Point Guards: As the 2023–24 season draws near, we thought it would be interesting to start a positional rating series in advance of the campaign.

Today, we start by evaluating the greatest floor generals in the NBA, a position that is stacked with skill and has a probable league MVP contender at the top of the list for the 2023–24 season. There are All-NBA hopefuls, possible All-Stars, future Hall of Famers, and some intriguing up-and-comers on this list, even outside of the Top 5.

Let’s get straight into our list of the top point guards for the upcoming 2023–2024 season.

1) Luka Doncic (Dallas)

Luka Doncic had a phenomenal season on an individual level in 2022–23, receiving first-team All–NBA honours after finishing second in the league in scoring and tenth in weekly assists. He did, though, miss the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season, which is difficult to excuse given what a loss Brunson turned out to be. Additionally, had Dallas not chosen to tank in order to prevent its first-round selection from going to the Knicks, a decision for which the team was fined $750,000, Doncic and co. could have been allowed to enter the playoffs through the play-in tournament.

Doncic is still among the best in the world outside of defence because he can score from all three levels, is extremely skilled with the ball in his hands, is a brilliant distributor, and is also a skilled rebounder. The only award outside of a championship ring Doncic is still lacking is the MVP, so it wouldn’t be strange to see the Mavericks have a successful season led by Doncic and Irving.

2) Stephen Curry (Golden State)

Despite being in his mid-30s, Stephen Curry, the starting point guards for the Warriors, is still one of the best basketball players in the world. He is an excellent scorer from outside the arc and from close range, a solid rebounder for his position, and a trustworthy distributor. Even though he took a number of shots that required a lot of skill each night, Curry still managed to shoot more than 50% of his field goal attempts last season.

This was an underappreciated accomplishment in the Golden State legend’s 2nd Team All-NBA campaign. Curry did lose a significant amount of time in 2022–23 due to injury, but we hope it won’t happen again in 2023–24. Curry is one of the most entertaining players to watch when he’s on the court.

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3) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City)

25-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander starts the 2023–24 season in great spirits after recently finishing his first All-Star season of his career and winning first team All–NBA honours after leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a very unexpected playoff berth inside of one game. One of the league’s cleverest scorers, Gilgeous-Alexander routinely leaves his opponents wondering what may happen next. He’s also an expert at getting to the line. In terms of nightly free-throw attempts (10.9) last season, he came in third, just behind two other big men who use his bulk to get to the line: Giannis Antetokounmpo, an All-NBA forward, and Joel Embiid, the league MVP.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who is only 25 years old, has quickly risen to the top of the NBA because of his outstanding short pull-up game and reliable three-point shooting. The Canadian ball-handler should have more significant opportunities in 2023–2024.

4) Ja Morant (Memphis)

Ja Morant, who is expected to miss the first 25 games of the 2023–24 season due to a suspension, nonetheless makes the Top 4 on our list, and for good reason: regardless of his extracurricular activities, the dynamic point guards consistently ranks among the NBA’s top performers when he steps on the floor. At point guard, Morant has the best bounce of any player, and he is also among the fastest athletes in the world. In 2022–23, his outside jumper did suffer a little bit, with Morant making only 30.7 per cent of his attempts from outside. If he can make progress there, he could eventually prove to be virtually unbeatable.

5) Damian Lillard (Portland)

The future Hall of Famer Damian Lillard, a seven-time All-Star, finally – fortunately – asked for a trade as soon as free agency started this summer, and we are still waiting to find out if the Blazers would give it or not. Will Lillard’s stats suffer if he ends up in Miami, as he desires, having to share the ball with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo? Most certainly, but a Big 3 of that calibre ought to be able to win many games together, which Lillard probably craves at this stage in his career.

Will the former Weber State standout be content to return to Portland and play for a rebuilding club once more in 2023–24 if the Heat don’t make the Blazers a compelling enough offer to convince Lillard to sign with them? Or maybe he’ll go somewhere else? Lillard is still one of the top scorers in the NBA, not only at his position but across the board, so regardless of where he plays, we anticipate another season of outstanding performances from him.

6) Trae Young (Atlanta)

Trae Young, one of the top assist producers from the previous season, continued to score well for the Atlanta Hawks in 2022–23, and in 2023–24, more of the same is anticipated of him. It will be especially interesting to watch how Young performs following a complete summer, training camp, and preseason under the direction of new head coach Quin Snyder. Young and his predecessor Nate McMillan were known to have a rocky relationship, so having a seasoned leader like Snyder in charge should help Young elevate his performance.

Last postseason, Young led the Hawks into the playoffs by defeating the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami in a play-in game. He even defeated the Celtics twice in the opening round, averaging 29.2 points and 10.2 assists.

7) Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana)

Tyrese Haliburton, the point guard for the Indiana Pacers, had a stellar season in 2022–23, finishing second in the NBA in nightly assists and winning All-Star honours in his first full season in Indiana. As the point guards, Haliburton is the total deal. He is a world-class facilitator with flare in his passing as well as an effective scorer from long range and the short midrange. The former Iowa State star possesses excellent touch close to the basket and, despite using an unconventional shooting technique, is a skilled outside shooter, making 40.8 percent of his three-point attempts thus far in his career.

He has the ability to make long shots off the dribble thus he doesn’t even need to have his feet ready to shoot from beyond the arc. It seems almost unjust that the Pacers are keeping Haliburton on a rookie-scale contract for another year when he will have one of the highest-paying contracts in the league before his max extension begins the following year.

