This is my newbie assessment and commentary on the points guards in the league right now.

[LazyTitanSmash]

This is my newbie assessment and commentary on the points guards in the league right now.

Lakers
Johnny Davis - Panda, skip this first one; it's too painful.
Contract: Max Deal: $78,931,183 worth every penny
Current Production: Off the Charts. 24.6 points per game, nearly eight rebounds per game, eight assists per game, and efficient as fvck. Defensively well above average.
Trade Potential: None. He's not going anywhere.
Future Potential: He already hit potentials and is in his prime and winning, winning, winning.

Commentary: While he seems like a player who was trained into becoming a point guard, at 6-6 and B handles B passing, he makes a case for being even better than Mac McClung? Also, I'm pretty sure the Nuggets would win a ship if he had stayed on their team.

Backup Point Guards of note - Are Gerald Dixson or Jean Coss worth assessing? Ummm No.

Timberwolves
Xue Huo
Contract: Max Deal: $74,563,702 -Best deal in the league?
Current Production: Scoring and Defense. 27.1 points per game, six rebounds per game, six assists per game, and the most efficient Point Guard. Defensively PRD 100.
Trade Potential: None. He'll be a Timberwolve for life.
Future Potential: He has just hit his max potential.

Commentary: He, like Jonny Davis, is not a natural point guard at 6-7 and is slower than most. Can a 61-quickness point guard win it all? This would be the guy to do it. The bigger question is, will he stay with the Timberwolves on a supermax deal? He should. The Timberwolves have shown him they are a win-now team that has tried to put veterans around him to win a title year after year. The Timberwolves deserve to keep him, but the rest of the league will max this guy.

Backup Point Guards of note - Lenz Durrenberger used to run point but lost the job (probably because of his C passing) and has been forced to move to Shooting Guard.

Cavs
Joaquin Guzman Loera
Contract: $8,868,587 Rookie Contract (Great Deal)
Current Production: 0. Playing in the G League, and those stats aren't recorded.
Trade Potential: Unlikely. He has no other PG under contract long-term.
Future Potential: He has the quickness, handles, passing, and defense to be a starting playoff point guard in the future, but he's going to need a lot of time to develop. Because he is so young, and there are going to be at least a few more seasons before he's ready, I feel like he has a decent shot at a TC potential bump.

Commentary: The Cavs might need to move him for a slightly older point guard of the same caliber to fit their timeline better.

Backup Point Guards of note - Brian Tyler and Ruben Rager and Ernesto Cruz. The Cavs are hoarding all the decent, forever-green point guards (Prediction: Ernesto Cruz will get green potential). If I had to repeat this season, I would have tried to get one of these guys for some points; oh well, next year. Brian Tyler is playing out of his mind as the starter for the Cavs, but I have to attribute his stats, at least partly, to the crazy amount of talent around him. He never played this well when he was on the Hawks or the Washington. However, he showed signs of it when he was on the Mavericks.

Raptors
Markus Ridenhour
Contract: Max Deal: $92,524,887 - at age 32, with three more years. One is a team option, which I fully expect to be declined. Hopefully, he ages gracefully and can play shooting guard; otherwise, it will be a lengthy rebuild.
Current Production: Off the Charts. 19.8 points per game, over 7 rebounds per game, 9.6 assists per game, and very efficient. But quickness is slipping fast.
Trade Potential: After this season, he will be available for sure. Hell, he might be available right now.
Future Potential: He is past his prime and heading to that shooting guard spot.

Commentary: I want the Raptors to make the playoffs this year and be rewarded for going all in on this Markus Ridenhour contract.

Backup Point Guards of note - Not really.

Ok… I intended to do a complete breakdown of all the decent point guards in the league, but this is taking forever, and a lot of these guys aren't going anywhere… So, from here on out, I'm just going to go over the win now point guards that should be available now or in the near future.

Pelicans
Nicholas Zike
Contract: Max Deal: $80,434,634 - at age 30 (31 by next TC), with two more years, one of which is a team option.
Current Production: He is the definition of a win-now point guard. He is an assist machine. He has led the league in assists for at least the last two years at 11.8. His scoring is up, but that is probably because all of the scorers on the team are gone, so expect something closer to 12 points per game.
Trade Potential: Very much available, but seeing how much the Pelicans paid for their player, they are going to expect real value back for him.
Future Potential: His quickness will definitely fade some next year. He has a massive contract, but with only one year left on the remainder of his contract, he is a low-risk point guard option for a win-now team. (Assuming team option is declined.)

Commentary: Overall, he gained 3 points but lost 7 points in quickness. Can he still be effective if he loses, say, 7 more points in quickness and goes from 81 to 74? The problem is all of the playoff teams have their win-now point guard. That is why they are winning now, except for the Bucks or the Hawks. The Hawks don't have the available contract or desire to go into the tax to get a 2-year rental. So bucks?
Offensively, he should be just as good next year. But defensively, I worry about him. Especially since his efficiency has always been stable, next year, the question becomes: Can he defend the other playoff contenders' point guards with a 74 quickness? Will he have a similar slide next year, or will it become an exponential slide?

Backup Point Guards of note - Nope

Magic
Jordan Poole
Contract: Max Deal: $69,407,808 this year at age 30 (still 30 by next TC), with two more years on the contract.
Current Production: He is the definition of a win-now point guard. He is also an assist machine, coming in at number 3 (often number 2) on the league leader board at 10.9
per game. His scoring is down to 12.9 from 16. Is this a trend for an older player or a temporary downtick? Still solid on defense and very efficient with the ball.
Trade Potential - Should be very available. Nickmalone77 likes to trade and is looking for solid young players to rebuild.
Future Potential: He will not be as good in the future. With a guaranteed 3 years on his contract, will that last year be as productive as the other first two.

Commentary: Overall, He gained 3 points; but lost 5 points in quickness. The Lakers, Pacers, Raptors, or Bucks could be down to pick up a talent like Poole. Now that I think about it, the Bucks make a lot of sense; maybe move Eddie Cruce for him? Then, the Bucks could still cut some salary to stay under the cap. It could work.

Backup Point Guards of note - Gary Payton II playable backup up with future potential.

[greepleairport]

~1260 words, +5pts