The NBA boasts more elite point guards than ever, each commanding his team's offense in unique ways. With so much talent at the position, whittling down a list of the top point guards is a challenge.
But here are those who are better than the rest (in inverse order) as the start of the regular season approaches:
5. Ja Morant | Memphis Grizzlies
Since the Grizzlies' promising 2022 postseason, when Morant led the team with averages of 27.1 points and 9.8 assists, Memphis has struggled, falling in the first round in 2023 and missing the playoffs last season.
Morant's suspensions and injuries are largely to blame for these setbacks, overshadowing his on-court productivity. In 127 games over the past three regular seasons, he averaged 26.6 points.
At 25 and with more to prove than ever, the 2022 Most Improved Player of the Year will likely be highly motivated to lead the Grizzlies back to the playoffs and return to his All-NBA form.
4. Jalen Brunson | New York Knicks
With the addition of Mikal Bridges in the offseason, the Knicks may have their best team of the 21st century. Brunson will be relied upon to lead New York past the second round, a stage it has not reached since the 1999-2000 season.
Surrounded by an elite defensive cast and familiar teammates, including OG Anunoby and former Villanova standouts Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart, Brunson is poised to build on his All-NBA 2023-24 season, when he averaged 28.7 points and 6.7 assists and shot 40.1% from three-point range.
3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Oklahoma City Thunder
The 2024 MVP runner-up will face the highest expectations of his career this season. The Thunder, now arguably the deepest team in the NBA thanks to the offseason additions of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein, are under pressure to perform. Anything short of a Western Conference Finals appearance would be a massive letdown.
Fortunately for Oklahoma City, it has little to worry about with Gilgeous-Alexander at the helm.
In the 2023-24 playoffs, a stage where many young players falter, the Kentucky product maintained his MVP production, averaging 30.2 points and 6.4 assists and showing he has what it takes to captain a championship team.
2. Stephen Curry | Golden State Warriors
Curry's remarkable showing at the Olympics this past summer — he scored 60 points in the final two games on a blazing 65.38% mark from three to lead the United States to a gold medal — underscored why the Warriors are doing a disservice by not surrounding the four-time champion with enough talent to compete for a championship.
Though he's not the player he was during his unanimous MVP days, Curry is still more than capable of performing on the biggest of stages and leading a championship team. Last season, he won the Clutch Player of the Year, averaged 26.4 points and shot 40.8% from three.
1. Luka Doncic | Dallas Mavericks
Doncic has firmly established himself as the best point guard in the world.
In six seasons in the NBA, he has made five consecutive All-NBA first-team appearances and led his team last season to the Finals, where he averaged 29.2 PPG.
The 2024-25 Mavericks will feature the strongest supporting cast of Doncic's career, allowing him to reach new heights, as defenses will be forced to play him more honestly rather than constantly selling out to pressure the five-time All-Star.
