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Shooting guards in today's NBA have become essential players for their franchises, and their impact on their teams is tremendous. Though some superstars in the shooting guard position are spot-up shooters and good defenders, there are those who control their team's offense efficiently.
NBA Power Rankings: Top 5 shooting guards in the league right now
Ranking the five-best active shooting guards in the NBA is pretty straightforward because many shooting guards are part of the supporting cast of their teams, whle others are key in offense and defense. Without further ado, let's get started.
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#5 Bradley Beal
Bradley Beal finished second in points per game in the 2019-20 NBA, garnering an average of 30.5 points. He had a fabulous year, but his efforts were not enough to take the Washington Wizards to the NBA Playoffs.
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His tally of 30.5 points, 6.2 assists and four rebounds per game failed to find him an NBA All-Star spot or an All-NBA selection; nevertheless, he was one of the best shooting guards in the NBA last season.
In 2018-19, Beal was arguably better than he was last season, as he averaged 26 points, six assists and five rebounds per game on 48% shooting from the field.
In Offensive Win Shares among shooting guards, Beal (4.5) only trailed James Harden and Devin Booker. Beal's 5.3 Offensive Box Plus/Minus rating ranked second among shooting guards and 11th in the NBA.
#4 Donovan Mitchell
Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz continues to improve year after year and has become a great NBA scorer. Mitchell showed his potential since his rookie season, and he is starting to establish himself as an elite player at his position now.
Mitchell had career-highs in points per game (24), rebounds per game (4.4), assists per game (4.3), shooting percentage (45%), three-point shooting percentage (37%) and FT percentage (86%). In Player Efficiency Rating among shooting guards, Mitchell ranked fifth (18.8).
For the first time in his NBA career, Mitchell made the All-Star game. He had an amazing performance in the first round of the Playoffs even though the Jazz lost in seven games to the Denver Nuggets. In that series, Mitchell averaged 36 points, five rebounds, five assists per game on 53% shooting from the field, 52% from three (on nine attempts per game) and a whopping 95% from the FT line.
In the first game of that series, Mitchell scored 57 points - the third-highest points scored in a single playoff game in NBA history.
He also scored 51 points in game four, becoming the fourth player in NBA history to have multiple 50-point games in the same playoff series (Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson and Jamal Murray being the others).
#3 Devin Booker
Devin Booker had a tremendous year. Although he could not lead the Phoenix Suns to the 2020 NBA Playoffs, he led the team to an 8-0 record in the NBA Bubble (seeding games) and had his best year in terms of shooting.
Booker tied his career average of 26.6 points per game this year while also averaging seven assists and four rebounds per game. He had his best year from the field, shooting 49%. Moreover, he shot 35% from three, and he ranked second in the league in FT shooting with 92%.
The player ranked third in points per game among shooting guards, third in PER, fourth in True Shooting Percentage, second in Win Shares and second in Value over Replacement.
#2 Klay Thompson
Missing the entire season does not diminish Klay Thompson's stature in the NBA. He is expected to play a key role for the Golden State Warriors in 2021 as the franchise eyes a deep run in the playoffs.
Thompson has a career average of 19.5 points, four rebounds and three 3P field goals made per game. His career average of 41% from the three-point line is the 14th-best in NBA history.
After establishing himself as an NBA All-Star in the 2014-15 season, Thompson has had five straight seasons with at least 20 points scored per game, with shooting splits of 47/42/86 during the said period.
Apart from his shooting prowess, Thompson is also a great defender who has been selected to the All-Defensive NBA team on one occasion.
#1 James Harden
There is no contest for the top spot on this list, James Harden is the best shooting guard in the NBA at the moment and is probably a Top-5 shooting guard in NBA history.
A former NBA Most Valuable Player award winner, Harden has won the last three scoring titles, averaging 30, 36 and 34 points per game respectively. He has also led the NBA in assists per game (2016-17). Harden has averaged eight assists per game in the last three seasons while leading the NBA in scoring.
Harden has been selected seven times to All-NBA teams and has been named in eight All-Star games.
Last season, Harden had a PER of 29.1 (second in the NBA). He led the league in Win Shares (13.1) and Value over Replacement (7.3). Moreover, Harden led shooting guards by big margins on Offensive Box Plus/Minus and Box Plus/Minus ratings as well.
In addition to his offensive prowess, Harden also led the league in free throws made for the sixth straight season proving that he is comfortable in taking the ball inside and fighting his way through traffic.
Also read: NBA Trade Rumors: Bogdan Bogdanovic might snub contract talks with Sacramento Kings amidst interest from championship contenders.
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