As the new NBA season approaches, it’s time to rank the league’s 30 starting shooting guards for the upcoming 2017-18 campaign.
Traditional positions in the NBA have become a thing of the past. Though point guards are still as important as ever, the shooting guard, small forward and power forward positions have morphed into “wings,” while bigs are now expected to spread the floor, protect the rim and defend the perimeter all at once.
As such, the shooting guard position is as weak as it’s been a long time. The game’s elite wings are capable of oscillating between 2-3 positions, which is key for teams to roll out small-ball lineups designed to emphasize up-tempo play, 3-point shooting and versatility on defense.
However, that’s not to say positions in the NBA are completely dead, and for the sake of classifying players within starting lineups, we can try to identify the 2-guard within each five-man group.
The question is, how does each team’s starting shooting guard stack up to the rest of the NBA? In order to answer that question, it’s time to rank all 30 starting shooting guards for the upcoming 2017-18 NBA season.
Starting lineups are subject to change, especially as teams start to tan — err, “strategically rest” their players. For the purposes of these rankings though, we’re going to make a few executive decisions based on which players will likely spend most of the season — or at least begin the season — in the starting lineup.
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To be clear, these rankings are based on projections for the upcoming season, not past accomplishments or their current standing entering the new season. They are also not projections for fantasy basketball, or based on any one specific stat.
Instead, these rankings take a myriad of factors into account, including expected statistical output, potential team success, opportunity, health, contract, experience, two-way impact, likelihood of keeping their starting job and to a minimal degree, potential playoff success.
With all of this in mind, here are our rankings for the NBA’s top 30 starting shooting guards in 2017-18.
30. Jeremy Lamb, Charlotte Hornets
Call me crazy, but I still believe in Jeremy Lamb. So much so, that I put him all the way at No. 30 on this list of top 30 shooting guards!
In all seriousness, Lamb had a quietly good year for the Charlotte Hornets last season, putting up a career-high 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game on 46 percent shooting. He can’t shoot the 3-ball (28.1 percent), but he was a useful bench piece when he was a regular fixture in Steve Clifford’s rotation.
With Nicolas Batum out for 6-12 weeks, we’re erring on the side of caution by giving Lamb the nod over the obvious starter once the Frenchman returns. Given Batum’s propensity for injury and the worst-case scenario where he doesn’t come back until January, that seems like the smart play for now.
29. Ben McLemore, Memphis Grizzlies
Foot surgery was expected to sideline Ben McLemore for 12 weeks, but since he’s already in week nine of the recovery process, he should be returning to the Memphis Grizzlies‘ lineup soon. Good thing too, since their options at at 2-guard spot were already limited with McLemore.
Wayne Selden has been making the most of his starting opportunities during the preseason, but if a healthy McLemore can’t surpass him for the starting job, he might as well call it a career. As for Tyreke Evans, the Grizz seem to prefer to bring him off the bench as the lead playmaker for the second unit.
McLemore’s first four years have been mired by underwhelming performances, Sacramento’s head coaching carousel and organizational dysfunction. His 8.1 points per game last year don’t inspire much hope, but he did shoot a career 38.2 percent from 3-point range, which he’s increased every year so far. Hopefully a change of scenery and a return to 100 percent health does wonders for a career that’s sputtered thus far.
28. Justin Holiday, Chicago Bulls
Stay with me for a second here, but: Justin Holiday and the Chicago Bulls actually haven’t looked that bad in the preseason. Wait, wait, wait, I said you had to stay with me on this one! It’s really not as loony as it sounds, especially now that Fred Hoiberg finally gets to play his brand of basketball with a team that might actually listen to him.
Through five preseason contests, Holiday is averaging 16.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game, shooting 43.8 percent from the floor and a blistering 48.4 percent from 3-point range. He’s a lengthy defender, he’s knocking down shots and he’s turning defense into offense.
Yes, Bulls fans are inevitably going to be pissed when Justin-Freaking-Holiday somehow helps this team win enough games to spurn the best odds at the top pick in the NBA Draft Lottery right before next year’s reform kicks in…but for our purposes, Justin Holiday could actually climb a couple spots up this list if these early signs of a career year actually come to fruition.
