Ranking NBA starting point guards — 21. Lonzo Ball, Bulls
Lonzo Ball has finally found a home in Chicago, where right now, he’s the defensive crux of the East’s best team. His range and I.Q. are difficult to overstate. At 6-foot-6, he covers more ground than a lot of wings. He doesn’t hound the point of attack in the traditional sense, but instead he roams — plugging holes, racking up deflections, and making it infinitely harder to get the ball rolling offensively.
Oh, and Ball looks great offensively. He’s shooting 41.8 percent from 3 while supplying 12.9 points and 5.8 assists per game. Not everyone appreciates Ball at face value, because he’s not the flashy player we were led to believe he was at UCLA. He’s more connective tissue than muscle fiber, but Chicago’s metaphorical offensive appendage isn’t moving right without the critical structure Ball provides.
Ranking NBA starting point guards — 20. Cole Anthony, Magic
Orlando’s rebuild has cleared the runway for Cole Anthony, who has followed up his middling rookie season with a barn-burning sophomore campaign. Anthony is averaging 19.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.7 assists, contributing across the board for a team in desperate need of his perimeter shot creation.
The Magic have a bright future, with several capable young pieces across the board. Even so, very few players on that roster can consistently initiate and sustain the offense. Anthony is not the most efficient scorer (40.6 percent from the field), but that comes with such a large burden.
Ranking NBA starting point guards — 19. Dejounte Murray, Spurs
A nightly triple-double threat and the leading candidate for NBA’s Most Improved Player, Dejounte Murray has fully arrived on the scene. It speaks to the strength of the point guard position, then, that he sits all the way back at 19. Murray still isn’t a prolific 3-point threat, but his remarkable offensive growth — paired with elite perimeter defense — make Murray a borderline All-Star candidate out west.
For the season, Murray is averaging 18.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 8.9 assists. He’s doing it all for San Antonio, quite literally. He has taken the opportunity afforded by DeMar DeRozan’s absence and run with it, embracing the duties of lead creator and coming into his own as a pull-up shooter inside the arc.