Jimmy Butler vs Klay Thompson: Who's the best two-way guard in the league?

Verdict

Minnesota Timberwolves v Los Angeles Lakers

Klay is an all-time great shooting guard, and anyone who says otherwise is pretty much an uninformed person at this point. There are only a handful of players in the history of the game who've ever shot better than him, and fewer still who shoot the same volume of long-range shots as him. A hot Klay Thompson is provably the most potent offensive weapon in the NBA today (37 points in a quarter, 60 points in three quarters).

He's easily one of the lowest-maintenance stars in the league - in fact, I struggle to think of better personality than his to have in your locker room. No drama, no nonsense, pure balling - those are valuable personality traits to have on your team.

But at the end of the day, he's never been the first option on a team. His lack of ability to generate offense off the dribble is the one big flaw in his game. Jimmy Butler, flawed or not as he may be as a locker room presence, is unequivocally the better basketball player, and probably has been so for five seasons now.

When there are conversations about the best players in the league (other than LeBron, who's obviously the #1 player in the world), one of the names that doesn't get thrown around but should be more often is Butler. Few things are as impressive as the turnaround that the Wolves engineered at the start of last season.