2021 NBA Point Guard Ranking
The Point Guard is typically the shortest player on the team, and is responsible for directing offensive plays by assisting teammates and finishing moves.
10. Mike Conley Jr., Utah Jazz
Conley was named an All-Star replacement and his team, the Jazz, finished with the best record in the league.
His numbers, while solid, were not as impressive as some of the other point guards in consideration for the 10th spot,
including Ja Morant, Jrue Holiday and Malcolm Brogdon.
However, Conley, in his 14th NBA season and second in Utah, did shoot 41.2 percent from 3-point range, his best mark from downtown in his career.
Other lead guards who deserve a mention on this list are LaMelo Ball, his older brother Lonzo, Dejounte Murray, D’Angelo Russell, Darius Garland and Jamal Murray, who would have probably ranked somewhere between seven and 10 if he didn’t tear his ACL in mid-April.
9. De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings
Offense, with Fox orchestrating, was not a problem for the Kings, and really hasn’t been since the lightning-quick point guard arrived in 2017.
It’s their poor defense that once again kept them out of the postseason. The Kings ranked 12th in offensive efficiency this season, but were last in defensive efficiency.
The strange thing is they have tried fixing this issue the last couple years by bringing in players with good defensive reputations. Nonetheless, Fox continues to make more strides in his offensive game, averaging a career-best 25.2 points this season.
Although still not a great outside shooter, he did bump up his 3-point percentage, going from 29.2 percent in 2019-20 to 32.2 percent in 2020-21.
8. Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
Coming into the NBA, Young said Steve Nash, not Stephen Curry like so many would have assumed based on his play style in college at Oklahoma, was the player he wanted to model his game after.
Fast forward to now and the 22-year-old is indeed resembling a young Nash.
His vision and instincts on the offensive end are off the charts and this year, more than in his first two NBA seasons, he made a concerted effort to get his teammates involved.
Even though he didn’t shoot a great percentage from the field or from 3-point distance, Young’s relentlessness getting into the paint paid off.
He led the NBA in pick-and-roll points and ranked third in free throw attempts, which at his size – 6-foot-1, 180 pounds – is quite extraordinary.
While it’s likely that either Monty Williams or Tom Thibodeau is going to win Coach of the Year honors, Nate McMillan deserves to be in that conversation even though he is just an interim coach. The Hawks went an Eastern Conference-best 27-11 after he took over on March 1.
7. Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Lakers
Westbrook is now the league’s all-time leader in triple-doubles. He had 38 of them this season, giving him 184 of them in his career.
Oscar Robertson is now second on that list with 181 triple-doubles. Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd and LeBron James round out the top five.
Westbrook, who led the league in assists, averaged a triple-double for the fourth time in his last five seasons, truly extraordinary and perhaps the most underappreciated accomplishment in professional sports history.
6. Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers
All of the players ranked seven through 10 posted better offensive stats than Simmons, who actually averaged career lows in points, rebounds and assists.
He also still doesn’t have a jump shot, which might never change. But, what happens on the defensive side of the ball just shouldn’t be ignored.
The idea that nobody in the NBA in this era is playing defense is a total fallacy.
In fact, an argument could be made that the ones who are playing stellar defense, Simmons included, are some of the best defenders of all time.
There’s a reason why the Sixers and Jazz are the No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences. It’s largely because of the defensive job All-Stars like Simmons and Gobert did.
5. Chris Paul, Phoenix Suns
Paul coming in at No. 5 on this list seems low. But, after you see who the top four are, it just feels like the right spot.
The 11-time NBA All-Star, acquired by Phoenix last offseason, came extremely close to joining the 50-40-90 club, exclusive to just nine players all time in the NBA, including Kyrie Irving who achieved it this season.
CP3 shot 49.9 percent from the field, 39.5 percent from 3-point range and a league-best 93.4 percent from the free throw line.
His stats, however, don’t mean a whole lot. It’s the impact he made on a team that prior to this season hadn’t made the playoffs since 2010 that is most significant.
Some even believe that he, not Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo or anyone else, should win the MVP award.
4. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
There were 14 50-plus-point scoring performances in 2020-21. One of them occurred on March 16 when Lillard, who has 12 such performances in his career, racked up 50 against the Pelicans.
In one of the other meetings against New Orleans, the six-time NBA All-Star had 43 points and 16 assists.
For the fifth time in the last six seasons, Lillard ranked in the top three in pick-and-roll rolling. He finished third this year behind Trae Young and Luka Doncic.
3. James Harden, Brooklyn Nets
Harden, traded to Brooklyn from Houston on Jan. 14, made history a couple days after the blockbuster deal when he became the first player ever to record a 30-point triple-double in a team debut.
On opening night, still with the Rockets then obviously, he became the first player to post 40-plus points and 15-plus assists in a season opener.
If he didn’t miss 20 games because of a hamstring injury down the stretch of the season,
it’s very possible Harden, who has shown off his elite playmaking skills since becoming a Net, would be the favorite to win his second MVP award.
2. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks
One of the most impressive triple-doubles ever recorded in NBA history occurred on May 1 when Doncic, who had 11 of them this season, posted 31 points, 12 rebounds and 20 assists.
That was only the fourth 30-point, 20-assist triple-double ever recorded. Russell Westbrook also had one of those this season.
Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson are the only others to do it.
Doncic’s 3-point shooting improved this season, going from 31.6 percent last year to 35.1 percent this year. The Mavs’ do-it-all floor general was clutch, too, burying a pair of game-winning 3-pointers.
1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
For the second time in his career, Curry led the NBA in scoring. Only he and Michael Jordan have won scoring titles at age 33 or older.
Also, the Warriors’ superstar guard is now one of four players all time with multiple championships, MVPs and scoring titles.
Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jordan are the others. In April, Curry made 96 3-pointers, the most threes ever knocked down by a player in a single month in NBA history.
The seven-time NBA All-Star’s best performance this season came on Jan. 3 when he exploded for a career-best 62 points against the Blazers.
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