FanPost

League's Best Point Guards, and Why Everyone Should Love Raymond

We shouldn't love Raymond because he's great, but because he's as good as it gets right now, and there ain't no other date for the dance in the foreseeable future. The below list suggests why.

I have neither the expertise or desire to break this down too far, but in tiers, at least, here's a stab:

1st tier: Paul, Rose, D. Williams

2nd tier: Rondo, Lowry, Curry , Westbrook, Nash (not defensively, but has huge value to rest of team on offense--see Stoudamire, Amare.)

3rd tier: Lawson, Parker, Billups, Holiday

4th tier: Miller, Jack, Collison, Rubio, Kidd, Jennings, Felton, Teague, Conley, Stuckey (maybe 5th)

5th tier: Evans, Augustin, G. Hill, Lou Williams, Mo Williams, Kyrie Irving (obviously will rise)

6th tier: Nelson, Chalmers, Calderon, Ridnour, Dragic, Maynor, Shumpert, Harris (maybe--boy is he ever falling off the cliff....)

So, that's a rough list, on a good day Felton's in the third tier, on another he's in the 6th, but I think he's about in the middle of the 4th group. He's gotta start shooting better than he's been doing so far, but to be fair a lot of people aren't shooting well this season. Anyway, I can't say I'd rather have anyone in group 5 running the team, though obviously I'd trade him for Irving. Evans strikes me as the kind of point who just doesn't make the team any better, despite sometimes putting up great numbers. I'd swap Felton for Rubio for sure, and Jennings if one could guarantee that he did a lot more passing than he does sometimes with an often paltry Bucks offense. Conley's erratic and awfully small, Teague can't shoot, Kidd's too old, Jack is pretty close, I think. The Jack for Bayless pick was a poor outcome, I'd say. Anyway, sorry for the ramble, but the upshot is this:

Felton's a middle of the pack point guard, better than many, with a bit of upside on his best days. The point guards who are better than him are not going to be traded except if they're old (like Billups) or if we trade LaMarcus. We're not trading LaMarcus. So, I suggest that we give Raymond our support and hope that he plays toward the high end of his range--there's not anything meaningful out there to replace him. Now, a back up point guard would be nice....

Addendum: It's a little difficult, too, to balance offense/defense, Nash being the most obvious example of the discrepancies therein, but Andre also (he's up a tier on offense, but probably down one and occasionally two on offense).

Would love to hear from people who'd push people up and down this list. Let 'er rip if you're so inclined.

Peace.