OrlandoMagic.com’s Josh Cohen projects the top 10 point guards in the NBA during the 2022-23 season.
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#10 James Harden
Many have already written Harden off, at least as far as getting back to being the MVP-level player he was with Houston. But there has been chatter that he’s put in the work this summer to prove the naysayers wrong. The Sixers have a better all-around roster now around he and Joel Embiid, but do they have enough depth to surpass any of the other elite Eastern Conference teams?
Honorable mentions for this list include CJ McCollum, Jalen Brunson, Markelle Fultz, Cade Cunningham, De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Jrue Holiday, Fred VanVleet, Jamal Murray, Josh Giddey, Marcus Smart, and D’Angelo Russell.
#9 Chris Paul
Now 37 years old, will we see any drop-off this season, or will he continue to age like fine wine? The last two seasons, he’s been in the MVP conversation, although he did struggle a bit late in Phoenix’s playoff runs. Last year, he led the league in assists per game for the fifth time in his NBA career.
#8 LaMelo Ball
It’s often a player’s third season when we find out what they are truly made of. Ball had a terrific second year, scoring 20-plus points 39 times and recording five triple-doubles. Steve Clifford, back in Charlotte as the Hornets’ head coach, usually gets his point guards to play disciplined and methodical. That seems opposite of how Ball likes to play, but, as we saw with Kemba Walker during his first stint in Charlotte, Clifford has done a good job in his career getting the most out of his best players.
#7 Damian Lillard
How refreshed will Lillard be after missing Portland’s last 47 games a season ago? He’s said to be completely healthy, but will that translate into a more energized version of the future Hall of Famer or will rust come along with being absent for so long? Also, have the Blazers added enough around him to return to the playoffs?
#6 Kyrie Irving
Although he only played in 29 regular season games last season, Irving still very much looked like he’s in the prime of his career. He scored over 20 points in 22 of those games, including erupting for 50 points against the Hornets on March 8 and a career-best 60 on March 15 against the Magic. Still, will all the offseason chatter about trade possibilities be a distraction or a motivation?
#5 Darius Garland
Will Cleveland have the league’s best backcourt this season with Garland and Donovan Mitchell? One of last year’s most improved players, Garland recorded seven 30-plus-point scoring performances in 2021-22, including on March 8 when he poured in a career-best 41 points against the Pacers. There’s some lofty expectations in Cleveland. Are the Cavs still too young, though, to reach them?
#4 Trae Young
Not many players finished last year’s regular season stronger than Young, who scored 40-plus points seven times over the last three months. But his best individual performance came a bit earlier when he exploded for a career-best 56 points to go along with dishing out 14 assists against the Blazers on Jan. 3. How well he and Dejounte Murray mesh together will likely determine how far Atlanta goes this season and beyond.
#3 Ja Morant
Morant, one of the league’s most electric players, took his game to another level last season, scoring 30 points or more 24 times, including on Feb. 28 against the Spurs when he exploded for a career-high 52 points. No longer a surprise team, do the Grizzlies have another gear in them, or are they still a player or two away from being legitimate title contenders?
#2 Stephen Curry
Now a four-time NBA champion after leading the Warriors to the title last season, Curry scored 30-plus points 21 times during the 2021-22 regular season, including dropping in 50 points to go along with seven rebounds and 10 assists on Nov. 8 against the Hawks. The conversation now is whether it’s he or Magic Johnson as the greatest point guard in NBA history. Another stellar season could solidify him as the best to ever play the position, although he and Magic are stylistically completely different, making it hard to determine who ranks above the other.
#1 Luka Doncic
Most seem to agree that Doncic, still just 23 years old, is already a top five player in the league. The question now is whether, even without a superstar sidekick, he can lead the Mavs to a championship. He took a major step forward in trying to accomplish that last season by getting Dallas to the Western Conference Finals. He put up some ridiculous numbers in the playoffs, too, scoring 40-plus points three times and 30-plus in nine of the 15 2022 postseason games he appeared in.