2026 NBA Draft Point Guards

[ezhkw8u69e]

Philon won't be a good defender. Guys like him never are.

None of these point guards will be "good" defenders if they are high usage. That's just not reality. The best you can hope for is basically Stephen Curry on defense.

What do you mean by ‘guys like him’? Is it simply about his size or about more than just that?

It's mostly skinny high usage guards are never good defenders. Or really any high usage point guards. They just exert way too much energy on offense to be good on the other end. Pretty much without exception.

[FarBeyondDriven]

Philon won't be a good defender. Guys like him never are.

None of these point guards will be "good" defenders if they are high usage. That's just not reality. The best you can hope for is basically Stephen Curry on defense.

Peterson will be an elite defender. Flemings should be well above average for the position as well due to his quickness.

[ezhkw8u69e]

Philon won't be a good defender. Guys like him never are.

None of these point guards will be "good" defenders if they are high usage. That's just not reality. The best you can hope for is basically Stephen Curry on defense.

Peterson will be an elite defender. Flemings should be well above average for the position as well due to his quickness.

There's zero chance Peterson will be an elite defender and have anywhere near 30% usage. That just isn't a thing that happens in the NBA.

[Caneman786]

Philon won't be a good defender. Guys like him never are.

None of these point guards will be "good" defenders if they are high usage. That's just not reality. The best you can hope for is basically Stephen Curry on defense.

What do you mean by ‘guys like him’? Is it simply about his size or about more than just that?

It's mostly skinny high usage guards are never good defenders. Or really any high usage point guards. They just exert way too much energy on offense to be good on the other end. Pretty much without exception.

Jrue Holiday, Cade Cunningham, Dennis Schroder, Amen Thompson, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, Jason Kidd, Stephon Castle, Immanuel Quickley, the current MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? All these guys had usage rates above 20%, most above 25%, several above 30%.

Stephen Curry can never be the "best you can hope for" on defense.

Philon won't be a good defender. Guys like him never are.

None of these point guards will be "good" defenders if they are high usage. That's just not reality. The best you can hope for is basically Stephen Curry on defense.

Peterson will be an elite defender. Flemings should be well above average for the position as well due to his quickness.

There's zero chance Peterson will be an elite defender and have anywhere near 30% usage. That just isn't a thing that happens in the NBA.

It does though, and those people who can do it usually become types of superstars, like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan (both of whom have extremely similar physical proportions to Peterson), and Dwyane Wade did.

Peterson is mocked as the #1 pick right now in what is supposed to be one of the strongest drafts ever, so it makes sense to see potential in him to break the mold the same way these greats did. The type of potential and raw talent to have the capability of this is why, even though he hasn't yet played 5 full games, he's seen as being above Boozer and Dybantsa.

People would probably be disappointed if Peterson only ever became as good as Jrue Holiday. That's more of a goal for the Kingston Flemingses and Darius Acuffs of the world. Darryn is going to be aiming for the stars.

[ezhkw8u69e]

What do you mean by ‘guys like him’? Is it simply about his size or about more than just that?

It's mostly skinny high usage guards are never good defenders. Or really any high usage point guards. They just exert way too much energy on offense to be good on the other end. Pretty much without exception.

Jrue Holiday, Cade Cunningham, Dennis Schroder, Amen Thompson, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, Jason Kidd, Stephon Castle, Immanuel Quickley, the current MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? All these guys had usage rates above 20%, most above 25%, several above 30%.

Stephen Curry can never be the "best you can hope for" on defense.

Peterson will be an elite defender. Flemings should be well above average for the position as well due to his quickness.

There's zero chance Peterson will be an elite defender and have anywhere near 30% usage. That just isn't a thing that happens in the NBA.

It does though, and those people who can do it usually become types of superstars, like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan (both of whom have extremely similar physical proportions to Peterson), and Dwyane Wade did.

Peterson is mocked as the #1 pick right now in what is supposed to be one of the strongest drafts ever, so it makes sense to see potential in him to break the mold the same way these greats did. The type of potential and raw talent to have the capability of this is why, even though he hasn't yet played 5 full games, he's seen as being above Boozer and Dybantsa.

People would probably be disappointed if Peterson only ever became as good as Jrue Holiday. That's more of a goal for the Kingston Flemingses and Darius Acuffs of the world. Darryn is going to be aiming for the stars.