27. Wesley Matthews, Dallas Mavericks
With Seth Curry sidelined and Rick Carlisle starting Dirk Nowitzki at the 5 in an uncomfortably obvious standoff with Nerlens Noel‘s people, Wesley Matthews will start 2017-18 playing the 3, flanked by Yogi Ferrell at the 2, Harrison Barnes as a small-ball 4 and Dennis Smith Jr. running the point.
However, that Dirk-at-the-5 lineup is not going to last long once the Dallas Mavericks start hemorrhaging points, and once Noel is inserted with the starters, count on West returning to his traditional position at the 2-spot. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean he’s going to be particularly good there either.
That Achilles injury has clearly changed Matthews, who averaged 13.5 points per game on dismal .393/.363/.816 shooting splits last year. He’ll show flashes of his old self from time to time, particularly on the defensive end, but even for a Mavs team with low expectations, Matthews’ contract is low-key one of the worst in the association.
26. Buddy Hield, Sacramento Kings
Buddy Hield‘s rookie year didn’t go according to plan, as he was unceremoniously shipped off by the New Orleans Pelicans as the centerpiece of the DeMarcus Cousins trade. In his limited time with the Sacramento Kings, though, he put up some impressive numbers for a first-year player.
In those 25 games, Hield posted 15.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, shooting 48 percent from the field and 42.8 percent from downtown. The Kings aren’t expected to be a playoff team this year, which hurts his stock as he takes his lumps in developmental minutes.
The biggest problems here are the inexperience, poor defense and the competition for playing time at his position. Veteran Vince Carter knew what he was signing on for but will still want minutes, and fellow rookie Bogdan Bogdanovic might have a more NBA-ready game. It’ll be on Hield to prove the Kings are right to view him as a franchise pillar moving forward.
25. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
Jaylen Brown posted some of the worst 2016-17 numbers of any player on this list, averaging a meager 6.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 17.2 minutes per game. However, with Avery Bradley gone and Marcus Smart still on bench mob duty, it’s time for Brown’s two-way potential to shine.
The Boston Celtics rookie came to life in the team’s playoff run, and it never looked like the moment was too big for him. Considering his elite defensive potential and respectable shooting splits of .454/.341/.685 to start his career, the future is bright.
It’ll take a while for Brown to get there, even as he’s thrust into a starting role on an Eastern contender, but if he can continue to hone his defensive instincts, improve his 3-point efficiency and make winning plays in a more limited starting role, he could very well climb up this list.
24. Tony Snell, Milwaukee Bucks
This might seem a bit high for those who didn’t pay much attention to the Milwaukee Bucks last season, but it actually feels a bit low considering how well his skill-set fit in with this long-limbed team.
In 80 starts for the Bucks last year, Tony Snell had a season that made Bulls fans sick to their stomachs. Though he only averaged 8.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 29.2 minutes per game, those were all career highs, and he supplemented his breakout year with 45.5 percent shooting from the field and 40.6 percent shooting from deep — also career highs.
Throw in Snell’s solid wing defense and Milwaukee’s trade of Michael Carter-Williams looks more brilliant by the day. After securing a nice payday this summer, it’s time for Snelly Cat to follow it up with another career year on this ascending team, even if he’ll be used in a more limited role.
23. Kent Bazemore, Atlanta Hawks
Following a career year in 2015-16 and a massive payday over the summer, Kent Bazemore disappointed in 2016-17. His numbers dipped to 11.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game on mediocre .409/.346/.708 shooting splits, he didn’t build on his breakout year as expected, and the Atlanta Hawks suffered for it.
Heading into 2017-18, Bazemore still feels like a bit of an afterthought, even though he’ll easily be one of the team’s best players on both ends of the floor.
Can the NBA’s 28-year-old Chance the Rapper lookalike rebound with a career year on a talent-depleted team? Hawks fans had better hope so, because this team is already going to be hard enough to watch without occasionally glancing at the remaining money on his contract.
22. Austin Rivers, Los Angeles Clippers
For now, we don’t know how Doc Rivers plans to use Milos Teodosic/Austin Rivers in the Los Angeles Clippers backcourt. Will he start Teodosic alongside Patrick Beverley and let Austin Rivers fill the backup point guard role? Or will he go the other route and start Rivers to let Teodosic run the second unit?
