NBA Point Guards: Who’s the best?

This is the final installment of my series on the state of each position in the NBA. Click the links for shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards, and centers.

NBA point guards are the floor generals, who command their teams, orchestrating everything that happens on the court on both sides of the ball. They are an extension of the coach and need to have that extra “high basketball IQ” to outsmart the opponents.

They need to be able to score, but also run the offense and distribute the ball to teammates, making them better. That’s what great players do — make the players around them better. All these attributes combined are what makes being one of the elite NBA point guards so difficult. It really is an achievement to be great at probably the hardest position in the league.

Some of the greats include: Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, John Stockton, Steve Nash and many others.

But the question is, who is the best point guard in the league right now?

The list is comprised of Chris Paul (LAC), Stephen Curry (GS), Kyle Lowry (TOR), John Wall (WAS), Kyrie Irving (CLE), and surprisingly Isaiah Thomas (PHX). Did not expect to have Thomas on the list, but his stats last year warrant it.

Notable snubs are Tony Parker, Eric Bledsoe, Damian Lillard, Ty Lawson, and Mike Conley. They are all just such good point guards, but there has to be a cutoff point somewhere. The stats make the cuts.

For this article, we are not including Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook due to health, or Goran Dragic due to the fact he’s listed as a shooting guard and was included in the shooting guard article.

As always we’ll start with points per game, as the point guards need to always at least be a scoring threat.

Apr 13, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Isaiah Thomas (22) dribbles the ball during the fourth quarter of the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-103. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports /

Points Per Game

Stephen Curry: 24.0
Kyrie Irving: 20.8
Isaiah Thomas: 20.3
John Wall: 19.3
Chris Paul: 19.1
Kyle Lowry: 17.9

It is no surprise Curry tops this category as his (and Klay Thompson’s) sharpshooting are what keeps the Golden State Warriors’ offense flowing. Then there is a drop-off with everyone else clustered together.

The next category is assists per game. This is the central statistic used to measure point guards, despite whether it should be or not.

Assists Per Game

Chris Paul: 10.7
John Wall: 8.8
Stephen Curry: 8.5
Kyle Lowry: 7.4
Isaiah Thomas: 6.3
Kyrie Irving: 6.1

Paul (along with the injured Boston Celtics’ Rajon Rondo) are the masters at this. Paul is the clear winner with Curry and Wall as the second tier and Lowry and Thomas as the third tier.

The next stat up is true shooting percentage. This is a shooting metric that takes into account free throws, two-pointers and threes. This stat is important because the point guards have the ball in their hands so much and sometimes take a lot of shots and must be efficient with those shots.

May 3, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) attempts a shot defended by Los Angeles Clippers guard Darren Collison (2) and forward Matt Barnes (22) during the fourth quarter in game seven of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Golden State Warriors 126-121. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /

True Shooting Percentage

Stephen Curry: 61.0%
Chris Paul: 58.0%
Isaiah Thomas: 57.4%
Kyle Lowry: 56.7%
Kyrie Irving: 53.3%
John Wall: 52.4%

Curry is such a sharpshooter from deep and otherwise you expect him to lead this category. Chris Paul sits solidly in second. Thomas is surprisingly in third, followed quickly by Lowry before the drop-off to Irving and Wall.

Next is the over-arching metric player efficiency rating that takes into account most of what a player does out on the court. The average player in the NBA is a 15.

Player Efficiency Rating

Chris Paul: 25.98
Stephen Curry: 24.13
Isaiah Thomas: 20.54
Kyle Lowry: 20.20
Kyrie Irving: 20.14
John Wall: 19.61

Here, Paul is the clear winner with Curry not too far behind. Thomas springs up again in third as they all group close together after the top two.

The final metric is value added. This determines how many points that player produced for his team over the course of the season.

Value Added

Stephen Curry: 557.6
Chris Paul: 485.2
Kyle Lowry: 392.9
John Wall: 383.0
Isaiah Thomas: 355.6
Kyrie Irving: 340.4

Here, Curry has a pretty significant advantage with Paul also pretty far ahead of the rest of the pack in second. Then the rest are grouped.

Overall, Curry won the points per game, true shooting percentage and value added metrics, while Paul won assists per game and player efficiency rating categories. Paul is a much better defender and leader so after weighting all the metrics he is currently the best of the NBA point guards.

There are so many good point guards with Irving now playing with LeBron James and Kevin Love making his job that much easier. Lowry along with DeMar DeRozan are trying to see how far they can take the Toronto Raptors. Wall is trying the same thing with his backcourt partner Bradley Beal.

Isaiah Thomas was an intriguing addition. He played really well for Sacramento in 2013-14 and as the backup point guard in Phoenix will tear it up and has a great shot at sixth-man-of-the-year honors in 2014-15.

More from FanSided.com

NFL Power Rankings Week 3: Seahawks, Broncos flip-flop; Cardinals crack top 5
College Basketball: Preseason AAC power rankings
NBA: 7 players with the most to lose in 2014-15
College Football Player Rankings: Week 4
All 30 NHL franchises ranked by all-time greatness

Home/NBA