If you were playing in the NBA today, which player would you pick as your point guard? We asked this question to our All-Star Analysts, Larry Fonacier and Willie Wilson, and here are their answers.
Larry Fonacier picks Luka Doncic
I’m picking Luka Doncic as my PG if I was playing in the NBA today. The guy has all the answers to any kind of pick-and-roll defense. It makes life so much easier, even if the ball stays in his hands for a long time, he’s never out of control. He always knows what he’s doing - everything is calculated.
The way he’s scoring right now and carrying his team, he’s so confident that he can take on anyone. He can really make his teammates better. Not only can he make the highlight pass, he’s also making the correct pass that leads to baskets. For the season, Doncic is averaging eight assists per game.
I also like Doncic because of his “limitations.” He’s not that fast but he can get anywhere he wants on the court, even if he doesn’t have that burst of speed.
One more thing that I like about him is that even the strongest guards in the league cannot guard him. Even Kawhi Leonard has difficulty guarding him.
With the Dallas Mavericks’ five-out offense, pretty much if you’re a shooter, you’re just waiting for him to deliver you the ball and he’ll make the right read for you.
I’d like to team up with a point guard like Doncic, who’s definitely in the top 3 candidates—maybe even top 2—in winning MVP this year, barring any injuries. He no longer has Jalen Brunson beside him so his usage rate is even higher.
Willie Wilson picks Steph Curry
If I were to choose a current point guard to play with, it would have to be a player who is a known winner. For that reason, I have to choose Steph Curry. He’s a four-time NBA champion who finally won his first finals MVP last season. If winning is the most important thing, surrounding yourself with the best possible teammates will increase your chances more than anything else.
For selfish reasons as well, playing with Steph would help any player statistically because of all the gravity he brings with him. According to LeBron James, you have to start guarding the two-time scoring champ as soon as he pulls up to the arena or as soon as he gets out of bed. That alone increases his teammates' statistical production because the shots are so open for everyone else by virtue of multiple defenders chasing Curry all over the court and calling for the help of their teammates.
If I were to imagine myself playing alongside him, I think we would make each other better on the court. I like to think of myself—during my time playing—as a good screener and someone who loved getting my teammates open shots. When my defender doubles Curry, because he is the ultimate threat anywhere on the court, then I would be open for good looks right at the basket. The times I would have the ball in my hands I think I’d be able to facilitate enough where I’d be able to get Curry or any other open teammate the ball in a position to score. The Warriors actually have a player very similar to what I just described: Draymond Green.
Then there is the fun factor of playing with the eight-time All-Star. He plays with so much joy and passion on the floor and it trickles all the way down to his teammates and flows through the arena which makes for exciting basketball. You can always count on Curry to perform.
The all-time leader in 3-pointers made is already a top 10 player of all time, and to have the opportunity to share the court with greatness would be a dream come true for any player, especially me.
Larry on Willie picking Steph
We can never disagree with Steph Curry, you’d be a fool to disagree and say you picked wrong in anything related to Curry.
But with Doncic, at least the guy can post up. I like how he can bully guys in the post when his outside game isn’t working. He can even post up centers like Deandre Ayton—that’s pretty impressive. That’s something Curry can’t do. When it comes to range, you can say that Doncic can shoot from the same areas as Curry.
Doncic is also younger than Curry, who’s already going through a bit of load management.
Willie played it safe by choosing the best point guard in the league, maybe next time we can choose lower-tier point guards. I was supposed to pick Jalen Brunson but I had to match up with his MVP-level pick. That’s why it’s Luka Doncic for me.
Willie on Larry picking Luka
So I don’t think Luka would actually work with Larry in his prime. Larry was a Reggie Miller-type player who came off screens and was a lockdown defender. He was also a secondary playmaker who can use ball screens to make plays. That means prime Larry needed the ball in his hands.
Luka dominates possessions right now. He has a NBA season-high usage rate of 39.1 percent, which would be the third-highest all-time behind Russell Westbrook’s 41.7 percent in 2016-17 and James Harden’s 40.5 percent in 2018-19. This means other players on Luka’s team will just stand around and wait for him to create. That also means Luka’s high usage will leave prime Larry with nothing but crumbs.
I would say that Luka would be great for Larry playing today. Larry could just stay in the corner and take kick-out 3-pointers all game. He can let Luka do all the work.
