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Ben Simmons

Portland Trail Blazers

Melo boosts the Blazers past Philly, 118-114

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

The Blazers got a game in the national spotlight tonight as they took on the Philadelphia 76ers on TNT, and what a wild one it was. Tonight marked the debut of Portland’s brown “Spirit of Oregon” city edition jerseys.

Lineups

Portland: Damian Lillard, gary Trent Jr., Derrick Jones Jr., Robert Covington, Enes Kanter

Philadelphia: Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Danny Green, Tobias Harris, Joel Embiid


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Game Recap

First Quarter

The Blazers started hot from behind the arc, with Gary (3/3), Dame (3/4), and even DJJ (1/1) getting in on the action halfway through the first quarter.

RoCo was struck in the face yet again, this time by Ben Simmons. After sitting out with a concussion for a pair of games and returning with a mask, RoCo was hit in the face last game inadvertently. He stayed in the game tonight after a short breather.

Kanter’s aggressive offensive rebounding was noted abundantly by Brian Andersen and Reggie Miller. He finished with four in the first period alone.

Simmons was balling out, and his chase-down block on a Simons alley-oop turned to a two-hop assist to Matisse Thybulle.

Dame made up for the five-point swing by getting fouled on a three (making all the free throws) and hitting his fourth one on his next possession. He finished the quarter with 19 of Portland’s 37 points.

Second Quarter

Furkan Korkmaz’s and-one put the Sixers ahead, and although Carmelo Anthony answered with a three, Portland’s offense struggled with Dame resting.

Embiid’s midrange jumper put the Sixers within six, and Terry Stotts picked up a tech for voicing his opinion a little too loudly to the officials.

Kanter bled profusely from his left eye after getting hit by RoCo (how ironic) on a rebound attempt, allowing Embiid to dominate the paint for the final minute-plus of the quarter as the Blazers went ultra-small.

Embiid banked in a fadeaway at the buzzer to finish with 23 first-half points, including 15 in the second quarter alone.

Third Quarter

The two teams battled back and forth in the third, with Seth Curry and Embiid making strides on offense. Portland simply didn’t have the big bodies to compete with Embiid and Howard.

Neither team could take a commanding lead into the final quarter, though. Any time the Sixers threatened to make a run, the Blazers bit back.

Fourth Quarter

Melo smacked some sense into the team with three straight bombs from deep, inciting a 12-4 Blazers run to start the quarter all on his own.

He continued his crazy shooting stretch with a lean-in bank-shot at the buzzer, though he couldn’t manage it on the next possession from three.

Portland’s offensive rebounding was keeping them in the game, but it was the Sixers who came up with a pair of them before drawing a foul and tying the game at the 2:41 mark.

Gary Trent hit his fifth three of the night while Embiid gave Kanter an elbow to the dome on the other end for an offensive foul.

Dame was still struggling to heat up. His first points of the fourth came against Harris in the lane with 1:15 left.

Embiid hit a way-too-easy midrange and Seth Curry tied the game on a transition trey. With the score tied at 114, only 22.1 seconds remained.

Simmons fouled Dame with five left on an iso and Melo used the last timeout when he couldn’t inbound the ball.

Melo used a give-and-go with Covington to draw a blocking foul on Harris with three seconds left. With the Blazers in the bonus, Melo nailed both free throws to give the Blazers a two-point lead.

Former 76er Robert Covington came up with the biggest steal of the night when Ben Simmons basically threw it right to him. Dame hit two free throws to secure the four-point win.

Final Thoughts

What a game. With no margin for error, Carmelo Anthony came up with his best performance of the season. The Blazers closed the game unconvincingly with the shot clock off, but it was smart plays that made things happen: Melo’s give-and-go orchestration and Robert Covington’s interception were the specific plays that won the game.

Player(s) of the Game

Dame scored more and Gary was fantastic, but it has to be Melo. He came up huge when the Blazers needed it most, scoring 17 points in the fourth.