You have a reading comprehension problem bro. I specifically said "high usage guards". You listed off a bunch of low usage guys. Again, high usage guys are never elite defenders. Never. It's just not a thing that ever happens.

I mean bro you listed **** Amen Thompson as if he's relevant to a conversation about point guard defense. The dude is 6'8" and his usage is 21%. Please try harder next time.

[Caneman786]

It's mostly skinny high usage guards are never good defenders. Or really any high usage point guards. They just exert way too much energy on offense to be good on the other end. Pretty much without exception.

Jrue Holiday, Cade Cunningham, Dennis Schroder, Amen Thompson, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, Jason Kidd, Stephon Castle, Immanuel Quickley, the current MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? All these guys had usage rates above 20%, most above 25%, several above 30%.

Stephen Curry can never be the "best you can hope for" on defense.

There's zero chance Peterson will be an elite defender and have anywhere near 30% usage. That just isn't a thing that happens in the NBA.

It does though, and those people who can do it usually become types of superstars, like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan (both of whom have extremely similar physical proportions to Peterson), and Dwyane Wade did.

Peterson is mocked as the #1 pick right now in what is supposed to be one of the strongest drafts ever, so it makes sense to see potential in him to break the mold the same way these greats did. The type of potential and raw talent to have the capability of this is why, even though he hasn't yet played 5 full games, he's seen as being above Boozer and Dybantsa.

People would probably be disappointed if Peterson only ever became as good as Jrue Holiday. That's more of a goal for the Kingston Flemingses and Darius Acuffs of the world. Darryn is going to be aiming for the stars.

You have a reading comprehension problem bro. I specifically said "high usage guards". You listed off a bunch of low usage guys. Again, high usage guys are never elite defenders. Never. It's just not a thing that ever happens.

In the top 3 for usage rate in career, we have Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Both elite defenders. Dwyane Wade is #7.

I mean bro you listed **** Amen Thompson as if he's relevant to a conversation about point guard defense. The dude is 6'8" and his usage is 21%. Please try harder next time.

All the examples are relevant and good. Jrue Holiday had a usage rate that peaked at 29% and throughout most of his prime was hovering around 24%.

In any case, all the examples are vastly superior to Stephen Curry (which is what that specific discussion was about), even while several have higher offensive loads, such as Cade and Russ (who had the highest ever single-season usage rate). And this isn't even to mention when Shooting Guards come into the picture.

[ezhkw8u69e]

Jrue Holiday, Cade Cunningham, Dennis Schroder, Amen Thompson, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, Jason Kidd, Stephon Castle, Immanuel Quickley, the current MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? All these guys had usage rates above 20%, most above 25%, several above 30%.

Stephen Curry can never be the "best you can hope for" on defense.



It does though, and those people who can do it usually become types of superstars, like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan (both of whom have extremely similar physical proportions to Peterson), and Dwyane Wade did.

Peterson is mocked as the #1 pick right now in what is supposed to be one of the strongest drafts ever, so it makes sense to see potential in him to break the mold the same way these greats did. The type of potential and raw talent to have the capability of this is why, even though he hasn't yet played 5 full games, he's seen as being above Boozer and Dybantsa.

People would probably be disappointed if Peterson only ever became as good as Jrue Holiday. That's more of a goal for the Kingston Flemingses and Darius Acuffs of the world. Darryn is going to be aiming for the stars.

You have a reading comprehension problem bro. I specifically said "high usage guards". You listed off a bunch of low usage guys. Again, high usage guys are never elite defenders. Never. It's just not a thing that ever happens.

In the top 3 for usage rate in career, we have Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Both elite defenders. Dwyane Wade is #7.

I mean bro you listed **** Amen Thompson as if he's relevant to a conversation about point guard defense. The dude is 6'8" and his usage is 21%. Please try harder next time.

All the examples are relevant and good. Jrue Holiday had a usage rate that peaked at 29% and throughout most of his prime was hovering around 24%.

In any case, all the examples are vastly superior to Stephen Curry (which is what that specific discussion was about), even while several have higher offensive loads, such as Cade and Russ (who had the highest ever single-season usage rate). And this isn't even to mention when Shooting Guards come into the picture.

Bro... please go to school and learn to read. You are talking about Miachel Jordan and Kobe Bryant in a thread about POINT GUARDS.

For the love of god use some **** common sense. And Kobe Bryant was not an elite defender outside of maybe a couple of seasons because his usage was so damn high. But that's not the point here.

