Top 24 point guards for 2023-24

[Spud2nique]

Trae is too low on this list ..

https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-rankings-predictions-top-24-point-guards-2023-24/

5 players above Trae..

 

[Gray Mule]

Out of 24, Trae is ranked #6.  This means that there are more behind him than there are in front of him.

The question for Squawk fans, is there anyone in the top five that you would rather have than Trae?  Just because they get rated above our PG does not mean that they would fit better with this Atlanta team.  Remember, our GM is building this team around Trae.

[Spud2nique]

4 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

is there anyone in the top five that you would rather have than Trae? 

Honestly no. Trae is first for me with SGA coming in 2nd. Luka 3rd.

[Final_quest]

They are at least trying to be fair.  Some of these lists rank guys like Lamelo, Garland, and Brunson ahead of Trae.  

[kg01]

#1 isn't a pg.  Devalues the whole list.  EZPass. 

[RedDawg#8]

You can’t put Ja above Trae unless you’re going to say winning plays a huge part in the rankings, in which case you REALLY can’t put SGA over Trae, let alone Dame and Luka.

SGA is good but it’s all empty calories until he gets his team to the playoffs.

Dame has done it before but his teams have been on the steep decline finishing 13th 2 years in a row, and a losing record 3 of the last 4 seasons.

Curry is in a group of his own. As much as I hate calling him a PG, if we’re having these lists with Luka at PG still, then Curry should be #1 until he hangs it up. Nobody strikes more fear when out on the court.

They got the top 6 names correct I think. The order is debatable.

[RedDawg#8]

Side note:

If you can put teammates Curry/CP3, SGA/Giddey, Luka/Kyrie and Dame/Scoot all in the same PG category, (thereby acknowledging that they are not even full time PG’s for their teams) then you should have DJM’s name on this list as well.

You can’t convince me that Derrick White, Scoot Henderson, Cade, DLo, Giddy and Westbrook are all a better PG than DJ.  

[Wretch]

I have a severe distaste for how this generation glosses over player roles and oversells the concept of "position-less basketball."  There's no point in talking about positions.  These lists are all just basically "Top <x> players in the NBA." In which case, you can make a valid case for the order of these top six "point guards."  If we're talking real basketball and role, PG skills, impact, statistics...etc.  Then Trae is no lower than 3rd and is arguably the best pure PG on this list.

[Diesel]

Curry is not a PG.   He's an OG.   He doesn't direct an offense so I don't know why he's up there. 

Here's a definition that can be made for the PG...

"A point guard specializes in certain skills, like other player positions in basketball. Their primary job is to facilitate scoring opportunities for their team, or sometimes for themselves. Lee Rose has described a point guard as a coach on the floor, who can handle and distribute the ball to teammates."

Curry is not that.  Curry is mostly the endpoint of his offense, not the initiator.   He's very special and if he were a PG, we couldn't say that he wasn't #1.   But because he's not a PG, we shouldn't have him on the list. 

Putting SGA and Ja ahead of Trae in a PG debate is laughable.   The only thing that Ja does better than Trae is dunk. 

Luka is the only person on the list on Trae's level as a PG. 

 

 

[benhillboy]

3 hours ago, Diesel said:

Curry is not a PG.   He's an OG.   He doesn't direct an offense so I don't know why he's up there. 

Here's a definition that can be made for the PG...

"A point guard specializes in certain skills, like other player positions in basketball. Their primary job is to facilitate scoring opportunities for their team, or sometimes for themselves. Lee Rose has described a point guard as a coach on the floor, who can handle and distribute the ball to teammates."

Curry is not that.  Curry is mostly the endpoint of his offense, not the initiator.   He's very special and if he were a PG, we couldn't say that he wasn't #1.   But because he's not a PG, we shouldn't have him on the list. 

Putting SGA and Ja ahead of Trae in a PG debate is laughable.   The only thing that Ja does better than Trae is dunk. 

Luka is the only person on the list on Trae's level as a PG. 

 

 

It’s amazing the NBA media and masses have been labeling Steph a PG his whole career.  One of the hundreds of reasons I don’t take them seriously.  I wished he would come out and unequivocally call himself a 2 like AI did.

You think Trae is a PG tho?  He always takes a bulk of shots and has never served as the arrow point of a defense.  

Of all his career comps on BBRef only 4 of them are labeled as strictly PGs (Nixon, Williams, Cervi, Simmons), same as Curry (Walt Frazier, GP, Nash, Westbrick).  When Trae’s new comps release soon I don’t expect that number to rise.  In the simplest, old-school sense you are what you can guard.  Trae is truly position-less. 

Edited July 30, 2023 by benhillboy

[AHF]

If Stockton scored like Michael Jordan he would have scorers as comps too but would be no less of a point guard.  Trae is the primary playmaker and hub of the offense.  He is obviously the PG.

[Spud2nique]

11 hours ago, kg01 said:

#1 isn't a pg.  Devalues the whole list.  EZPass. 

Giannis is a point guard and so is Draymond when he’s not off people.

 

[RedDawg#8]

1 hour ago, Spud2nique said:

Giannis is a point guard and so is Draymond when he’s not off people.

 

So are Lebron and Jokic in all seriousness.

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, RedDawg#8 said:

So are Lebron and Jokic in all seriousness.

So is Robert Portis II.

[AtLaS]

23 hours ago, Final_quest said:

They are at least trying to be fair.  Some of these lists rank guys like Lamelo, Garland, and Brunson ahead of Trae.  

100%. A LOT of ppl have these 3 above Trae.  I've also seen Kyrie, Holiday, Fox, Harden, Hali, Murray ranked above him.  

Trae has been getting crapped on since the Miami series last year.  As if it completely erased everything he did in the year prior.  He was awful in that series, but some of the rankings have just been terrible.  

This ranking is fair to me.  I can see Fox and Hali having arguments.  Hali was ridiculously efficient last year, but now that he got the big contract he will get a lot more scrutiny.  He better start winning now.

[Final_quest]

14 minutes ago, AtLaS said:

100%. A LOT of ppl have these 3 above Trae.  I've also seen Kyrie, Holiday, Fox, Harden, Hali, Murray ranked above him.  

Trae has been getting crapped on since the Miami series last year.  As if it completely erased everything he did in the year prior.  He was awful in that series, but some of the rankings have just been terrible.  

This ranking is fair to me.  I can see Fox and Hali having arguments.  Hali was ridiculously efficient last year, but now that he got the big contract he will get a lot more scrutiny.  He better start winning now.

Yeah, and there is no perfect list for who is a PG when combo guards blur the lines.  

[JeffS17]

This is a good list imo, in terms of what we've come to expect from these lists.  The only thing I would change is move Ja backwards a few rankings -- he's become overrated based on his team's [regular season] success.  On the flip side, I'm fine with SGA being one spot ahead of Trae because I don't knock him for being on a very young, inexperienced team.  I'd probably still put Trae ahead of him on a list of point guards, but I won't be mad about him getting rated higher.

[macdaddy]

So Kyrie is starting at SG for Dallas?  Or is he a center now?

[Spud2nique]

Just now, macdaddy said:

So Kyrie is starting at SG for Dallas?  Or is he a center now?

He’s a PG/C 

[Spud2nique]

I’m sorry I wanna go back to when a 6’7” dude was a small forward. We get it, Larry Bird could pass the hell out of the ball and we NEVER EVER referred to him as anything but a SMALL FORWARD. 
 

The NBA needs to look at this and make decisions.