Next Up

The Blazers will host another Eastern Conference foe, the Cleveland Cavaliers, tomorrow night at 7pm.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Blazers put a whoopin on the Sixers, 121-105

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

Are the Blazers cursed? It sure seems like it, doesn’t it? I’ve seen some teams get bit by the injury bug, but this season for the Blazers is on another level of cursed. Tonight the Blazers were without Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Derrick Jones, Jr., Jusef Nurkic, and Zach Collins (does he even live here anymore?).

When is the last time an NBA team was missing literally half their team?

The 76ers were in attack mode to start, especially with Tobias Harris working the midrange hard against Carmelo Anthony. I’m not sure why Anthony was on Harris to start, it seems like a matchup that Robert Covington would be the one to guard Harris.

But this is Terry Stotts making the decision and we all know that Stotts knows defense.

With Anfernee Simons on a time limit restriction due to a pulled hammy, Rodney Hood got the start tonight at the point guard position. He does have a history of playing point in the past in high school, some at Duke and some with the Jazz.

Hood ran the offense pretty efficiently while he was in the game. The Blazers did hold an 18-16 lead when he exited the game.

Joel Embiid hurt his knee during a goal tend on Ene Kanter. His knee flexed all funny when he landed. For a guy his size with his injury history that probably isn’t a good sign.

And the Blazers did take advantage of this. After Embiid went out the Blazers attacked the paint hard Gary Trent Jr., CJ Elleby, Enes Kanter, and Melo all got easy baskets in his absence and the Blazers had a 27-22 lead.

Then Embiid came back into the game and the Sixers went on a 6-0 run to take the lead back. He’s definitely a much better overall player than Dwight Howard.

I love Simon’s energy on the court and how he could potentially be a sparkplug off the bench for the Blazers, but he shoots for the sake of shooting when he first comes into the game. Rarely is he on fire and he does start knocking down shots when he’s more into the flow of the game. He came in to run the point, took two bad and contested three-pointers, and he was immediately replaced at point by Trent and CJ Elleby.

When Stotts pulls your position for a rookie you know you messed up.

To start the second quarter, Harry Giles replaced Kanter and Embiid bullied him. It was not a fair match up at all. Embiid would get to any position that he wanted in the paint, Giles was not remotely strong enough to deal with Embiid in the paint.

This got Giles playing on his heels, Embiid would drive, Giles would retreat and hold at the basket, and Embiid would simply pull up with space and knock down a short jumper. He did this on back to back possessions and Giles looked so frustrated. I don’t blame him, Embiid is a potential MVP and he is well, Harry Giles.

If not for Embiid it’d be safe to say that the Blazers would have a double-digit lead halfway through the second quarter. It took Stotts over seven minutes of game time to Kanter back in on Embiid. It didn’t matter when Kanter came back in, Embiid racked up six quick points on him.

This is just a night when you cannot stop Joel Embiid. The Blazers literally started to triple-team him and he was still scoring at will in the paint. He had 31 at half. He’s having an amazing game. I thought he was done for the game and he has come back really mad and making the Blazers for it.

Gary Trent Jr. is one of the best off the ball movers in the whole league. The dude never stands still on a possession. He’s constantly probing the defense. He’ll do in cuts, backdoor cuts, cross cuts, rip cuts, and miter cuts. You can get lost on a play watching him work.

If the defense does fall off he does set himself up so well for a catch and shoot three. You can see that he was so well-coached by Coach K. There are so many things that Trent does well. Spend a few possessions and watch how he operates.

The third quarter tends to be the worst quarter for the Blazers and it has been this way for years now. Basically, the entire tenure of Terry Stotts the Blazers have been absolutely god awful in the third quarter.

Tonight, missing 87 players, the Blazers started the quarter on a 12-0 run to take a 69-57 lead and forced Doc Rivers to call a time out. Gary Trent Jr. had two huge three-pointers to start and cap the run.

