A Quick Glance at NBA Point Guards

[spectre]

The list from CBS excluding the "non tradables":

6. Mo Williams, MIL 30. Jordan Farmar, LAL
7. Andre Miller, PHI 31. Jamaal Tinsley, IND
9. Jose Calderon, TOR 32. Keyon Dooling, ORL
10. Raymond Felton, CHA 33. Jannero Pargo, NO
11. Jason Terry, DAL 34. Chris Duhon, CHI
12. Leandro Barbosa, PHO 35. Jeff McInnis, CHA
13. Kirk Hinrich, CHI 36. Anthony Johnson, SAC
14. Rafer Alston, HOU 37. Brevin Knight, LAC
15. Beno Udrih, SAC 38. Luther Head, HOU
16. Tony Parker, SA 39. Damon Jones, CLE
17. Rajon Rondo, BOS 40. Bobby Jackson, HOU
18. Derek Fisher, LAL 41. Royal Ivey, MIL
19. Jameer Nelson, ORL 42. Carlos Arroyo, ORL
20. Sebastian Telfair, MIN 43. Jacque Vaughn, SA
21. Earl Watson, SEA 44. Travis Diener, IND
22. Jarrett Jack, POR 45. Stephon Marbury, NY
23. Steve Blake, POR 46. Damon Stoudamire, SA
24. Juan Carlos Navarro 47. Mike Bibby, ATL
25. Daniel Gibson, CLE 48. Gilbert Arenas, WAS
26. Nate Robinson, NY 49. T.J. Ford, TOR
27. Antonio Daniels, WAS 50. Mike Conley, MEM (Rookie)
28. Anthony Carter, DEN
29. Jason Williams, MIA

The exceptions are Paul/Nash/Kidd/Davis/Williams/Billups/Arenas.

Considering all factors…age/salary/potential…this is the list I’d consider better than Felton hands down:

Calderon
Barbosa
Parker
Conley

Possibly:

Mo Williams
Andre Miller

Three of those, Calderon, Conley & Miller are the only ones I’d consider “pass first” PGs…they look to feed their team mates first vs. looking to score. Andre Miller I’d take a pass on however because of his age. Mo is very similar to Ben Gordon but with better handles and a little better vision. Both of those have a less than desirable contract (Andre is an expiring next year, but odds are he’ll get one last very good deal).

Parker would be VERY hard to acquire, and probably belongs in the elite list I made earlier.

I'd put Ford in the "better" list if not for his neck injury.

Looking over the list, it appears that there aren't that many "pass first" PGs that don't come with a lot of negatives that are obtainable. There's just not that many who are "hands down" an improvement over our status quo, especially considering 1) Felton plays thru injury 2) versatile 3) loyal to the brand.

Others might fit better, but there's nothing to show without a reasonable doubt that it wouldn't be a risk.

[TheBeagle]

I pretty much totally agree with all that spectre says!!! Only difference is I'd put Andre Miller in with the group listed just above. What he's done in Philly, with Mo Cheeks, has been very very impressive. But like you say, with age, and a hefty pricetag coming up, he's not worth the risk, especially considering our current coach, and what he does with the PG position.

[dnbman]

Conley's had a couple of nice games, but I'm not convinced he's better than Felton.

I guess that's why I keep filling the need to defend Felton despite his sometimes uninspiring play: there aren't many great pgs in the league.

Then there's the discussion of needing a "pass first" point guard, which are extremely few and far between.

If only for his clutch shooting, I'd put him over most of those guys. Add to that the fact that he can create for other players, and Felton's pretty good. He's got a lot of room to grow. But when you look at the list, what's the alternative?

Because there's little out there that fits this archetypal pass first point guard, we need to give more trust in a guy who looks like he could be a solid creator.

[Dunk]

Basically Felton is probably in the 2nd tier PG. When he seemingly plays his true position he's done reasonably well. I wouldn't disagree vehemently with anything based on this list based on what I've observed. Brett could always persuade me with some cool stats, though. :)

[spectre]

I agree the verdict is still out on Conley, but I think he still has a lot of potential to get much better.

That list didn't include Devin Harris...I like him a lot. Might have to put in him in the 'possible" list.