Ranking the top 5 point guards in the Eastern Conference ahead of the 2021-22 NBA season

The 2021-22 NBA season is less than a month away. The excitement among NBA fans is palpable. After the Milwaukee Bucks won the 2021 Larry O’Brien trophy, the question on everyone’s mind is whether the Bucks can repeat their success or will a retooled LA Lakers roster or healthy Brooklyn Nets have a championship-run of their own?

As we countdown to the start of the season (begins October 19), we will also take a look at the best talent in the NBA. We have already ranked the top 10 players in the league and have also ranked the top 10 by position. We will now take a look at the five best players at each position for each conference. We make a start here by listing down the top five point guards in the Eastern Conference.

#5 LaMelo Ball (Charlotte Hornets)

This may surprise some of you who may think that Kyle Lowry (now with Miami) or Lonzo Ball (now with Chicago) or even the more solid Malcolm Brogdon (Indiana) should get picked ahead of LaMelo. But the truth is that LaMelo was very good in his rookie season where he picked up Rookie of the Year honors.

Injuries aside, LaMelo averaged 15.7 ppg, while also averaging 5.9 rpg and 6.1 apg on a Charlotte team that wasn’t necessarily bursting with talent. He is also the youngest player now in NBA history to pick up a triple-double when he notched up a 22-point, 12-rebound and 11-assist game versus Atlanta on 9 January 2021. If LaMelo can continue to improve his game as he heads into his second NBA season, there is no reason why he shouldn’t be sitting at the top of the point guards list in the Eastern Conference sooner rather than later.

#4 Ben Simmons (Philadelphia 76ers)

Simmons’ discontent with the Philadelphia 76ers apart, there is no doubting his playmaking ability. He is also a very good defender, completely capable of pressurizing the best of players on the opposite team. He finished second in the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year rankings. Over his four-year NBA career, Simmons has averaged 15.9 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 7.7 apg, proof that he is one of the best rebounding guards in the league.

But Simmons needs to get his shooting woes sorted. Not only is that at the crux of his current situation with Philadelphia, but it is getting in the way of him fulfilling his potential. The fact that he has made only five triples as a point guard in the modern NBA is quite shocking. But considering that he has even experienced a drop-off in his mid-range shooting (between 16 feet and the three-point line) going 12-of-30 in his rookie season to just one-of-two in 2020-21, it places him in a rather dire situation. He simply must get better.

#3 Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks)

Holiday isn’t a flashy player like Kyrie Irving or someone who can shoot lights out from three a la Trae Young, but the best thing about him is that he is a solid player. It was this same quality about him that helped the Milwaukee Bucks land their first NBA title since 1971. His steal on Devin Booker, followed by his alley-oop to Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 5 of the 2021 NBA Finals epitomizes his qualities as a two-way player.

Holiday averaged 17.7 ppg in 2020-21, with 6.1 assists to go with it. He also shot 50% from the field and a near 40% from downtown, indicating his ability to shoot the ball. He was also named to the 2021 NBA All-Defensive First team (his second overall selection), a vindication of the value he brings to the Bucks on both ends of the floor. The bigger concern, though, about Holiday is that he has played more than 70 games for his team only on one instance in the last eight NBA seasons. At age 31, Holiday isn’t getting any younger. With the amount of expectations from him on both ends of the floor, he has to stay fit and healthy as the Bucks look to repeat their championship success in the coming few seasons.

#2 Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets)

Has the NBA seen a player with better handles than Kyrie Irving? Irving is a streaky player, who is difficult to stop when he gets going. He is unafraid of driving to the basket against taller players and is extremely deft at finishing with both hands. That he became the latest addition to the 50-40-90 club in 2020-21 is proof of just how good a shooter he is. Irving has shot better than 40% from long range in all but one of his last five NBA seasons.

One reason that stops Irving from being at the top of this list is that he has had very little playoff success minus the big names that he has played with. Without LeBron James or Kevin Durant by his side, Irving has precisely one playoff series win to his credit. This happened when Irving’s Boston Celtics team beat an undermanned Indiana Pacers unit in round one of the 2019 Playoffs. If Irving wants more recognition, he needs to step up more in the absence of his more illustrious teammates.

#1 Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks)

With the way he put the Atlanta Hawks on his fairly ‘young’ shoulders in the 2021 postseason, Trae Young has earned his place at pole position at the point guard spot in the East. Young was fantastic as he went from averaging 25.3 ppg and 9.4 apg in the 2020-21 regular season to averaging 28.8 ppg and 9.5 apg in the Playoffs. Riding on his performance, the Hawks stormed into the Eastern Conference Finals where they certainly put the Bucks under pressure.

His 25-point, 18-assist game in Game 4 of the Hawks’ second-round series versus Philadelphia and his 48-point, 11-assist showing versus Milwaukee in Game 1, proved that Young is destined for greatness. Now if he can only keep up the consistency and take the Hawks to even greater heights, we will see Young sitting at the very top of the point guards list for years to come.

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