In this year’s draft teams seem to have gone point guard crazy. Even teams that have a solid point guard rotation picked up point guards in the draft. The Bucks had a solid point guard rotation this season and still drafted Brandon Jennings, the Jazz have one of the best point guards in the league (and a decent back up) and still drafted Eric Maynor, the Hornets have arguably the best point guard in the league and still drafted Darren Collison, and the T-Wolves drafted THREE point guards! Despite all floor generals picked up in this year’s draft, there are still some teams in dire need of a point guard. The Trailblazers have a couple of guys who have shown potential but no finite leader to play along side of Brandon Roy, the 76ers, who in my opinion are very close to being legit contenders for a titles, may find themselves two steps behind where they were last season if Andre Miller chooses to leave the team (as it seems very likely will happen), the Pistons have one of the best back-up point guards in the league in Will Bynum, but the starter, Rodney Stuckey, has an unimpressive field-goal percentage and an even less impressive assist-to-turnover ratio, and the Celtics would like to have a solid back-up to give Rondo Raja a break every now and then, and also have an insurance policy should anything happen to him in the course of the season. There are slim pickings in the free agent market at the point guard position, but there is good news as the only teams with cap space aren’t looking for a point guard (with the exception of Portland), so teams with the mid-level exception may be able to get bargain rates on a great point guard, while more creative GM’s might be able to broker a trade for some young talented point guards who have been stuck on the bench. So lets take a look at some point guards who may be able to help some teams at a low cost.
Nate Robinson (Knicks)
Lately Robinson has been looking to Europe to get a sizable offer, and since Earl Boykins did this last year, and earned himself a few more million than NBA teams were willing to offer (tax free and in Euros), Robinson may go that route. Some players though want to play on the big stage, and a dunk champ like Robison could make up for a small NBA pay check via endorsements, which may not be as lucrative in Europe (though I’m sure there are European companies who might offer American basketball players endorsement deals). So for Robinson the choice is between playing on the big stage, or getting a big pay check. If he wants the pay check NBA teams are out of luck. If he wants to play on the big stage he may be a good fit in Boston, who still has the bi-annual exception to offer him (2+ million dollars). He’d get to back up Rondo and get some minutes, and neither his size, nor the fact that he really plays more like a shooting guard than a point guard would hurt Boston since that is very much the role Eddie House played. Paul Pierce is a great ball handler and can set up the plays while Robinson is on the court, and Robinson’s speed and agility should help to spark Boston’s offence when Rondo is on the bench. Coupled with that, Robinson just seems like a great guy who wants to win and exudes a positive demeanour, and this is the type of player you want representing you off the court, and helping raise spirits in the locker room. He’d be a great addition to a championship contender, and Boston seems like it would be the perfect fit. The only draw backs are that Robinson can’t fill in at the point guard spot should Rondo get injured, and doesn’t have the range that Eddie House has. I don’t think there are a lot of other teams with whom Robinson would fit well, but if he doesn’t go to Europe, a one year contract with Boston should get him some exposure and raise the league’s interest in him as a solid role player on a legit contender.
Andre Miller (76ers)
Miller is the best point guard on the market right now and would be a great fit in either Philly or Portland. He is a veteran who has proven he can handle the responsibility, and is a big reason why Philly has been so successful the last couple of seasons. He was mature when Philly was losing and didn’t act like a prima Donna, and played at a high level when they started performing well and showed he could be depended on in pressure situations. His only draw back is that he’s on the wrong side of 30. That said, he’s only 33 (J. Kidd and Steve Nash are both on the wrong side of 35 and still commanding big contracts), and he is only asking for a respectable three or four year deal. I’m not saying that Miller is as good as Nash or Kidd, but come next season, he may very likely be playing better than either. His game is not in decline mode, he still plays as well as he did when he was 29, and he will be playing at that level for at least 2 more seasons. Sure, come the third or fourth season of a 3 or 4 year contract, his role may be reduced, but the bottom line is he’s not asking for all-star salary, just one that offers a little security. Miller stepped up his game in the playoffs, this year, put up better numbers than Kidd did, (20+ points, 6+ rebounds and 5+ assists), he shoots close the 50% from the floor and around 80% from the line (though he’s not great from behind the arc) and gets at least 2 assists for every turnover. Bottom line is that he’s a great player. He’s looking for a three year deal, and he will be playing at his current level certainly for the first two season of the deal, and would be a great mentor to any young point guard. Philly should do what it takes to keep him because he is a great fit there, but if they are too stingy then Portland should use their cash to pick him up. Portland is a young team and their window for contending will certainly be longer than the rest of Miller’s career, but he will put them a step ahead of where they were last season and give them a couple seasons helming the team, during which they can find an apprentice. Not too many other teams are in the running in terms of available cash, but Miller would be a great fit for any team in contention. European teams may also have an interest as well, and Miller’s playing legs would certainly last longer in Europe.
