Philadelphia 76ers: Ranking point guards in 2021 preseason
Summer League is over and the NBA is entering the dead part of the offseason before training camps begin. With that in mind, it seems like a great time to compare each of the Philadelphia 76ers starters to each player at their respective position.
I did write something similar to this during the regular season, but that wasn’t the right time for it. With that in mind, there will be several criteria impacting these rankings.
If a player is going to miss the majority of the season or all of it then they won’t be on these rankings. These rankings are based on a combination of what the players did last season and projections of what they will do this upcoming year. With that in mind, let’s start with the point guards. It should also be noted if a player is multi-positional, the position that they are projected to start in will be the one that they will be ranked as.
30. Monte Morris
It could be argued that if Jamaal Murray didn’t get injured, the Denver Nuggets had a legit shot to win an NBA title. However, that wasn’t the case and he’s going to miss most of the next season. Monte Morris will most likely take his place in the starting five. He’s not a playmaker, but he’s an efficient scorer so the Nuggets could be in the worst place in terms of having a backup plan for Murray’s injury.
29. Killian Hayes
It’s not fair to say, but despite only entering his second season, Killian Hayes’ has big pressure to perform this season. The Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham first overall and if the two can’t make it work, then it might be the end of Hayes’ tenure in Detroit. Hayes showed promise as a defender and passer as a rookie but has to improve on offense this next season to fulfill his potential as a former lottery pick.
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28. Devonte’ Graham
With Lonzo Ball gone in a sign-and-trade, the New Orleans Pelicans landed Devonte’ Graham in a different sign-and-trade from the Charlotte Hornets. Graham is an undersized point guard who can score in bunches. Graham might best be served as a sixth man off the bench due to inefficiency scoring at times and defensive issues, but unless there’s a surprise coming out of training camp, he’s probably going to be starting for the Pelicans this season.
27. Markelle Fultz
Markelle Fultz is coming off a major injury that had him miss most of last season, so hopefully, he has time to fix his jump shot. He will be sharing a backcourt with fifth overall pick Jalen Suggs and either can play guard position. For the sake of this article, Fultz is the point guard because Suggs is better playing off the ball than Fultz. If his shooting gets better, expect his stock on this rankings to rise. Side note, Cole Anthony could steal this job from Fultz at some point in the future.
26. Dennis Shroder
Dennis Shroder betted on himself and turned down a big contract extension during this past season. He lost that bet and the Boston Celtics got a steal in free agency because of it. He’s best as a sixth man, but as the Celtics starter, he’ll be able to score the ball alongside Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Hopefully, he can use this season to get himself a big payday next year.