The Sixers were also running some really questionable defense here as well. They were running loose traps at half court on both Hood and Melo to force the ball out of their hands. It left a lot of Blazers open and their offense has a lot more motion to it tonight too.

Did Terry Stotts get replaced by Bob Knight at half time? This is some of the best team offense I have ever seen from the Blazers. There are so many off the ball picks, fade runs, pick and rolls at the top of the key, but then hitting a backdoor cutter as the Sixers collapse at the top rolling guy.

Can Stotts keep this going forward when Dame is healthy? So much heart and hustle from this team tonight.

I’m so impressed with this team so far tonight. CJ Elleby is playing like a second year player, Simons let himself get into the offense, and started knocking down some buckets, and Hood running the motion offense to perfection tonight. Lots of open looks against a really good defensive team in Philadelphia.

The hustle and movement got the Sixers flustered. It led to a technical foul on Tobias Harris and made Embiid work hard on defense. Most of his shots in the third were short and he only had four points.

The Blazers thwarted a quick run by the Sixers to start the fourth. Elleby had sealed the game away with a steal and dunk a few minutes into the fourth.

Again, this is the best the team as a whole has looked all season. Really happy with how the offense did not stagnate and turn into a Melo ISO show for 40 minutes tonight. The defense was extremely active. Really loved the game tonight.

Box Score

Next Up

Blazers head to MSG to take on the Knicks at 10 AM PST.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Damian Lillard drops 51 as Blazers edge Sixers, 124-121

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda

The Blazers are coming off a tough loss to the Los Angeles Clippers yesterday afternoon and have to turn around and take on the Philadelphia 76ers less than 24 hours. Both teams came into the game with three wins a piece. The Sixers will finish somewhere between the four and six seeds in the East.

Portland came into the game fractions of percentage points ahead of both the San Antonio Spurs and the red hot Phoenix Suns. It’d be cliche to say that this is a must win game against Philadelphia but this a must win game against Philadelphia.

The Suns and Spurs both have favorable schedules going forward and the Blazers only have two games left after today. One against a really explosive Dallas team and the last against a depleted, yet dangerous Brooklyn Nets.

With both Simmons and then later Embiid out, the Blazers got a big 124-121 win.

First Quarter Thoughts

Early on we saw the game plan from the Blazers immediately. Lots of high screens from Blazer bigs that freed up Damian Lillard to attack the rim at will. Both Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins did a great job of setting these high screens and then popping to the three point line to draw the defenders. This left Lillard with a wide open path to the basket. This was big in helping the Blazers get an early double digit lead.

One of my big fears was Jusuf Nurkic picking up quick fouls while guarding Joel Embiid. Fears were realized in the first 47 seconds of the game. Nurk picked up two quick fouls and will spend quite a bit of time on the bench. Embiid a few minutes later ended up tweaking his knee or ankle when he crashed into the stanchion.

Without Hassan Whiteside that means that Wenyen Gabriel would get a lot of minutes in the first half. Gabriel is a hustler and wants to earn his spot in the NBA. He did pick up a couple of quick fouls, but did have a steal, a rebound, three points, and played some really solid defense. He took away a couple of easy baskets by the Sixers.

Lillard continued to dominate the Sixers to a tune of 14 points in the quarter. This came without hitting a single three pointer or an outside jumper. He did have two old fashioned three point plays.

Both teams looked tired and played incredibly sloppy throughout the first quarter. The teams had seven combined turnovers while the Blazers shot 12 of 25 and the Sixers shot 6 of 24.

Portland had a 33-19 lead heading into the second.

Dame had about the craziest shot go in that I have ever seen.

Second Quarter Thoughts

The Sixers did not start off the quarter well. They look incredibly lost out there without Ben Simmons. The offense is stagnant and the passing is god awful. Blazers were able to force a total of five steals, two coming from Mario Hezonja. Those two steals led to a layup for Mario and then one where he dished it to the corner to Gary Trent Jr. for another three.