8) De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento)

De’Aaron Fox had been performing at an All-Star calibre for a few seasons, but in 2022–23 he finally made it official and received 3rd Team All–NBA recognition for the season. Fox excelled in nearly every area in 2022–23, with the exception of his three-point shooting. He led the Sacramento Kings back to the postseason for the first time since 2005–06, ending the longest active postseason drought in American professional sports, while scoring 25 points and dishing out over six assists per game as a pick-and-roll ball handler.

Fox, one of the NBA’s quickest point guards, if not the absolute fastest, has improved his control and developed into a very effective and reliable player.

9) James Harden (Philadelphia)

Will James Harden even be playing for the Philadelphia 76ers by the start of the 2023–24 season? makes him one of the most challenging players on this ranking to estimate. If so, will he be displeased or put out an all-out effort? Or, will he fulfil his dream and join the Clippers by the start of the next season? Even if his scoring has slightly decreased as his agility has waned, Harden still ranks among the league’s best creators as seen by the fact that he led the league in assists last season while shooting a respectable 38.5 percent from outside the arc.

But in 2022–23, the Sixers once again lost in the second round of the playoffs as the previous league MVP managed just 39.3 percent shooting from the field. For Harden to establish himself as one of his team’s top choices to win a title, time is running out.

10) Jamal Murray (Denver)

Jamal Murray had a lot of questions going into the 2022–23 season, which made sense given that he had missed the whole previous season while recovering from an ACL tear. And while Murray had a strong regular season, there was some slight concern about whether he would be able to recapture his great postseason form when the playoffs finally arrived.

Murray hushed the sceptics, though, by playing admirably second fiddle to Nikola Jokic’s brilliance over the course of 20 postseason games as the Denver Nuggets swept their way to the 2022–23 title. When his shooting is on, Murray is one of the league’s most fearsome floor generals because to his excellent perimeter pull-up scoring and strong playmaking, as seen by his playoff performance the previous season.

11) LaMelo Ball (Charlotte)

LaMelo Ball, who is always dynamic, only played in 36 games last season due to injuries, and his season ended in late February as a result of an ankle fracture. Ball, the Rookie of the Year for 2021, is still a bit of a tough player to predict because of his history of injuries in the NBA. When in good condition, he is a brash floor general who enjoys leading the fast break and can make plays from wherever on the court.

He doesn’t do much in the way of defence either, and he’s not the most effective scorer. Can Ball develop into a significant player whose output directly relates to victories? Or is he only a pleasant player on a terrible team? He merely has to stay healthy for the time being, even if we think it’s the former. If he can accomplish it in 2023–24, the youngest Ball sibling should have another All-Star-caliber season.

12) Jalen Brunson (New York)

Jalen Brunson departed Dallas in free agency last summer and joined the New York Knicks, replacing the point guards Irving essentially had to replace for the Mavericks last season. When Brunson was given the enormous responsibility of serving as the Knicks’ alleged future lead guard saviour, he delivered by being exactly that, the finest floor general New York has seen in a very long time. With the stakes raised, Brunson’s performance in the postseason improved even more. He helped the Knicks advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2012–13 with postseason averages of 27.8 points and 5.6 assists during 11 playoff appearances.

We anticipate Brunson to make another leap in 2023–2024 as his effortless left-handed game, which is not overly dependent on athleticism, should continue to develop as he approaches his peak. And the fact that he won’t even be in the Top 50 in terms of pay next season despite playing at a level that is well above that is encouraging for the Knicks’ hopes of contending in the East.

13) Kyrie Irving (Dallas)

We may have underrated Kyrie Irving, the point guard for the Dallas Mavericks, who split time between Dallas and Brooklyn last season after asking for a trade from the latter team and joining the former. Since he continues to be an excellent scorer and ball-handler with highly effective scoring numbers, Irving probably would have made the Top 10, if not the Top 5, of our list if we were only discussing basketball. The best-case scenario for Irving’s first full season with the Mavericks in 2023–24 is tough to predict, though, since something else might always arise to hinder his performance or knock him off the court entirely.

It would be a positive step for the eight-time All-Star if Irving could play out the entire season in Dallas without at least asking for a trade.

14) Darius Garland (Cleveland)

When you take into account the normal level of difficulty on his shot attempts, Darius Garland is a dazzling point guard with exceptional outside shooting stats. After missing out on the All-Star squad the previous season despite being named to it the season before, he should be bitter going into the 2023–24 season. Garland’s averages did seem to stall last season, going from 21.7 points per game to 21.6 and from 8.6 assists to 7.8 from his third campaign to his fourth. It’s possible that having to share so much of the backcourt burden with star 2-guard Donovan Mitchell for the first time was the reason.

Regardless, Garland’s excellent speed, deft ball handling, and propensity for three-point shooting have already helped him establish himself as an All-Star-level point guard, and 2023–24 should be more of the same for the former Vanderbilt Commodore.

15) Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee)

Jrue Holiday, a two-time All-Star, was one of the greatest two-way point guards in the league last season, routinely averaging over 19 points and handing out seven assists per game while still retaining his status as a top one-on-one defender. Despite the Milwaukee Bucks having the No. 1 seed in the East last season, they were eliminated in the Round of 16 by the Miami Heat in five games. Holiday did not fare as well in the postseason, but he is not solely to blame. Due to the fact that Holiday is still at the top of his game and hasn’t yet seen much age-related deterioration, we predict that he will continue to perform well in 2023–2024.

These are the top point guards for the 2023–2024 season. Let us know your reviews in the comment section below.

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The top point guards for the 2023–2024 season are ranked

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