Top 10 Point Guards Heading Into 2022–2023 NBA Season

Honorable Mentions: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Darius Garland, and Fred VanVleet

10. LaMelo Ball

We all knew it was a matter of time before the younger Ball brother shot up into this list, and after receiving his first All-Star nod, it serves him right. LaMelo Ball has flooded highlight reels with his flashy passes and other-worldy playmaking, and the stats certainly support that moments like those are genuinely an inherent aspect of his game. Last season, LaMelo orchestrated almost 20 points per 75 possessions, and these assists don’t just generate general scoring opportunities, but open ones, with his box creation rate estimating that he is the catalyst for about 13 shots per 100 team possessions. LaMelo’s 6’7” stature also allows him to be one of the most versatile defenders in the league, as switching from man-to-man rarely hinders his performances. He is also a sneaky rebounder who’s precision is emphasized by a 75.8% success rate when attempting to grab a board. All of this culminates into a blooming triple-double machine with shades of Magic Johnson.

9. Jrue Holiday

Jrue Holiday is not often a name that is discussed in contention among the highest caliber of floor generals, but he should be. 18.3 PPG, 6.8 APG and 4.5 RPG don’t seem like super attractive numbers, but his underlying presence is not fully depicted by box scores. First of all, Holiday has a matchup difficulty within the 99th percentile, meaning that he often is guarding a team’s deadliest threat. Holiday has made it a habit to shut down his opposition at the perimeter with his hyper-active reflexes that often find him cutting off passing lanes and pickpocketing ball-handlers. Jrue has also become more efficient than ever with his shooting splits, hitting 41.1% of his threes and 50.1% of all field goals. Just because Jrue’s intangible impact is not as evident as players like Draymond Green and Marcus Smart, it should not detract from the abundance of evidence that indicates that he is just as, if not more, elite.

8. Chris Paul

The man dubbed the “point-God”: Chris Paul. At age 36, Paul is beginning to seem human, but his mortal stats are those that others would only dream of. Chris Paul is still one of the best playmakers in the league, ranking at the top for assists per 100 passes at an absurd rate of 34.4, as well as the 4th best assist-to-turnover ratio with 4.4. Paul’s 3-point percentage plummeted last season to the second-worst average of his career, but that has not prevented him from still being one of the best at creating such perimeter chances. Not only is Paul great at creating shots from downtown though, 96% of his drives to the basket come unassisted. Paul is also similarly great to Jrue Holiday at blocking passing lanes, which is quite the feat when he stands at just 6 feet tall. Chris Paul’s regression may continue as his career concludes, but it will surely go out with a bang.

7. Dejounte Murray

Dejounte Murray is the best two-way guard in the NBA. Don’t believe me? He is in the 98th percentile of rebounding talent, elite at pressuring his matchups into turnovers, gets to the rim as much as any other player and opens up about 12 open shots per 100 possessions for his teammates. Murray is not only at an advantage because of his physical build dominating smaller guards, he actually spends over a quarter of defensive possessions matched up against forwards and centers. Furthermore, Murray assisted around 40% of teammate field goals while he was on the floor. Basically, he is a jack of all trades that can’t shoot threes, and that’s why he doesn’t currently rank higher.

6. Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving’s output last season was limited to just 29 regular season games, but he still put up some of the best numbers of his career with minimal transition. Irving tied his career-best 27.4 PPG, all while shooting a career-best 41.8% from three and a solid 46.9% from the field. Kyrie basically keeps the basketball on a string while he is on the floor, enabling him to shift and swerve defenders to create unassisted opportunities. A considerable amount of these openings come from speedy pull-ups and popping off screens, but he has become efficient at catch-and-shooting as well, where he shoots 40.9% from three in those scenarios. Kyrie is not known for directly encouraging teammates to shoot with his passing, but the attention he gets from the defense for his magical moves inevitably space out the floor for whoever is on the court with him. Hopefully Irving can play more than 60 games for the first time in 4 years this upcoming season.

5. Damian Lillard

Last year was a lost year for the Portland Trail Blazers, and the same applies for Damian Lillard. Lillard shot a sub-par 55% for true shooting percentage, as well as simply averaging the least PPG within the last 5 seasons of his career. This being said, his shot-creation and playmaking remained in the 90+ percentile for the most part, so without much to offer as reasoning for this slump, I’d like to mark the 2021–2022 season as a fluke for Dame.

4. Trae Young

Trae Young’s playmaking has reached the level of CP3’s, in addition to his prolific shot production. The fact that Young shot 46% from the field and 38.2% from three (both career bests) while ranking in the bottom 10th percentile for perimeter shooting openness is insane. Yes, Young is an absolute liability on defense, but the Hawks’ addition of Dejounte Murray just gives Trae even more justification in continuing to hone his offensive game. This is the same offensive game that opened up almost 19 shots for his teammates per 100 team possessions. If the Hawks can surround Trae with a defensive safety net, maybe it could finally push Atlanta deeper into the playoffs again.

3. Ja Morant

Ja Morant’s box plus/minus started at 0.3, then decreased to -0.4, and then skyrocketed to 6.1. This stat measures a basketball player’s contributions to their team when they’re on the floor; basketball-reference.com states that a rate of 0 and below can be attached to ordinary starters, 6th men or bench players, while 6+ is at least All-NBA caliber. Morant’s expedient path towards greatness can be attributed towards his steady growth of mastering the isolation game, which has seen his eFG% on iso-possessions increase from 47.8% during his rookie year to 71.9% last season. If you also consider the Memphis Grizzlies, who he led to 18 more wins than the prior season, Morant definitely deserved his Most Improved Player award with more trophies soon to come.

2. Stephen Curry

Stephen Curry looked poised to win his third MVP at the start of last season, but his numbers eventually diminished into arguably his worst season in over 5 years. Regardless, a bad season for Curry might be an MVP one in another season. Curry still accounted for the most win shares per 48 minutes for the Golden State Warriors, excluding Kevon Looney who played 18 more games, in addition to his box plus/minus rating that ranked 9th in the league even on an off year. Curry’s elite off-ball movement constantly establishes him as a threat, even if he was less accurate than usual this year, with almost 6 of his points per 75 possessions being created from such. Curry has never been a force on defense, but the Warriors’ depth allows him to often guard the opposition’s 3rd or 4th offensive option, minimizing potential damage. Again, Curry’s perimeter shooting was not his best last season, but he is still the best in the league at creating these chances and he will continue to emphasize this as he regains consistency.

1. Luka Doncic

When people think of Luka Doncic’s repertoire of skills, many think of his deadly step-back or his grimy efforts to the rim, and while these ball-dominant aspects of his game ring true, his playmaking is still underrated for being the best in the league at it. Luka’s 8.7 APG last year did not lead all players, but just as some of the other point guards on this list, his propensity for handling the rock has inadvertently opened up a substantial amount of opportunities for his teammates. Luka has the highest usage percentage in the NBA at 37.4%, subsequently ranking 2nd-best at box-creation with the estimated 16 shots per 100 possessions that he opens up for teammates. Luka is also similarly as efficient at creating space around the perimeter as Curry, albeit the space is minimal, as only 9.1% of his threes are uncontested, which makes his above-average shooting splits even more impressive. Luka is even improving on the other side of possessions as depicted by his career-best DRtg. With 3 All-NBA nominations under his belt, MVP seems like the next reasonable step.