NBA: Ranking all 30 starting shooting guards for 2018-19
1. James Harden, Houston Rockets
Defensive flaws be damned; even if you believe James Harden only plays one end of the floor, he plays it so excellently that he’s still the best shooting guard in the NBA by a wide margin. Coming off a long-awaited first MVP award, after finishing second in MVP voting twice, this shouldn’t be a surprise.
Last year, the Beard averaged a league-leading 30.4 points, 8.8 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, shooting 44.9 percent from the floor and 36.7 percent from 3-point range. He was the best player on the league’s best regular season team, personally banished a defender into a black hole, and was responsible for some of the best stat lines, highlight plays and clutch moments of the 2017-18 NBA season.
Having just turned 29 years old, Harden is still in the middle of his prime, and Chris Paul will be back to make sure the Houston Rockets‘ title window remains open. With a healthy CP3, this team may have been able to unseat the almighty Warriors in the Western Conference Finals last year.
Harden shouldn’t be blamed for the Rockets squandering a 3-2 lead to perhaps the greatest team ever, especially with Paul sidelined. He’s one of the game’s deadliest scorers, most visionary passers, meanest pick-and-roll manipulators and a downright nasty step-back artist.
Considering his effort on defense did improve last year, and the monumental load he carries for one of the most potent offenses in NBA history, James Harden is more than deserving of the No. 1 spot on this list heading into 2018-19.