Trent might be the best overall player in Orlando right now.

Philadelphia started running their offense through Josh Richardson and the Blazers 17 point lead quickly dropped to seven with about six minutes left in the quarter. The Blazers helped a lot by taking a lot of jumpers and missing a lot of jumpers. Their offense was totally out of sync with Lillard going to the bench.

Lillard and Carmelo checked back into the game and started attacking the soft interior of the Sixers and once again finding success. Portland pushed the lead back up to 13, but then started to make some really odd offensive choices and their defense became porous. They had no answer for Richardson. For some reason the Blazers stuck with CJ on Richardson and didn’t let Trent have a crack at him. Trent was on Tobias Harris and kept him quiet while he was the main defender.

Carmelo Anthony moved up to 15th on the NBA’s all time leading scoring list. He needs to score 99 more points to pass Tim Duncan for 14th all time.

Portland was outscored 39-34 in the quarter and went into halftime with a 67-58 point lead.

It’s going to be interesting to see if Terry Stotts stays big as the Sixers are more than likely going to go ultra small to start the second half. Al Horford will be at the five and Harris at the four with three guards. Based on Stotts passed I don’t expect him to make any adjustments. He’s going to keep both Nurkic and Collins out there to guard a three point shooting lineup.

Third Quarter Thoughts

Lillard continued his hot shooting. He had a quick seven points in the first five minutes of the quarter, bringing his total to 29 points for the day. And up to this point he was only 1-7 from three to this point. However, he was 8-8 from the free throw line.

Josh Richardson and Tobias Harris continued to knock down buckets. The Sixers started running the Blazers offense against them with Richardson getting or setting high screens and slipping late for open jumpers. If he got covered he’d dump it down to Tobias Harris for an easy basket.

The Sixers managed to come back and tie the game at 86 with about three minutes left in the quarter. Stotts kept CJ McCollum on Josh Richardson throughout the quarter and CJ is one of the worst defenders on a team of horrible defenders.

The Sixers shot 70% for the quarter and outscored the Blazers 34-24 in the quarter. It looks like Gary Trent Jr. has come back down to earth and the only Blazer able to do anything is Dame with some help from Melo. CJ has once again disappeared in a big game.

Fourth Quarter Thoughts

The fourth did not start off well. Mario Hezonja attempted a step-back three on the Blazers first possession. Philadelphia continued to knock down shots and if it wasn’t for Carmelo Anthony the Blazers could have quickly been down by double digits in the first three minutes of the quarter.

The defense has really come off the rails the last two days. They really could use a Trevor Ariza or Rodney Hood for games like this. And CJ McCollum has been absolutely useless on the defensive end all season. He has the ability to score a lot of points, but his inability to guard anyone almost makes his points scored irrelevant.

Richardson continued to make big threes to push the Sixers lead up. Damian Lillard and Carmelo Anthony kept the Blazers close.

WIth just under three minutes to go Lillard goded Richardson into the air on a three, drawing the foul and converting the free throw to put the Blazers up three, 117-114. Lillard had been short on most of his threes on the day and this one got him zeroed back in. The next trip down he knocked down another three to give the Blazers a six point advantage with about two minutes left in the game.

There isn’t a player in the league with a heart bigger than Damian Lillard.

Al Horford was left wide open with 12 seconds left to hit a three to cut the Blazers lead down to a single point, 122-121. The Blazers three point defense has been so bad throughout the year. They really need to address this in the offseason. Give all the money to the best defensive assistant coach out there. It is absolutely inexcusable that this keeps happening.

Their inability to get stops against a bunch of backups two days in a row is everything you need to know about the Blazers defense.

Blazers were lucky to get out with a win.

Next Up

Tuesday August 11th, against the Dallas Mavericks at 3:30 PM PST.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Blazers blow 21 point lead and fall to Sixers, 129-128.

