The top 25 guards in the NBA

One-hundred-nine. It's the amount of games Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley has missed over the past three seasons, and it's enough to make one wonder if he deserves a spot on this list. Talent isn't the issue, as anybody who has watched him at his best knows. Can he get back to shooting over 40 percent from three-point range? Will the two-way star on the wrong side of 30 be on the court enough and, at the same time, average over 20 points per game? 

Per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN ), Darren Collison understands the Indiana Pacers merely making the postseason won't be good enough for a successful campaign this time around. He's a big reason why many are looking forward to watching club in 2018-19. The 31-year-old led the NBA in three-point percentage among eligible players (46.8 percent) and in assist-turnover ratio (4.3) last season. 

Last season, Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic earned the first All-Star nod of a career that began when he entered the league all the way back in the 2008 NBA Draft. The 32-year-old could become the subject of trade talks, especially if the Heat are able to acquire Jimmy Butler for Dragic's services. Dragic's points per game and shooting averages dipped in 2017-18, but nobody should question his motor once the games start to matter. He appeared in 75 games for the Heat last year. 

Tyreke Evans' averages from a year ago scream "All-Star": 19.4 points, 5.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 45 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three-point land. Evans signed with the Indiana Pacers in July, which could lead to some difficult matchups when he's alongside Victor Oladipo. Recently, Dylan Hughes of 8points9seconds.com wrote why he believed Evans deserved a spot on Sports Illustrated's Top 100 NBA players for 2019. 

Those of you paying attention to the other Los Angeles team may have missed that Clippers guard Lou Williams tallied career highs in points (22.6) and assists (5.3) per game in 2017-18. Those numbers helped earn him his second NBA Sixth Man of the Year award. This past July, the 31-year-old told TMZ Sports the Clippers are the best team in town even though the Lakers signed LeBron James. We're not so sure about that. 

"Breakout year" may be too strong a description for Jaylen Brown's 2017-18, but the Boston Celtics guard could be on the cusp of a special season following his excellent second campaign. Along with averaging 14.5 points and roughly five rebounds a game, he shot nearly 40 percent from three-point distance after converting 34 percent of his attempts his rookie year. The 21-year-old (he turns 22 later this month) on the rise as a two-way player can be the team's most important defender if the lineup's other stars remain healthy through the start of the playoffs. 

Both the Milwaukee Bucks and Eric Bledsoe are hoping to get the most out of his contract year. Bledsoe's offensive production improved following the trade from the Phoenix Suns to the Midwest, but the partnership between he and Giannis Antetokounmpo meant little come springtime. His poor showing in the postseason left a bad taste in the mouths of some fans. 

It's almost easy to forget Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker turns only 22 years old at the end of the month, as he is about to enter his fourth season. His points-per-game average improved from 22.1 to 24.9, and he shot better from the field and the free-throw line than in each of his first two campaigns. Yes, Phoenix's best scorer needs to show more effort on defense. He'd also benefit from winning, either with the Suns or a different team. 

In March, Kemba Walker made history when he passed Dell Curry to become the Charlotte Hornets' all-time career scoring leader. It's almost difficult to believe he was merely a 30 percent three-point shooter as of the spring of 2015. Since that time, the 28-year-old once thought too diminutive to excel at point guard has drained roughly 38 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. 

New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday stands out among the rest in that he had a breakout season before turning 28 years old in June. His 19 points per game was a career high, and he added game averages of six assists and 4.5 rebounds to his resume. In April, Micah Peters of The Ringer wrote about Holiday's knack for giving the Pelicans exactly what the team needed in specific situations. That same month, Bryan Kalbrosky of Hoops Hype named Holiday one of the Association's top two-way players. 

Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal earned the first All-Star nod of his career even though the 25-year-old experienced dips in field goal percentage, three-point shooting and free-throw percentage. Ahead of the upcoming season, Chase Hughes and Nick Ashooh of NBC Sports Washington suggested the Wizards need to consider resting Bradley a bit more. He played in all 82 games and averaged 36.3 minutes per contest in 2017-18. 

In April, Dan Marang of Blazer's Edge wrote why Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum may not have had as "down" a season as some would lead you to believe. Along with playing in 81 games, McCollum fell just shy of the points per game and assists per game averages he notched during his career-best 2016-17 campaign. Perhaps the 27-year-old could flourish if he didn't share the backcourt with Damian Lillard. The Cleveland Cavaliers could probably use the product of Canton, Ohio. Just sayin'. 

Donovan Mitchell lost out on Rookie of the Year to the next man on the list, and rightfully so, but don't expect the 22-year-old to experience a sophomore slump. Rolando Rosa of Louisville Diehards and Daniel Childs of Medium , among others, have compared the "Spida" who averaged 20.5 points as a rookie to Dwyane Wade. Mitchell, already a talented two-way player, finished the year fifth in RPM among shooting guards. 

As Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today pointed out, Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons  matched Oscar Robertson in becoming only the second player in history to tally at least 1,200 points, 600 assists and 600 rebounds during a rookie campaign. The deserving winner of Rookie of the Year needs to learn how to shoot beyond the paint, but his vision and willingness to attack the rim make him a joy to watch. He'll mature physically and as an overall player, meaning he could compete for MVP honors sooner rather than later if he continues his upward trend. 

John Wall is a five-time All-Star who shot a career-best 37 percent from beyond the arc last season. The Washington Wizards guard also missed 41 games because of injuries, and he ended the year by demanding better from those around him and from the front office, as Candace Buckner of The Washington Post wrote. The Wizards responded by giving Wall big man and new toy Dwight Howard, potentially in an effort to silence the 28-year-old — for now. 

Anybody who follows DeMar DeRozan on social media understands that the 29-year-old was disgruntled upon learning he had been traded to the San Antonio Spurs in July. There's no better revenge than winning, Mr. DeRozan. DeRozan left the Toronto Raptors after posting a career high in assists per game (5.2), but he will have to improve upon some woeful defensive showings he had against the Cleveland Cavaliers during his last postseason appearance with the Raptors.

Maybe some would view Jimmy Butler differently if he routinely made as much noise on the court as he did on Instagram and via (alleged) trade demands. Butler's numbers, outside of his three-point shooting, speak to his offensive efficiency, and his defensive grit makes him one of the better two-way players in the Association. Where he lands, assuming the Minnesota Timberwolves trade him, will affect his standing among guards 12 months from the posting of this piece. 

Twenty-six-year-old Victor Oladipo may just be getting started. Following a trade to the Indiana Pacers in the summer of 2017, the product of Indiana University enjoyed the best pro season of his career, averaging career highs in nearly every noteworthy offensive category. Oladipo was also named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team after evolving into a lockdown defender, and he earned NBA Most Improved Player honors. 

One can only wonder what might have been had Chris Paul been healthy and able to feature for the Houston Rockets in Game 6 and/or Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals vs. the Golden State Warriors. As Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle wrote after the campaign that ended without a trip to the Finals, there are concerns to be had about the 33-year-old's lengthy injury history. Last season, Paul averaged under eight dishes per game for the first time since his rookie year.

Klay Thompson is the perfect catch-and-shoot weapon for the Golden State Warriors, an unselfish individual on offense who embraces doing the dirty work on defense and who doesn't mind being the fourth man outside of the lineup's trio of stars. The 28-year-old shot 49 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc, both career highs, last season. As Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area explained in September, Thompson told reporters before the campaign he is "perfectly content" remaining with the Warriors through the rest of his career. 

Using statistics and a created formula, Ryan Blackburn of Denver Stiffs listed Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers as the most valuable point guard for the 2017-18 NBA regular season. Only James Harden, Anthony Davis and LeBron James averaged more points per game than Lillard, and Jimmy Butler was the only guard to average more minutes per contest (36.7 to 36.6). Lillard appeared in 73 games, while Butler played in 59.

As Jack Maloney of CBS Sports wrote in April, Dr. Armin Tehrany, the founder of Manhattan Orthopedic Care and Honorary Surgeon for the NYPD, claimed last April the Boston Celtics should be "cautiously optimistic" about the surgically repaired knee of guard Kyrie Irving. That knee robbed fans of what should have been a tasty Eastern Conference Finals showdown between the Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, but it isn't enough to drop the one-time NBA champion who drained the greatest shot in Cavs history too far down the list. 

Oklahoma City superstar Russell Westbrook can be a polarizing figure, particularly when it appears he's putting pursuits of triple-doubles ahead of winning. Even those who wish Westbrook would sometimes offer more effort on the defensive end of the court can't ignore that the 29-year-old is the only player, to date, to average a triple-double twice, and he did so in consecutive seasons. The 2016-17 NBA MVP needs to become a better all-around floor general to help his team match his accolades. 

The hot take is that James Harden needs to win a championship to surpass the last individual on the list. That's fair, but the reigning NBA MVP may just be entering his prime. Per Rob Perez of The Action Network, the Houston Rockets guard is set to begin the season as the favorite to repeat as the league's scoring champion. He averaged a career-high 30.4 points and also 8.8 assists last season. Nobody gets to the charity stripe better than Harden. 

Worried about the ankle and knee problems that caused Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry to miss 31 regular-season contests? To borrow from Aaron Rodgers: R-E-L-A-X. The 30-year-old three-time NBA champion is still the gold standard among guards and the cornerstone for the league's reigning dynasty. Last June, Rohan Nadkarni of Sports Illustrated wrote about how Curry's greatness during Golden State's three title runs went "unrecognized." Don't take this once-in-a-generation talent for granted.