Get to the Point, Pt. 1

I’ve mentioned before how little depth the NBA has at the power forward and center positions.  What the league gets instead though is possibly the largest array of quality point guards we have ever seen.  To demonstrate just how wide of a range we are truly seeing, here’s a list of the top thirty point guards in the NBA this season.  Enjoy!

30. Kirk Hinrich

Captain Kirk is doing an okay job of running point for the Bulls while Derrick Rose is out, but he’s pretty low on Chicago’s list of options.

29. Jose Calderon

Jose had a couple strong performances during Kyle Lowry’s absence.  On a nightly basis though he’s not very dependable, even for Toronto.

28. Mario Chalmers

The only starting point guard who is, actually, kind of a back-up point guard to LeBron and Wade.  Super Mario is on probably the best team he will ever play for, but for his individual success he might be better suited as an actual back-up point for another team.

27. Jason Kidd

In his prime, Jason Kidd is probably number 1 on this list.  At age 39, the Knicks now start him and Raymond Felton together.  It’s a tactic similar to that of the Clippers, who start Chris Paul with Chauncey Billups, when he’s healthy.  The combo of 1 young athletic point and 1 veteran, court-general type seems to be successful for both teams.

26. Andre Miller

The Iron Man of the NBA, Andre Miller is doing a solid job of coming off the bench for Denver.  And here's an amazing statistic about him, Miller has been eligible for 1,202 games (regular and post-season) in his NBA career.  He’s sat out for only 6 of them.

25. Jeremy Lin

Although it made a brief comeback when James Harden was out against the Spurs, Linsanity has not found it’s way into the 2012-13 season.  Jeremy’s only putting up 11 points per game this year.  His assist numbers aren’t bad though; he’s averaging 6 per game.

24. Darren Collison

Collison still hasn’t quite reached the potential he showed when he filled in for Chris Paul in 2010, but he hasn’t been bad.  It’s just too bad for him that he’s being overshadowed by a breakout year from OJ Mayo.

23. Eric Bledsoe

The best point guard off the bench in the league today.  Bledsoe is exciting and explosive for the Clippers, but I still don’t think he’s quite ready to be a starter in the NBA.

22. Jeff Teague

Teague has always played a reserved role in Atlanta, but he does a good job of it.  He also managed to prove himself enough to keep his starting spot over Devin Harris, who’s seen a big drop in his game over the past couple years.

21. George Hill

Indiana made a smart decision in choosing to keep George Hill as their starting point instead of the previously mentioned Darren Collison.  He’s young, but he has more athleticism than most points.  This guy has a bright future ahead of him.

20. Greivis Vasquez

Greivis is racking up points and assists more than he ever has.  At 6’6” he has the potential to create some serious mismatches for opponents.  It will be interesting to see if he’ll ever be able to pull that off.

19. Jameer Nelson

It’s a shame that he missed so much of the season in 2008-09 due to injury.  He was having the best year of his career, and I’m not sure he’ll be able to reach that level of play again.  Orlando still has a good amount of rebuilding to do.

18. Goran Dragic

Goran City (Zelda reference if you didn’t know) has played much better in his return to Phoenix, doing a fine job of replacing Steve Nash.  I for one never thought I’d see him averaging 15 points and 6.4 assists per game, even if it is for a team that's only 9-15.

17. Kemba Walker

Still not quite reaching the hype of his successful run at UConn, Kemba Walker sure is reaching to do just that.  Expect him to reach that level by next season.  Maybe the Bobcats will get past 7 wins by that point, since it seems to be a real struggle for them.

16. Brandon Knight

Yes he got off to a slow start, I know.  Knight has started to find his groove though.  Over the past 13 contests, he’s posting 19.1 points per game.  He’s also improved his 3-point percentage from .380 last year to .450 right now.