The point is...listen again because apparently you people can't read..SMALL HIGH USAGE GUARDS ARE NEVER ELITE DEFENDERS.

That's just a fact of the NBA. The FACT is that Steph is actually one of the best defending "SMALL HIGH USAGE GUARDS". Some are worse, some are better, but you have guys like Westbrook and Fox and countless others before them who come into the league as supposedly good defenders and it never happens. Donovan Mitchell another example. Dame another example. "Oh they got long wingspance, they're athletic, yada yada yada". But then they become OFFENSIVE stars with very high usage and the defense simply can't hold up. You can't be elite on both sides of the ball. Most of them struggle to even be average on the other end.

This is jsut a fact of the NBA. It's amazing so many people here are being obtuse about it when you see it again and again and again with virtually no counterexamples. Or even worse you bring up "counterexamples" that are 1) incorrect and 2) from 30 years ago

[ezhkw8u69e]

Jrue Holiday one season had 29% usage when he came off the bench. Great example lol. His career usage is under 23%. This is not a high usage point guard. He's also not "small". Labaron Philon is small. He's like 6'3" 180. We'll see at the Combine. There is zero chance he's going to be a good defender, let alone an elite one.

[Caneman786]

Bro... please go to school and learn to read. You are talking about Miachel Jordan and Kobe Bryant in a thread about POINT GUARDS.

And you started this discussion by bringing up the 6' 6" Shooting Guard Darryn Peterson.

You made two different statements. The first statement was that the best you can hope for from a high-usage point guard (and you never mentioned "small") was Stephen Curry (who doesn't come close to the best, there's almost nothing impressive about him on the defensive end). Which is false. See Cade and Russ. Even small high-usage point guards like Chris Paul (who peaked at 28% usage, and the playmaking load of these guys is usually just as heavy as the scoring load of the other guys) have shown their ability, although there are less of them. And Russ was a good, elite defender who got many DPOY votes. Don't revise the history on him.

Then the next statement is any player who has high usage above 30%+ can't be an elite defender. A discussion who began with Darryn Peterson (who's definitely not a "Point Guard" like the rest of these guys.)

There's zero chance Peterson will be an elite defender and have anywhere near 30% usage. That just isn't a thing that happens in the NBA.

Dwyane Wade, Russ, and Kobe did not play 30 years ago. And that shouldn't matter for the discussion anyway.

The ability to do such a thing is so rare, that only a few of these players come along every generation. Darryn being a #1 projected pick is going to be held to this standard. It's a big part of why he'll be drafted. If he's even only a little better than Stephen Curry on the defensive end, that wouldn't be what we were projecting.

[ezhkw8u69e]

Bro... please go to school and learn to read. You are talking about Miachel Jordan and Kobe Bryant in a thread about POINT GUARDS.

And you started this discussion by bringing up the 6' 6" Shooting Guard Darryn Peterson.

You made two different statements. The first statement was that the best you can hope for from a high-usage point guard (and you never mentioned "small") was Stephen Curry (who doesn't come close to the best, there's almost nothing impressive about him on the defensive end). Which is false. See Cade and Russ. Even small high-usage point guards like Chris Paul (who peaked at 28% usage, and the playmaking load of these guys is usually just as heavy as the scoring load of the other guys) have shown their ability, although there are less of them. And Russ was a good, elite defender who got many DPOY votes. Don't revise the history on him.

Then the next statement is any player who has high usage above 30%+ can't be an elite defender. A discussion who began with Darryn Peterson (who's definitely not a "Point Guard" like the rest of these guys.)

There's zero chance Peterson will be an elite defender and have anywhere near 30% usage. That just isn't a thing that happens in the NBA.

Dwyane Wade, Russ, and Kobe did not play 30 years ago. And that shouldn't matter for the discussion anyway.

The ability to do such a thing is so rare, that only a few of these players come along every generation. Darryn being a #1 projected pick is going to be held to this standard. It's a big part of why he'll be drafted. If he's even only a little better than Stephen Curry on the defensive end, that wouldn't be what we were projecting.

If you think Peterson is 6'6"...

If you think Russ is a better defender than Steph

[ezhkw8u69e]

Philon won't be a good defender. Guys like him never are.

None of these point guards will be "good" defenders if they are high usage. That's just not reality. The best you can hope for is basically Stephen Curry on defense.

What do you mean by ‘guys like him’? Is it simply about his size or about more than just that?