As much as the nepotism jokes are getting old, it makes more sense to bring Teodosic off the bench as long as the plan is to start Beverley. Teodosic is too much fun to be relegated to the bench mob, but he can feed Lou Williams. Rivers and Lou Will seem like they’d overlap in a scoring role off the bench anyway.
SO. Rivers gets the starting job in our books, while we silently mourn for not enough Teodosic. Rivers is a better player than people give him credit for though, averaging a career-high 12.0 points and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 37.1 percent from downtown last year.
21. Courtney Lee, New York Knicks
Disclaimer: No one knows what the hell Jeff Hornacek is doing with his starting lineups in the preseason, which makes sense for a New York Knicks team with no clear answers at any position (other than whatever spot Kristaps Porzingis wants to play).
With Hornacek throwing s**t at the wall to see what sticks, it’s impossible to predict who will wind up as the definitive starting 2-guard between Courtney Lee, Tim Hardaway Jr. or even Frank Ntilikina. For now, we’ll go with Lee, since he’s a veteran, two-way presence, and also because Hornacek has started him at the 2 with Hardaway at the 3 a couple of times in preseason.
That’s not exactly the most sound logic, especially since the Knicks would be wise to look into offloading Lee’s deal, but that probably won’t happen until the trade deadline. Until then, Lee has a strong case for the starting job after averaging 10.8 points per game on 40.1 percent 3-point shooting last year.
20. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Los Angeles Lakers
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is one of those 3-and-D players who actually only has the “D” without nearly enough of the “3.” Case in point, his 35 percent shooting from downtown last year, or his career mark of 33.4 percent.
On a one-year, “prove it kind of but not really because if Paul George or LeBron James express interest you’re gone” deal, KCP will be hoping to break out and solidify his value to potential free agency suitors next summer. With Lonzo Ball feeding him, he has a good chance of doing so.
His defense is already among the best in the association at his position, but now he needs to prove he can be a reliable scorer and long range shooter for a Los Angeles Lakers team that needs help in all three of those areas.
19. Evan Fournier, Orlando Magic
Mr. “Do Not Google” himself comes in at No. 19, which probably seems a bit low for a guy who put up 17.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game last season. But on a losing Orlando Magic team, somebody had to do something with all those offensive touches.
That guy was Evan Fournier, who hiked up his scoring average for the fourth straight year but saw his efficiency drop to 43.9 percent shooting from the field and 35.6 percent from 3-point range.
Fournier’s contract isn’t a bad one by any means, but he has yet to show the kind of two-way growth the Magic need from him — or any of their current cornerstone players, for that matter. With more competition on the wing than ever, Fournier and his bizarre hairdos will have their work (wait for it) cut out for them in 2017-18.
18. Jeremy Lin, Brooklyn Nets
A ranking this high is contingent on Jeremy Lin staying healthier for more than 36 games like last year, but with D’Angelo Russell taking over the point guard spot, Kenny Atkinson will start his two combo guards alongside each other in 2017-18.
People have forgotten this, but Lin was on pace to have his best season since the first outbreak of Linsanity, putting up 14.5 points, 5.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 37.2 percent from downtown last year.
He’ll never be a lockdown defender, and the Brooklyn Nets may not win a ton of games this year, but watching Russell and Lin play off each other in such a fast-paced offense should be pure entertainment for the 18 loyal fans at the Barclays Center every night.
17. Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers
Entering Year 5 of his career, we’re still waiting on that breakout season for the second overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft. We thought it’d come with the Orlando Magic as a franchise building block, we thought it’d happen playing alongside Russell Westbrook in OKC, and now we’re hoping it’ll be in a new situation that will empower him like never before.
As the centerpiece of the Paul George trade, Victor Oladipo is perhaps the most offensively ready player on the Indiana Pacers‘ roster. Myles Turner is the face of the franchise, but that’s a lot of pressure to put on a 21-year-old in his first year at the helm.
Oladipo is a solid two-way player, even if he’s never panned out as the franchise star many thought he’d be. Returning to Indiana where he went to college, perhaps some Hoosiers magic will do him some good.
16. Andre Roberson, Oklahoma City Thunder
Yeah, we know. Andre Roberson only plays one side of the ball. But if you can play that one side of the ball as well as Roberson can, it doesn’t matter as much, especially on a team with as much offensive firepower as the Oklahoma City Thunder.
With Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony bearing the load in the scoring department, Roberson can focus on what he does best: Playing lockdown defense across three positions, cutting off the ball to make defenses pay for forgetting about him and (for the love of God!) concentrate on improving his free throws.
Knocking down an occasional 3-pointer would be nice, but with more shooters on the perimeter, that may not be as big of an issue. In any case, the excellent work Roberson does on defense will be key for a team that has liabilities like Russ and Melo to worry about on that end.
15. Danny Green, San Antonio Spurs
Danny Green is a lot like Andre Roberson, only with a 3-point jumper attached. Even if he’s not quite on Roberson’s level as a multi-positional defender, this makes him far more useful on the other end of the floor.
Green only averaged 7.3 points per game and shot under 40 percent from the field in an off year, so it’s not like he was that much more useful than Roberson on offense. However, he still shot a respectable 37.9 percent from 3-point range, and that’s the kind of floor-spacing that Roberson will probably never be able to provide.
As Green enters his age-30 season, there’s a chance his down season in 2016-17 could become the norm. But with the San Antonio Spurs in as much need of help for Kawhi Leonard as possible, something tells us Green will rise to the occasion.
14. J.J. Redick, Philadelphia 76ers
J.J. Redick is starting to show signs of his age, most especially in the Clippers’ last playoff series when he all but disappeared. However, in an environment that will hopefully be more enjoyable as he embraces the role of mentor, Redick will put forth better effort and focus on what he does best: draining 3-pointers.
After voluntarily breaking the stigma that the Philadelphia 76ers had become the NBA Siberia of free agency destinations, Redick provides floor-spacing and 3-point accuracy to a young Sixers team that needs both.
Last year, he averaged 15.0 points and 6.0 3-point attempts per game on 42.9 percent shooting from deep. That alone makes him a precious commodity to a Sixers team that could surge to a playoff spot if it can just stay healthy.
13. Dwayne Wade, Cleveland Cavaliers
Sorry to burst some fanboy bubbles, but Dwyane Wade isn’t a top-10 shooting guard anymore. His defense was atrocious last year, and though some of that simply came down to effort, there are no excuses; he was still playing for a playoff team.
Reuniting with LeBron James on a title contender will help a little bit in that respect, and there’s no denying the two have chemistry. But people were tabbing Wade as unreliable because he wore down in June back when they were on the Heatles, and that was more than three years ago.
Flash put up a solid 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game last season, but he wasn’t an efficient scorer and needs the ball in his hands to be successful. For all the playmaking he’ll provide, the Cleveland Cavaliers will only have so many touches to go around between LeBron, Wade and Derrick Rose.
12. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
This may seem a tad high for a player whose advanced metrics are all in the red, but for all of Devin Booker‘s flaws, he’s an extremely advanced player for his age. The list of scorers he’s joined in his two years in the league is elite, and heading into his third season, the potential for a breakout year is too tantalizing to drop him much lower than this.
Last year, Book averaged 22.1 points, 3.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game, and though he needs to be more efficient from 3-point range, work on the other areas of his game and drastically improve his defense, this youngster only trails LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony on the list of career points scored before reaching their 21st birthday.
The Phoenix Suns are going to be terrible again in 2017-18, and it’s unlikely Booker will break out as a legitimate two-way superstar. But a breakout year is coming nonetheless, and even on a bottom-feeder team, it’s going to be one worth watching.
11. Dion Waiters, Miami Heat
It’s nice to see Waiters Island at max capacity and thriving again. There were some dark days with the Cleveland Cavaliers and even the Oklahoma City Thunder for awhile, but thanks to a magical playoff series that turned it all around, he was able to leverage his way into an opportunity with the Miami Heat.
Though he missed significant time due to injury last year, Dion Waiters got as close to a 46-game breakout season as you can get, posting 15.8 points, 4.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game on .424/.395/.646 shooting splits.
The Heat were a decidedly worse team without Waiters on the court, and if they want to replicate their 30-11 close to the season, they’ll need him and his two-way talents (Waiters remains an underrated defender when locked in on that end) to stay healthy.
10. Avery Bradley, Detroit Pistons
Avery Bradley could easily become a one-year rental for the Detroit Pistons if Stan Van Gundy’s vision falls through yet again, but there’s no question he’s an upgrade over Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on at least one end of the floor.
