Ranking NBA starting shooting guards — 15. Derrick White, Spurs
Derrick White’s breakout season hasn’t exactly happened yet. Many pegged this season — with DeMar DeRozan gone — as the year in which White would start to really make noise. Instead, he has been overshadowed by the sudden All-Star candidacy of Dejounte Murray. That said, White remains vastly underappreciated and the kind of player who could make a contender very happy at the trade deadline.
With averages of 14.5 points and 5.5 assists on .423/.294/.869 splits, the offense hasn’t quite clicked for White. The 3-point shot is the obvious hole. White is a willing shooter, but he has to get the percentage back to the mid-30s, where it was last season. Even with some notable low points on offense, however, White’s defense gets him a spot in the top half of this list. He’s one of the best guard defenders in the NBA.
Ranking NBA starting shooting guards — 14. Collin Sexton, Cavaliers
Collin Sexton will spend the rest of this season on the sidelines, which is deeply unfortunate. The Cavs have started to win games, and Sexton — in a contract year — was on track to make some serious money. Now, there are some lingering question marks left unanswered. Namely, has Sexton really improved beyond last season’s empty calories?
Well, first — defining last season as empty calories for Sexton feels disingenuous. He averaged 24.6 points per game on 47.5 percent shooting, which not just anyone can do. This season, his numbers dipped considerably in 11 games (16.0 points on 45.0 percent shooting), but he addressed the biggest criticism against him. Sexton began doing more without the ball, leaving more breathing room within the offense for Darius Garland. He’s quite good and should have a long career if he can get back to 100 percent health-wise.
Ranking NBA starting shooting guards — 13. Cade Cunningham, Pistons
A recent string of elite top-5 picks (Ben Simmons, Zion Williamson, Luka Doncic, LaMelo Ball) left some high expectations on Cade Cunningham’s doorstep. It has been a relatively muted season for the reigning No. 1 pick, but Cunningham’s flashes are elite, and he’s a great deal better than his surface-level production would suggest. The Pistons are bad, but Cunningham is not.
Cunningham is averaging 15.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists on .390/.321/.848 splits. The shooting percentage is an obvious point of concern, but Cunningham got out of the gates extremely slow — likely due to his preseason ankle injury. He has spent the rest of the season rebuilding his percentages and slowly rounding into form. At his best, Cunningham is already a nightly triple-double threat who supplies excellent defense across the positional spectrum.