For the people who can't read (like the guy above), this was the post we're talking about here. It was specifically a question about Philon. I stand by it.

[Caneman786]

Philon won't be a good defender. Guys like him never are.

None of these point guards will be "good" defenders if they are high usage. That's just not reality. The best you can hope for is basically Stephen Curry on defense.

What do you mean by ‘guys like him’? Is it simply about his size or about more than just that?

For the people who can't read (like the guy above), this was the post we're talking about here. It was specifically a question about Philon. I stand by it.

I don't know what's gonna happen to Philon (and that's not the post I replied to, by the way, I specifically called out the two takes that were made that I disagree with), but of any all-time great point guard, Stephen Curry is near the bottom, at best bottom 3, defensively. He's no better than all the other offense-only PGs like Jalen Brunson, Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard. Anyone like Cade who comes around that's just a little better blows out Curry in this category.

It's just disrespectful to say that is the ceiling for any player, let alone point guard, unless he's a negative outlier on the defensive end going back many years. From what I see Philon is respected as a defender. I don't think Wardell is the ceiling, even if he had higher usage (and right now Labaron is at 31% usage for his team).

[ezhkw8u69e]

What do you mean by ‘guys like him’? Is it simply about his size or about more than just that?

For the people who can't read (like the guy above), this was the post we're talking about here. It was specifically a question about Philon. I stand by it.

I don't know what's gonna happen to Philon (and that's not the post I replied to, by the way, I specifically called out the two takes that were made that I disagree with), but of any all-time great point guard, Stephen Curry is near the bottom, at best bottom 3, defensively. He's no better than all the other offense-only PGs like Jalen Brunson, Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard. Anyone like Cade who comes around that's just a little better blows out Curry in this category.

It's just disrespectful to say that is the ceiling for any player, let alone point guard, unless he's a negative outlier on the defensive end going back many years. From what I see Philon is respected as a defender. I don't think Wardell is the ceiling, even if he had higher usage (and right now Labaron is at 31% usage for his team).

It's really weird to keep coming back to Cade who is NOT A SMALL POINT GUARD. He's also...like an ok defender? He's not elite or even above average tbh. So I'm not sure what the point of your "rebuttal" is. You need to re-calibrate if you think Steph is not significantly better on d than any of hte other guys you mentioned. Steph has been much better than those guys and it is only now in his mid-to-late 30s that he's even coming back to the pack.


free online keyboard

[moss_is_1]

This is a loaded PG draft. I wonder if half of them end up going back to school because they'll be pushed down into the 2nd round because of it.

[Chuck Everett]

Bennett Stirtz has kind of disappointed me in Big Ten play for Iowa. I really wish he would have tested the waters last year, even if it was just to go to the combine. Ben McCollum offense is nothing like what the NBA would ask him to run.

He may end up falling to the 2nd round, due to the positional depth.

[moss_is_1]

Bennett Stirtz has kind of disappointed me in Big Ten play for Iowa. I really wish he would have tested the waters last year, even if it was just to go to the combine. Ben McCollum offense is nothing like what the NBA would ask him to run.

He may end up falling to the 2nd round, due to the positional depth.

I've watched a couple games now and came away not very impressed, or at least not seeing him going in the mid 1st like he's projected at almost everywhere.

[Yallbecrazy]

1. Tanner
2. Flemings
3. Philon

[Chi town]

Philon won't be a good defender. Guys like him never are.

None of these point guards will be "good" defenders if they are high usage. That's just not reality. The best you can hope for is basically Stephen Curry on defense.

Peterson will be an elite defender. Flemings should be well above average for the position as well due to his quickness.

Fully agree.

[Chi town]

Okorie and Anderson can flat out get buckets.

Ideal 6th man types.

[Caneman786]

Current top ten point guard rankings on ESPN Analytics Aggregate draft rankings:

1. Kingston Flemings (Ranked #5 nationally)
2. Mikel Brown, Jr. (Ranked #7 nationally)
3. Labaron Philon (Ranked #8 nationally)
4. Bennett Stirtz (Ranked #12 nationally)
5. Darius Acuff, Jr. (Ranked #13 nationally)
6. Christian Anderson (Ranked #17 nationally)
7. Neoklis Avdalas (Ranked #23 nationally)
8. Keaton Wagler (Ranked #26 nationally)
9. Brayden Burries (Ranked #29 nationally)
10. Tyler Tanner (Ranked #32 nationally)