Over the last few years, the point guard crop in the NBA Draft has been weak. While budding superstars like Kyrie Irving and Damien Lillard have been lottery picks, most teams have opted to pursue other needs and prospects rather than select their floor general. While general managers league-wide prefer bigs over point guards when it comes to drafting philosophy, it’s undeniable that the NBA is a point guard driven league now.
With the changes the NBA has mad to defensive rules, point guards are more important than ever before. Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Rajon Rondo are just a few examples of the point guards that are able to dominate and control the outcome of games.
Speed is certainly an important factor to being a successful point guard, but NBA teams also need players that can hit open jumpers, create their own offense, and have excellent court vision. As the June draft approaches, NBA teams are scouring the globe to find the top point guards available and while up to this point they have not found a transformational prospect in the mold of Irving, they may find some serviceable prospects that can do several things well enough to help a team. Here are the top point guard prospects for this year.
C.J. McCollum, PG, Lehigh
While there certainly are some who believe McCollum is more of a combo-guard or shooting guard, I see him as a Steph Curry type in the NBA. With McCollum’s scoring prowess and ability to take and make big shots he can easily transition to the NBA game. McCollum has to be everything for his team to win, and once surrounded by a talented cast should be able to facilitate some, but as it stands, he is exceeding his career efficiency marks in nearly every offensive category. On a side note, McCollum did break a bone in his foot that will likely sideline him until the conference tournament, but regardless of how his collegiate career ends, he is a sure-fire lottery pick.
Marcus Smart, PG, Oklahoma State
Smart, one of the most impactful freshmen this season, has burst onto the scene and seen his draft stock rise dramatically. Looking at Smart, he is a physical specimen that will be able to bulldoze through most NBA point guards, but who still has the athleticism to get by his defender as well. While Smart is not the shooter that others on this list are, he plays very good defense and fills up the stat sheet. For teams wanting someone in the mold of a Russell Westbrook, Smart may be that man, but also has more bulk. It’s not inconceivable that some NBA GMs will view Smart as a shooting guard. As long as Smart doesn’t have a massive letdown in play over the final two months of the season, he should be a lottery pick.
should have read he IS too small. Burke I mean.
I think there is a touch of Rondo to Smith’s game. I like his defensive intensity a lot. He can learn some of the rest. Pressey is for sure an NBA guard. Maybe a role player because of size, but size didnt hurt ty lawson and I can see Pressey doing that. I love McCallum…..I think this kid is a second round steal. Im less impressed with Burke…..he’s not too small. Watch our for Nemanja Nedovic, a kid i saw in europe two years ago. He’s very big for one thing…and strong. Has insane vertical …really in the high end…..he has a less than tight handle, but he can learn. He’s also really tough. If Aaron Craft comes out, which i doubt, he’s as good defensivly as anyone I ve seen. Wolters is intriguing, but man……defense….can he play defense in the bigs?
Phil pressey not an NBA Pg… And Nate wolters is better than over half of those guys you talked about
I do like Wolters but project him as purely a shooter. Doesn’t have the quickness to handle to be a PG from what I have seen in person and on film. Wolters is a candidate to go in round 2.
I have seen Wolters play countless games live and your projecting him as a shooter shows that you haven’t took the time to truly “watch” him play. He is a scorer and a playmaker far more then a shooter and everytime he matches up against a “NBA level” guard he shines. His first step and lateral quickness are far underated, ie held Isaiah Canaan out of the paint and held to 6 points in first half until he injured his back. No player in his position can play 39 minutes put up 23 6 and 6 and go 100% pressure defense, that is the disadvanage of being on a midlevel team with fewer guys that can defend. Wolter’s is the best pure point guard in the country and whoever picks him up won’t regret it.
Right on Jesse! A message to all the Wolters doubters: check out the YouTube highlight reel of Wolters dismantling Tony Wroten and the Washington Huskies last year, and this year’s opening game at Alabama where Nate the Great dropped 30 on Alabama (both games on the road, btw), and SDSU lost on a buzzer-beater. Last I checked ,Alabama was tied for 2nd in the SEC, and no one besides Wolters had even scored 25 against the Crimson Tide in 2012-2013. Just sayin’. Over and out.