Not only did Bradley average a career-high 16.3 points per game last year, but he also knocked down 39 percent of his 3-pointers, providing some desperately needed floor-spacing and long range accuracy to one of the league’s worst 3-point shooting teams.
The Pistons almost have to make the playoffs to convince Bradley to stick around beyond this season, but after being dumped by the Celtics to make room for Gordon Hayward, this fiery 2-guard has every reason to play with a chip on his shoulder.
9. Jrue Holiday, New Orleans Pelicans
Jrue Holiday is technically a point guard, but once Rajon Rondo returns in a few weeks, the New Orleans Pelicans plan on playing them together in the backcourt. Since Holiday is the better shooter and Rondo is the better playmaker between the two, it makes the most sense to play Holiday off the ball more.
Though he may struggle a bit on the defensive side of things, Holiday gives the Pellies a secondary playmaker and a guy who shot 35.6 percent from 3-point range on the wing. Rondo’s 37.6 percent shooting from deep in 2016-17 was most likely a one-year fluke, given his poor shooting numbers elsewhere and his career 3-point mark of 30.4 percent.
In any case, Holiday is an underrated (albeit overpaid) scorer and facilitating guard in this league. As long as he can stay healthy, shoot the 3-ball and put up another 15.4 points or so per game as he did last year, NOLA may actually be able to say it has a Big Three.
8. Rodney Hood, Utah Jazz
Few players on this list need a bounce-back season quite like Rodney Hood. Thanks to injury problems and some of the team’s veterans like Joe Johnson stepping up, Hood’s minutes and production in what was supposed to be a breakout year slipped to 12.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game on .408/.371/.783 shooting splits.
However, with Gordon Hayward gone, the Utah Jazz desperately need someone to step in as a go-to scorer. Rudy Gobert is now the face of the franchise, and there’s a chance rookie Donovan Mitchell is good enough to warrant minutes right away, but for most, the key to replacing Hayward’s scoring will be Hood.
Entering his fourth season, Hood just watched a similar two-way talent in Gary Harris get PAID. If he and the Jazz don’t come to an agreement on the extension, this will become a contract year, adding extra fuel to the fire for a very talented player on both ends of the court.
7. Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves
Because of the pre-draft hype that’s followed Andrew Wiggins since before he even got to Kansas, some will think this ranking is way too low, while others will think it’s way too high. That’s just the kind of controversial debate a projected star conjures up when he enters the league and is good, but not transcendent.
Wiggins is a bit of a one-trick pony at this stage, but he still averaged a career-high 23.6 points per game last year while shooting a career-high 35.6 percent from deep. He has the tools to be a stellar two-way player, but was one of the worst defenders at his position. He’s key to the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ future, but may be overpaid after that contract extension.
If you’re sensing a trend, it’s that for every positive with this 22-year-old, there seems to be an equal and diametrically opposed negative to cancel it out. His 3-ball will need to improve and he’ll need to learn when to give and take with Jimmy Butler, but with so much talent around him, the onus is on Wiggins to make 2017-18 a career year for himself and his team.
6. Gary Harris, Denver Nuggets
Now that Gary Harris has earned a four-year, $84 million contract extension from the Denver Nuggets, perhaps people will start to know his name outside of the Mile High City (or even in the Mile High City, given their league-worst attendance numbers).
At 23 years old, Harris is already one of the NBA’s best two-way players at his position. Nikola Jokic is still the star here, but Harris put up a career-best 14.9 points per game on blistering 50.2 percent shooting from the field and 42 percent shooting from downtown last season.
He’s lethal in transition, smothering on the defensive end and is only going to continue to get better. In Denver’s rebuild, he’s easily their most important piece after Jokic, and it’ll be fascinating if he makes the kind of offensive jump that would vault him into the same echelon as our next five shooting guards.
5. C.J. McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers
This is as high as we could reasonably put a one-sided player like C.J. McCollum, but there’s no question he’s rapidly risen through the ranks to cement his place among the league’s five best shooting guards.
Last year, McCollum put up a career-high 23.0 points, 3.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game, shooting a lethal 48 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from deep and 91.2 percent from the foul line. The kid can shoot, pure and simple, but he’s also (slowly) starting to expand the other areas of his game with the Portland Trail Blazers.
