed to finish explosively once they get there.
Additionally, like rookie-year Wade, rookie-year Mitchell also carried his team to a first-round playoff victory over a heavily favored opponent (Baron Davis and the Hornets in Wade’s case, Westbrook and the Thunder in Mitchell’s). If Mitchell shows any sort of Wade-like second-year improvement (it’ll have to come with his efficiency), he could be in store for a monster sophomore season.
We expect it to happen.
5. demar derozan, san antonio spurs
Just by attempting (and sinking) more shots than he ever previously had from three-point range, DeMar DeRozan had the most efficient year of his career in 2017-18, according to multiple advanced metrics.
Along with his more confident three-point bombing, DeRozan also had the highest assist rate of his time as a professional (25 percent), and it was that improved play-making that helped him be more productive than ever.
Now, heading into his first year with the Spurs and suiting up for an elite head coach in Gregg Popovich, the native Californian may wind up topping himself in 2018-19. His touch from deep will have to get even better, as will his defense, but DeRozan, after being slighted by the Raptors, will certainly have the motivation to be even better next season. We think it’ll happen.
4. jimmy butler, minnesota timberwolves
Jimmy Butler put up yet another monster season in 2017-18, even despite missing a good chunk of the year with a knee injury. The former Marquette man averaged 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.2 three-pointers per game on 47.4/35.0/85.4 shooting splits last season, and helped lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to the playoffs for the first time since the Kevin Garnett era.
Besides using his size and strength to get to the basket and finish with ease, perhaps the best attribute Butler possesses offensively is his knack for getting to the free-throw stripe. Over the past three seasons, only four guard/forward types have attempted more freebies than Butler’s 1,343, and all of them played at least 600 more minutes than the Timberwolves swingman. Needless to say, taking a bunch of foul shots (and making them, obviously) is hugely important for a player’s efficiency, and can help make up for a guy who isn’t a three-point sniper, as is the case with Butler.
The main reason Butler, despite his defensive toughness and effective point-production, didn’t rank higher on this list is due to the uncertainty (maybe we could even call it turmoil) surrounding the Wolves heading into next season. Though nothing has come to pass as of yet, there seems to be a lot of tension boiling over behind the scenes with Minnesota, and it’ll absolutely be something to monitor as we get closer to training camp.
3. victor oladipo, indiana pacers
At the time of the Paul George trade to the Thunder, it appeared the Pacers had absolutely gotten fleeced, as their package in return for the All-Star wing consisted of “just” Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Well, after the season Oladipo (and Sabonis) just had, it looks like if anything, Oklahoma City were the ones who were had.
Those who believed Indiana received too little in return for George can’t be faulted, as Oladipo had shown little to no improvement between Year-2 and Year-4 of his career. In reality, it even looked like he was regressing.
But then came his first season with the Pacers, and Oladipo absolutely blew up.
The Indiana product averaged 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.1 triples and a league-leading 2.4 steals per contest, while shooting 47.7 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from deep. Along with his efficient high-volume scoring, Oladipo was also a lockdown defender on the wing, which helped him earn All-NBA and All-Star honors for the first time in his career.
Oladipo’s outside touch could still stand to get better, as could his foul-drawing ability, but we expect him to improve in both facets and make yet another jump next season, thus further solidifying himself as a Top-4 shooting guard in the NBA.
2. klay thompson, golden state warriors
No other shooting guard in the league has his strengths intertwined so perfectly with what his team needs than Thompson does with the Golden State Warriors.
The best team in basketball require an off-ball guard who’s fine with running around screens, spotting up for three-pointers and not dribbling away on every possession. That’s perfect for Thompson as, well, he’s not much of a ball-handler anyway. The reigning champs also need their 2-guard to be a tough defender, as his backcourt mate, Curry, is just a fine point-stopper, but certainly not a top-notch one. Again, Thompson fits the bill perfectly there, as he has the sturdy frame and quick feet needed to both stay in front of opposing guards or weather backdown attempts from bigger foes.
So even though Thompson may not be as flashy as some of the other elite guys in our countdown, we still project him to be the second-best shooting guard in the league next year thanks to his pristine team fit, to go with what an absurd outside shooter he is. (Among players with at least 3,000 three-point attempts in their careers, Thompson ranks fourth all-time in accuracy at 42.2 percent.)
His laid-back attitude and overall unselfishness are vital in making one of the best teams ever assembled truly hum. Thompson will never get the full credit he deserves, but he doesn’t care. And that’s what makes him special.
1. james harden, houston rockets
After multiple close calls, James Harden finally – and rightfully – won his first career MVP award in 2017-18, after averaging a league-leading 30.4 points per game, to go with 8.8 assists, 1.8 steals and 3.7 three-pointers nightly. He attempted an insane 10.1 free-throws per game, made 85.8 percent of them, and also shot 36.7 percent from beyond the arc to boot. Quite frankly, you would be hard-pressed to create a more efficient scorer in a lab if you were given the opportunity.
In addition, his defense, for the first time in his career, didn’t result in a nightly meme. (Perhaps playing with Chris Paul had something to do with that, but regardless, Harden deserves credit for improving his effort on that end as well.) And it’s that newfound two-way fortitude which helped Harden lead the Rockets to their best regular season in franchise history (65 wins), and to within one game of dethroning the Warriors and reaching the NBA Finals.
Harden’s prime will probably be defined by whether or not he can finally get over the proverbial hump and guide his own team to a title, but even if he can’t, the ball-handling, tough-shot-making, bearded maestro is headed to the Hall of Fame when his career is over.
And in a more micro sense, his reign as the league’s best shooting guard doesn’t appear to have an end in sight.
Frank Urbina joined Alex Kennedy on the HoopsHype podcast to go into further detail on his shooting-guard rankings. Click play here for his reasoning on the selections he made:
You can follow Frank Urbina on Twitter @FrankUrbina_.
from HoopsHype https://ift.tt/2MotpRr
No comments:
Post a Comment