NBA’s top 10 guards, ranked: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ascending as Mavericks backcourt gets two nods |Max Sporty|

In the latest position breakdown of our recently published top 100 NBA playerswe’ll take a look at the top 10 guards as ranked by our panel of 10 NBA analysts. Reminder: This is a projection for the 2024-25 season. There are some educated guesses here.

As for the position names, it’s fair to ask what, exactly, constitutes a guard these days. Well, the point guards are easy; they are the guys who control the offense. But that can get sticky when so many wings effectively serve as point guards initiating the offense. Jayson Tatum and Devin Booker feel like very similar players, but Tatum classifies as a wing with guard skills, while Booker actually played 91% of his minutes last season as Phoenix’s point guard.

Booker most comfortably classifies as a combo guard, meaning he functions with and without the ball and as a lead facilitator and scorer at different times and in different lineups. Donovan Mitchell is another combo guard. Just like Stephen Curry. And Kyrie Irving.

Alas, they are all rangers. And according to our rankings, these are the breed’s top 10 heading into next season.

Top 100 rank: 25

For all the concerns about how Irving would fit on the Mavericks, both on and off the floor, he put together one of his best seasons to date without ruffling any feathers. Irving reminded us all why he is among the best secondary options in NBA history. Irving still has the best handle in the league, can easily get to the rim and score from all three levels. The Mavericks certainly wouldn’t have gone to the NBA Finals without him, as he and Luka Doncic create one of the most dangerous backcourts in the league. — Jasmine Wimbish

Top 100 rank: 24

Last year’s ranking: 60. After the departure of James Harden, Maxey stepped into the No. 2 role in Philadelphia last season and made the jump from exciting young prospect to All-Star. For his efforts, he was rewarded with the Most Improved Player award. It will be interesting to see how Maxey’s role changes, if at all, with the arrival of Paul George. The great news for the Sixers is that he has the on- and off-ball skills to easily scale up and down depending on the situation. In fact, he may even be best as a slightly overqualified No. 3 option given his elite catch-and-shoot numbers (44.4% last season). — Jack Maloney

Top 100 rank: 19

Perennial top-10 scorer in the league. Mitchell recorded career highs in assists, rebounds and steals last season. He was spectacular when Darius Garland was out and he assumed total control of the offense as the sole playmaker. He’s virtually unstoppable when he goes down as a pull-up shooter given his strength, but his pull-up shooting percentages (35% overall and 30% from 3) dipped considerably last season. — Brad Botkin

Top 100 rank: 17

When Tyrese Haliburton was injured on January 9, he was averaging 23.6 points per game and an additional 32.3 points created from assists per game. That’s a total of 55.9 points of offense generated, which would be the highest combined total of the track era by a comfortable margin. The vision of Haliburton that most have in their head right now is of the compromised version that we mostly saw in the second half of the season and in the postseason. He became a bit of a meme for his Olympic role as bench vibe captain.

But remember…he was chosen to be a member of the most talented Olympic team of the 21st century for a reason. He’s a human fast break, an extraordinary stylistic force that enables the Pacers to play the only way that could ever have gotten their relatively meager collection of talent to the Eastern Conference finals. — Sam Quinn

Top 100 rank: 16

At his best, Morant is one of the most exciting guards in the league thanks to his flashy skills and bold creativity, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen him show that on the court. Between suspensions and injuries, the high-flyer has only played 70 total games in the last two seasons. Whether or not Morant can return to an All-NBA level is one of the biggest stories to watch this year. If so, the Grizzlies could be a real threat in the Western Conference. — Jack Maloney

Top 100 rank: 14

Booker has arguably become one of the most underrated players in the league and among the most effective. He’s a killer in the mid-range, and if he gets hot, he’s likely to drop 40+ points on you, and he shouldn’t even be taking very many 3s. He’s the type of plug-and-play guy any championship-contending team would love to have, and last season, we finally got to see Booker’s versatility after primarily playing point guard for a Suns team lacking in that department. It resulted in a career high year in assists for Booker, showing that not only is he one of the best shooting guards in the league, but you can also put him among the best point guards, too. — Jasmine Wimbish

Top 100 rank: 13

In May, Brunson became the fourth player in NBA history — and first since Michael Jordan in 1993 — to score 40 points or more in four consecutive playoff games. He had a total of 16 40-point games in 2023–24, postseason included; his former teammate Luka Doncic was the only player to have more than 10 such games. Not bad for a 6-foot-2 guy with a 6-foot-4 wingspan who went undrafted six years ago and, going into his fourth season, couldn’t command a four-year, $55 million extension from the Mavericks.

Now a full-fledged superstar, Brunson agreed to a four-year, $156.5 million extension this summer that was seen as a huge sacrifice. The deal will allow the Knicks to continue building a contender in Brunson’s image, with three of his college teammates with him for the long haul. Ideally, the addition of Mikal Bridges and the return of Julius Randle will mean Brunson won’t have to drop 40 as often in 2024-25, as New York relied heavily on Brunson’s scoring last season. That repetition of the team won as the Celtics with him on the court and as the Blazers with him on the bench. The only player whose presence on the court has made a bigger difference to his team’s offensive efficiency is the three-time MVP ranked #1 on this list. — James Herbert

Top 100 rank: 6

Curry continues to be an offense to himself with his inimitable movement and sheer shooting talent. At 36, it’s hard to see where he’s declined at all offensively, but what we’ve seen is that as great as an aging Curry remains, he needs better talent around him to get back into title contention. LeBron James can relate. — Brad Botkin

Top 100 rank: 4

Last year’s MVP runner-up, Gilgeous-Alexander, continues to move up these rankings as his Thunder move up the ranks. The 26-year-old guard led the NBA in drives for the fourth straight season in 2023-24, and, with improved spacing around him, opponents will have an even harder time disrupting his funky rhythm. According to Cleaning The Glass, Gilgeous-Alexander shot 69% at the rim and 51% from mid-range, both of which were career highs.

And while he doesn’t pull the toughest individual assignments on defense, there are few superstars more committed and disruptive to that end. No one recorded more steals than Gilgeous-Alexander last year, and only two players recorded more deflections. After adding one of those two players (Alex Caruso) and a center who will both protect the rim and serve as an offensive hub (Isaiah Hartenstein) this offseason, Oklahoma City projects to have a historically great defense and a more diverse offense, doing the job before its franchise player extremely clear: Take the team to a place it hasn’t been since 2012. — James Herbert

1. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks

Top 100 rank: 3

Even after six years in the league, it’s not uncommon to walk away from watching Doncic play and still think, “How does he do this?” He plays at the pace of paint drying on a wall, and yet we saw in the Mavericks’ run to the NBA Finals that even the most elite defenders couldn’t stop him. Doncic will make you pay if you try to double him, and if you switch big on him on the perimeter, he’ll likely drill a dramatic 3-pointer. He handles with finesse, bullies you in the paint and has some of the best assists in NBA history. He’s coming off the best statistical year of his career after leading the league in scoring, and he’s still only 25 years old. — Jasmine Wimbish

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