The NBA has hit the slowest part of its calendar year, giving experts the perfect opportunity to reflect on the league’s current state.
With most rosters settled, we have a pretty good idea of how rosters for all 30 teams will look by the time the 2023-24 season starts.
HoopsHype’s Frank Urbina decided to use the downtime to rank the 24 best point guards around the league. The Oklahoma City Thunder had two entrants on the list, with All-NBA first-team member Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ranking No. 3 on the list.
The 25-year-old stands behind Steph Curry (No. 2) and Luka Doncic (No. 1) in the rankings. Gilgeous-Alexander is fresh off of a career season where he averaged a career-high 31.4 points on 51% shooting.
“25-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander heads into 2023-24 with a lot of momentum, coming off of an All-Star season – the first of his career – and 1st Team All-NBA honors after leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to within one game from a very unexpected playoff berth. Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the craftiest scorers in the league, often leaving opponents guessing as to which way he’s going to move next. He’s also elite at getting to the foul line, ranking third in nightly free-throw attempts (10.9) last season behind only league MVP Joel Embiid and All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, two big men who bully their way to shooting free throws. With such an elite short pull-up game and a solid-enough three-point stroke, Gilgeous-Alexander has become of the NBA’s very best players at just 25 years old. More big things should be ahead for the Canadian ball-handler in 2023-24.”
This is a pretty fair ranking for Gilgeous-Alexander. He asserted himself as one of the best guards in the league last season with one of the most efficient 30-plus scoring campaigns by a guard. At the ripe age of 25, he is in the middle of his prime and should continue to improve.
The full 24-player ranking can be found here.