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda
Rodney-Hood.jpeg

Tonight the Blazers only dressed ten men tonight as both Zack Collins and Hassan Whiteside sat this one out due to injury and the 76ers were missing their leading scorer and rebounder Joel Embiid due to suspension. The Blazers seemed ready to run away with this one getting up by double digits early and pushing the lead to 21 at the end of the third quarter, but the Sixers pushed and chipped away until they took a lead late.

Anfernee Simons did his best Damian Lillard impression and knocked down a big three, but it wasn’t enough. Forkan Korkmaz returned the favor and hit a three in front of the Blazers bench with 0.4 left on the clock. The Blazers failed to make the tip and fell 129-128.

The Blazers started off hot, jumping out to a 13-5 lead behind two three-pointers from Mario Hezonja and one from Damian Lillard. Early they looked to take advantage of Embiid not being in the paint, forcing the 76ers to collapse and kicking it out for open three-pointers.

Here is where the game settled down a bit and the Blazers started rushing shots. The Sixers, mostly Ben Simmons, started attacking the basket, going on a 20-12 burst to tie the game at 25. Lillard, Anfernee Simons, and Anthony Tolliver combined to help extend the Blazers to a 7-0 run.

Toward the end of the first quarter, there was an instance where Al Horford looked like he had a wide-open layup and Simons came out of nowhere to swat the shot away. Seconds later he’d get the back and drill a deep three-pointer.

The Blazers held a 32-27 lead after the first quarter.

Simons opened up the scoring in the second with a three-pointer and a deep two to put the Blazers up seven. Furkan Korkmaz hit a couple of deep shots and Horford somehow went coast to coast to tie the game back up at 39.

Simmons came back into the game and immediately went right back after Hezonja to get another easy two. Terry Stotts moved Hood over on to Simmons after this possession and Simmons was a lot quieter for the rest of the quarter. Or course, Tobias Harris the play after the defensive change burned Mario for an easy dunk.

The teams changed baskets before the Blazers exploded on a 15-0 run to go up 60-45 with 3:17 left in the first half. Hood and Dame each had two threes in this stretch. The Blazers’ defensive intensity picked up. They had their hands on a lot of loose balls, grabbed a lot of contested rebounds. They made the Sixers lives hell at the end of the first half.

The Blazers headed into the halftime break on fire and up 68-57. Blazers shot 54% from the field in the half and 50% from three.

Hood and Lillard continued their hot shooting ways in the third quarter, forcing Brett Brown to call a timeout that did not do any good. CJ McCollum started to get hot and began to eat the Sixers alive from the top of the key. Hood added another bucket and then hit a three-pointer from somewhere up by Kelso. This pushed the Blazers up to a 21 point lead.

The Sixers started to chip away slowly as the Blazers got cold and would cut the lead down to four points in the fourth quarter. Timely threes by both Dame and Kent Bazemore kept the 76ers at arm’s length. Then Dame decided it was Dame Time and pushed the lead back up to eight.

The Sixers would not go away and cut the lead to one at 125-124. Ben Simmons knocked down two free throws to put the Sixers up one with 10.1 seconds to go. That’s when Dame drove and hit Simons in the corner right in front of the Sixers bench. Then Korkmaz did his show.

Dame led the Blazers with 33 points tonight, Hood had 25, Skal Labissiere had 15, Simons had 13, and CJ had 12. The team shot 57% from the field and 54% from three.

The Blazers head back on the road and visit the Warriors on Monday night at 7:30.

Notes

Late in the fourth quarter, Rodney Hood went down in a heap after some contact. He was taken to the locker room and did not return to the game. Currently, we do not know his status. It appeared to a leg injury.

What trust showed in Dame to give up that last shot to Simons. That is going to be a big confidence boost for the second year guard going forward.

The 12 second-half turnovers killed the Blazers. Losing a 21 point over the final 16 minutes of the game is tough.

The Blazes gave up 84 points in the paint tonight. They led the league in fewest points in the paint allowed.

