While the start of the regular season is still a ways away, it’s never too soon to rank the available talent in the league, starting with the point guard position, where Cleveland Cavaliers estranged floor general Kyrie Irving ranked a mere seventh out of 30, according to HoopsHype’s Mika Honkasalo.
These projections show another two Eastern Conference point guards above Irving. Here is the top 10:
- Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
- Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)
- Chris Paul (Houston Rockets)
- John Wall (Washington Wizards)
- Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers)
- Isaiah Thomas (Boston Celtics)
- Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers)
- Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors)
- Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies)
- Goran Dragic (Miami Heat)
Out of the 10-best point guards, only Dragic has been rumored to be part of a trade, and that was only due to the remote possibility of Irving landing with the Heat.
The one-spot has become so precious in the league that almost no team is willing to trade theirs once they find a valuable player to run the offense.
Irving has been mired by his defensive deficiencies and at times his unwillingness to get back in transition to help his teammates as a team defender. While not many point guards are particularly good defenders, Irving’s complete lapses of focus and sometimes half-spirited efforts to defend make him a liability and at times a nightmare to coach when he replicates his lack of effort in the playoffs.
He’s proven to be a powerhouse as an isolation player but hasn’t tapped into his full potential, remaining a scoring first-and-always type of point guard instead of looking for ways to create offense for others.
The 25-year-old’s talent as a one-on-one player is undeniable, especially coming off a career year — but Thomas and Lillard also enjoyed career-best seasons, making this a tough shave in the top 10 projections for this upcoming season.