McCollum is already 26 years old as he enters his fifth NBA season, but that doesn’t mean he’s done growing. Some have even tabbed him as the more untouchable piece between him and Damian Lillard in the event this miserable defensive backcourt needs to be split up, but while we won’t go that far, even acknowledging that this is a conversation speaks volumes.
4. Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards
For years we worshipped at the altar of Playoff Bradley Beal, deifying in his postseason exploits only to discover they were false, pagan gods every time the regular season rolled around and injuries prevented him from building on that momentum.
In 2016-17, we finally got a sign from above that our faith was not in vain, with Beal staying healthy for 77 games. During that time, it was no surprise to watch him post a career-high 23.1 points, 3.5 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game on stellar .482/.404/.825 shooting splits.
The Washington Wizards didn’t really fix their bench troubles this summer, but they should still be a top team in the East as Beal appears to be on a collision course for his first All-Star appearance in 2017-18. Continue to reward our faith, Real Deal Beal.
3. DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors
People get down on DeMar DeRozan, and it’s easy to see why: His defense is absolutely horrendous and in the playoffs, he becomes even more unplayable if his offense disappears too. However, just because his game is a throwback to the ’90s doesn’t make it any less impressive.
Sure, DeRozan can’t shoot from 3-point range (26.6 percent last year, 28.1 percent for his career), but he’s a master in the lost art of the mid-range, using beautiful footwork in iso situations to make defenders look like fools and get to the foul line for the Toronto Raptors.
DeRozan posted a career-high 27.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game last year on 46.7 percent shooting, and though he has to find a way to make that production translate to the playoffs, even his non-existent defense isn’t enough to keep him out of the top three — especially entering another potential career year at 28 years old.
2. Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
There’s plenty of talent on this list, but our last two guys are in a completely different stratosphere. We start with Klay Thompson, the most elite two-way shooting guard on the list who handles opponents’ toughest backcourt matchup and makes it rain on a nightly basis for a dynasty-in-the-making.
Without Klay’s 41.4 percent 3-point accuracy on a whopping 8.3 attempts per game, without his floor-spacing and without his stellar wing defense, the Golden State Warriors aren’t the same unassailable juggernaut that they are today.
But when you have a guy who can go off for 37 points in a quarter, 60 points on 11 dribbles, or 41 points and 11 3-pointers in a do-or-die Western Conference Finals Game 6, you know you have something special. Surrounded by Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant, Thompson is perhaps the most underrated star in the NBA.
1. James Harden, Houston Rockets
Thompson is the better two-way player of the two, but if you’re picking one shooting guard to build a franchise around, you take James Harden and don’t think twice about it. Klay is a perfect fit for the Warriors or for any NBA offense, but the Beard is a once-in-a-lifetime offensive weapon who gives Steve Nash a legitimate run for his money as the best point guard Mike D’Antoni‘s ever had.
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Those words don’t come lightly from this Suns reporter, but Harden’s ability to beat defenders off the dribble, read the help defense and make passes that are one or two rotations ahead of the opposition is otherworldly.
People knock Harden for his annoying penchant for drawing ticky-tack fouls, for his absentmindedness on defense and for his inability to prove himself as a bonafide leader, but to ignore what he does so well would mean missing out on one of the five best players in the league right now, and potentially one of the greatest of all time.
Harden has already added two of the greatest non-MVP seasons in NBA history, putting up numbers that would make prime Kobe Bryant blush.
Last year, his 29.1 points, league-leading 11.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game for a 55-win Houston Rockets team were equally deserving of MVP honors…and his competition was a guy who averaged a freaking triple-double.
Harden whiffed in his team’s elimination game last year,and his numbers will probably take a slight hit across the board in 2017-18. But with Chris Paul and wing defenders like P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute joining the party, this Rockets team will be deadly, and may even make life easier for the Beard so he can put a little more effort in on defense.
Next: Ranking all 30 starting NBA point guards for 2017-18
Houston may not catch the Warriors in the race for Western supremacy, but even with such lackluster defense, Harden’s elite scoring, playmaking, rebounding, ball-handling, foul-drawing and all-around offensive game more than make up for it as the league’s premier 2-guard.