Ben Simmons was 44% from the line when he made both late in the fourth to give the Sixers their first lead of the night.

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Portland Trail Blazers

Joel Embiid-less 76ers visit the Blazers tonight

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda
Joel-Embiid-and-Ben-Simmons.jpg

The Blazers have a bit of an early Christmas present (there are 26 days until Christmas music is allowed by the way) coming to them this year. Joe Embiid is suspended for the game tonight as the undefeated Philadelphia 76ers (4-0) visit the Portland Trail Blazers (3-2) tonight at Moda Center.

Embiid was suspended two games for his donnybrook with Karl-Anthony Towns a few nights ago. The two have a little bit of an unfriendly history and finally decided it was GO TIME. Now the big shoots for the Sixers coming into the game is Ben Simmons. The Sixers are going to be missing almost 24 points and 11 boards from Embiid. Not sure who is going to start in the place of Embiid, both Al Horford and Mike Scott filling in at the four for Horford.

Simmons did a great job for the Sixers last year in guarding Damian Lillard. He held Dame to an average of 16 points a game in the two meetings last season (both Blazer blowout wins). The 76ers are going to need someone besides Simmons, Horford, and Tobias Harris to step up and score some points.

Josh Richardson seems to be the guy the cards point to. He was a first or second option in Miami last year and has been relegated to the third, fourth, and sometimes the fifth option this year for the 76ers. He’s put together a string of 30 point games in the past. He can score and CJ McCollum is going to need to spend a lot of time playing defense to keep him in check. Richardson so far this season is averaging just over 13 points a game this year.

With the Sixers missing Embiid it takes some of the sting out of missing Zach Collins. He was a good off the ball compliment in both scoring and rebounding to Hassan Whiteside in the post. Anthony Tolliver will still have quite a bit to handle in Horford and Scott. I’d much rather have Kent Bazemore start and have Tolliver come off the bench. Bazemore gives the Blazers better energy on both ends of the court. Scott does spend more time beyond the arc than in the paint so Bazemore is going to be a better matchup.

Rodney Hood has a favorable matchup early in the game. I’m a little nervous when Matisse Thybulle comes in later in the game and starts causing havoc on the defensive end. Thybulle is a rookie out of the University of Washington and he only has five points off the bench in four games for the Sixers, but is averaging a block and a half a game and three! The kid is pure defense. He might already be one of the five best perimeter defenders in the league right now. He and Simmons are going to lockdown Dame and CJ late in the game so the Blazers are going to need scoring from somewhere.

That scoring is going to need to come from Hood or from Anfernee Simons. If I were Stotts I think I’d trot out a three-guard lineup a lot. Simmons and Thybulle can not guard everyone. They can switch out to everyone, but they can’t guard everyone.

Injury Report

Hassan Whiteside – Out (knee) — updated
Zach Collins – Out (shoulder)
Pau Gasol – Out (foot)
Jusuf Nurkic – Out (leg)

Joel Embiid – Out (suspended)
Josh Richardson – Game-time decision (toe)
Shake Milton – Out (knee)

Game info

Place: Moda Center
Time: 7:00 PM
TV: NBATV or NSNW

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Uncategorized

Ranking the 2019-20 NBA Point Guards

by Kevin Nesgoda
written by Kevin Nesgoda
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This has become the most dynamic position in all of the league. Gone are the days of a true pass-first point guard and today we have guys who can score literally from anywhere on the floor (Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard).

30. Ish Smith – Washington Wizards

Another one of the Wizards members ends up on the bottom of the list. Smith is a great backup option for most teams in the league, but he’s a bottom end starter. He’s keeping the seat warm until John Wall comes back or Scott Brooks gives the job to Isaiah Thomas.

29. Tomas Satoransky – Chicago Bulls

He’s a good player, I view him as more of a sixth man or first guard off the bench. He’s not a starter on a playoff team.