Travis Diener (Pacers)
The NBA’s free agent tracker says that Diener is a free agent, the Pacer’s home page does not, so I’m not sure what the situation is contractually with this guy (he may or may not have exercised his player option for this upcoming season), but the fact of the matter is that the Pacers are looking to cut salary (they’ve already let Marquis Daniels and Jarred Jack go and finally bought out Jamal Tinsley), and Diener doesn’t get a lot of minutes and is prime to get an opportunity. He’s 27, ready to start playing in his prime, but is locked on a team that has a starting point guard (T.J. Ford) who is earning big money and won’t be benched anytime soon. Diener is an attractive point guard for two reasons, he is a pass-first point guard with a great assist-to-turnover ration (2.2 assists last season and only 0.3 turnover for an insane ration of 7-1!) and shoots 39% from behind the arc, and his stats indicate that with starting minutes he’d likely get a couple steals a game. While his 1.6 rebounds a game seem meek, he only gets about 13 minutes a game and plays point guard, so that number actually shows great potential. This guy needs to start next season to see what he can really do. It would be a gamble for any team to start him because he’s never been the go-to guy at the point, but he’s shown that he has got the fundamentals down. I’m not sure how strong he is on defence, and that may or may not be a draw back, but its clear he can handle the ball very well and shoot from long range (though his mid-range shooting is nothing to write home about). And the best part is, as I have mentioned, he is a pass first point guard. Teams like Portland, Detroit, and Philly, who all have big scorers, would be a great fit for this guy, because he essentially only shoots when he’s open, and he gets the ball to the scorer without turning it over, and what more can you ask for from a point guard. If Philly is in need of a point guard come training camp, they should call up Indiana and see what it will take to pry this young talent away.
Ramon Sessions
In his rookie year Sessions put up 7.5 assists a game and only 2.1 turnovers, an impressive ration. His sophomore season saw his assists go down and scoring go up, along with his field-goal percentage, and he’s a consistent rebounder. Sessions may be the second best option at point guard in the free agent market, but like the other top point guards available this season, he’s a solid midrange shooter, but he doesn’t have much range behind the arc. If the 76ers lose out on Miller, they may want to make a run at Sessions.
Raymond Felton
His long range shooting isn’t so hot, and his midrange shooting isn’t much better, but he can drive the lane, handle big minutes, and distribute almost 7 assists a game with only a little over 2 turnovers a game. Like Sessions he is also young, which give him a leg up on a couple of the older point guards on the market, but he’s also a restricted free agent and Charlotte can match all offers.
Jammal Tinsely
Tinsley is veteran pass-first point guard with a respectful assist-to-turnover ratio and is dying to prove himself after a year in purgatory. I’m still not sure why the Pacers wouldn’t buy out his contract last season, but it the buyout is done and he’s ready to play. The big drawback for any team looking at Tinsely is his shooting (which is awful), but hopefully that is something he has worked on over the last season. With that shooting though Tinsley could be a major liability in the playoffs, but is an team loaded with offensive weapons and in need of a distributor could use Tinsley and even if he’s only a backup he can still offer a lot of help.
Jason Williams
A year after an oddly timed retirement announced only weeks after signing a lucrative deal with the Clippers, Williams is coming back out of retirement. Early in his career Williams was famous to two things: flashy passes, and turnovers. I always thought people were a little hard on him, but he has improved his ration over his career. What hasn’t improved much is his shooting, but he knows that himself and doesn’t push the matter during games by taking shots he should be taking. During their title run the Celtics saw several teams exploit Rondo’s inability to shoot the midrange jumper, the next season Rondo worked on that part of his game and is now putting up respectable numbers. Players like Williams and Tinsley though had exhibited poor shooting throughout their careers and that aspect of the game can really hurt a team come playoff time. Coming off the bench these types of players can help, but in a starting role it would be hard to win. The Celtics did it, but they also had Paul Pierce on the floor and he could handle the ball, while Rondo, though a poor shooter last season, could still cut to the whole as well as anybody in the league (and like Sessions, he has shown improvement in his midrange jumper).
Allen Iverson
There isn’t a team in the league that needs Iverson to score 30 points a game to turn them into a contender, and that seems to be essentially what Iverson wants. He wasn’t able to win in Denver (though they were able to win without him), and he made an issue about coming off the bench for Detroit, so there doesn’t seem to be many options for Iverson outside of retirement or Europe. If Iverson displayed the humility to come off the bench then a team like Boston could use him and be unstoppable with such a potent offensive weapon coming off the bench, but lets face it, Iverson is a shooting guard in a point guard’s body, which means he’s to small to defend other shooting guards. Iverson is at the point of his career that Dominique Wilkins was at when he skipped over the Europe. He wasn’t able to dominate like he had, and neither can Iverson, and no team sees him as a franchise player that they could put a team around. Had Iverson shown some maturity in Detroit, he’d be more appealing to other teams, but his acting out and baby tactics make him unappealing despite his talent level. His inability to defend, his age, and his maturity are all big question marks that make Iverson a big gamble that could cause a team to meltdown in the locker room, but being as talented as he is, he could be a big payoff. Sadly, I think his career is over and retirement or Europe are the only real options for Iverson.
Stephon Marbury
Much has been said about Tracey McGrady’s inability to get into the second round, but Marbury has had a similar issue. Only as a backup with Boston was Marbury able to make the second round and quite often his teams have missed the playoffs altogether. In the playoffs Marbury has yet to average double figures in scoring. New Jersey and Phoenix both saw dramatic improvements after moving Marbury, New Jersey replaced him with Jason Kidd and won back-to-back conference championships after missing the playoffs, while the Suns became perennial contenders with Nash after Marbury guided them to the lottery. That says a lot about what Marbury brings to a team. His personal stats have often been impressive, but his teams have seldom won. So it seems that Marbury doesn’t have much to offer teams and is in much the same situation as Iverson. Marbury has been open to offers from Europe and since he’s got a couple solid years left in him it seems logical that he might go somewhere where he could be employed. He’s a great scorer (though not a great shooter) and loves to play the game. But there just aren’t any teams that a player like that to make them better right now. Europe seems like the best place for Marbury, and he already has mentioned the idea of promoting his shoes over there.
Tags: Andre Miller, Celtics, Iverson, Jamaal Tinsley, Jason Williams, Marbury, Nate Robinson, Pacers, Raymond Felton, Sessions, Trailblazers, Travis Diener
Thanks for posting about this, I would love to read more about this topic.
[...] NBA Ramblings: Calling All Point Guards! [...]