28. Terry Rozier – Charlotte Hornets

After a great 2018 (including playoffs) he fell off the boat last season. Let’s see if he gets back to where he needs to be.

27. Quinn Cook – Los Angeles Lakers

He and Rajon Rondo are going to go back and forth here a lot.

26. Lonzo Ball – New Orleans Pelicans

He has the tools and a readjusted jumper to be a very good player in the league, he just needs to stay healthy. I think he’s in a good spot in NoLa.

25. D.J. Augustin – Orlando Magic

I’m shocked he’s still in the league and that’s not a knock. He’s a decent player, but gets talked into the ground by most “analysts” out there. Ultimately he is keeping the seat warm for Markelle Fultz.

24. Ja Morant – Memphis Grizzlies

He’s going to be an exciting young player in this league.

23. Justise Winslow – Miami Heat

This has been a long time coming. He may just succeed at this position.

22. Delon Wright – Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs are probably going to run Luka at this spot a lot, but Wright is the starter by default.

21. Dennis Smith Jr. – New York Knicks

There’s a chance he loses out to Elfrid Payton. That’s all you need to know about Smith and the Knicks.

20. Reggie Jackson – Detroit Pistons

Bet he wishes he was backing up Russell Westbrook in OKC again.

19. Jeff Teague – Minnesota Timberwolves

I like Teague. He’s such a solid point guard. Not a great point guard, but he’s pretty good.

18. Dejounte Murray – San Antonio Spurs

I think Murray has a big year and moves up further in the rankings for next year.

17. Collin Sexton – Cleveland Cavaliers

Sophomore slump or does he go crazy with Garland next to him?

16. Ricky Rubio – Phoenix Suns

Ricky is so inconsistent. Some nights you might think he’s the best guard in the league (rarely happens) and others you wonder if he cares to play basketball on most nights.

15. Malcolm Brogdon – Indiana Pacers

He is going to thrive under Nate McMillan.

14. De’Aaron Fox – Sacramento Kings

The fastest guard in the NBA. Once he develops a consistent jump shot he’s going to be deadly.

13. Eric Bledsoe – Milwaukee Bucks

He’s always good during the regular season and then takes the playoffs off. Must be an after effect of spending so much time in Phoenix.

12. Trae Young – Atlanta Hawks

The heir apparent to Steph Curry.

11. Patrick Beverley – Los Angeles Clippers

The best on the ball defender in the league at the guard position. The guy you want on your team and hate when he’s not.

10. Jamal Murray – Denver Nuggets

He got the top 10 money and now he needs to play like it.

9. Kyle Lowry – Toronto Raptors

This is probably the last year we’ll see Lowry in the top 10. His age has to catch up to him at some point.

8. Mike Conley – Utah Jazz

He might be the missing piece in Utah. If he can find his offensive game the Jazz might be the deepest and most dangerous team in all the NBA.

7. Chris Paul – Oklahoma City Thunder

He’s keeping this spot warm until he’s traded and SGA takes over.

6. Russell Westbrook – Houston Rockets

He and Harden are going to have a lot of fun together. Not sure how many championships they are going to win together though.

5. Kemba Walker – Boston Celtics

Brad Stevens is going to make him a winner.

4. Ben Simmons – Philadelphia 76ers

Once he has a consistent jump shot he’s going to be #1 and it might be a decade before he gives it up.

3. Kyrie Irving – Brooklyn Nets

There is no denying what Kyrie can do. He’s had some issues the last couple of seasons, let’s see how he has grown this summer.

2. Damian Lillard – Portland Trail Blazers

Dame destroyed a franchise last summer. He has a legit claim at the number one spot.

1. Steph Curry – Golden State Warriors

There is no better point guard in all the league. He’s the best shooter, a good defender, and a good leader.

Other posts in this series:

Ranking the 2019-20 coaches
Ranking the starting centers
Ranking the starting power forwards
Ranking the starting small forwards
Ranking the starting shooting guards

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