The Value Of A Point Guard

With the Celtics rumored to be open to moving Rajon Rondo, there has been some speculation as to why they would be willing to move such an up and coming star, especially when the Big Three are on their last ride. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are both in the final year of their contracts, and will not be returning unless they accept a lot less than they are currently making. Paul Pierce is a free agent in a couple of seasons, and exactly how much will he have left by that point? All signs point to Rondo being the guy that the Celtics try to build their future around.

But what value does a superstar point guard actually have? Over the past thirty years, only Isaiah Thomas and Magic Johnson have won championships while falling under the superstar classification. More often than not, the point guard is nothing more than a veteran presence who knows how to distribute the basketball, can hit the occasional shot, and can sink free throws. The point guard does not really need to be a scoring threat – just someone that knows how to play the game fundamentally well.

The point guard position, at least over the past thirty years, has thusly been grotesquely overvalued. Look at players like Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, and Chris Paul, or even John Stockton. What exactly have they won, aside from individual accolades? Meanwhile, such luminaries as a past his prime Jason Kidd, Derek Fisher, and Ron Harper have all won championships.

In fact, Tony Parker is the third best point guard to win over the last thirty years. However, he fits the concept of what winning teams need the point guard to do in terms of his passing ability, ability to hit free throws, and knowledge of the game. A ‘name’ point guard tries to take over. A solid point guard that plays the position correctly moves the ball to the best options, and puts the team in position to win. Rarely does a superstar point guard have the awareness to do just that; but when they do, you get an Isaiah Thomas or a Magic Johnson.

Trading Rajon Rondo to bring in another scoring option makes sense. Meanwhile, the Celtics will be able to replace him with a smart, court savvy veteran who will do what the superstar point guards cannot do – help a team win a championship.

The Michael Jordan - LeBron James Comparison

Recently, a lot has been made of comparing LeBron James and Michael Jordan as players. From the eyeball test, where one can see that LeBron is almost capable of scoring at will, this seems like a solid comparison. However, one must ask if they are truly that similar. With LeBron, he is the entire package - capable of scoring, rebounding, and having a great eye for the passing lane. Jordan, meanwhile, is remembered mainly as a high-flying scorer, capable of dominating a game with his sheer offensive talent alone.

Delving into the statistics, we see that Jordan for his career had per game averages of 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists. These show that while the mental image of Jordan involves gravity defying dunks, or pushing off of Byron Russell to hit that series clinching shot in the 1998 NBA Finals, is not entirely accurate. In the modern era of the NBA, he is the all time leading scorer in points per game, but he was more than that. He was able to come up with the occasional rebound, and find the open man when double teamed. Also, his defense was rather underrated as well, as Jordan finished with 2.3 steals per game, good enough for third all-time.

Now, looking at LeBron, the numbers are fairly similar. His per game averages are 27.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 7.0 assists. Looking at steals, LeBron has 1.7 per game. While Jordan was more of a scorer than LeBron, LeBron is a greater facilitator than Jordan was, and has a bit more well-rounded game. Keep in mind that Jordan had the luxury of having another top 50 player of all-time with him for most of his career in Scottie Pippen, while LeBron may as well have had four guys from a YMCA adult basketball league on the floor with him until this past season.

So, the comparison to Jordan is not entirely accurate. As such, who would best fit as a comparable player to LeBron? Given that LeBron plays a bit of the point-forward role, perhaps the best person to look at is someone who filled a very similar role himself, although he was considered a point guard for most of his career. Magic Johnson essentially invented the point-forward position, as a 6'9" point guard who had an uncanny ability to find passing lanes, could rebound, and had the ability to score. Like LeBron, there was no one close to being what he was at the time, and was a bit of a physical freak for his time. Magic, over his career, averaged 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 11.2 assists per game. There is a gap between Magic and LeBron in terms of points per game and assists per game, but Magic was asked to be more of a facilitator than a scorer on a team that also included James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Looking strictly at the total package of LeBron, and of Jordan and Magic, it would appear that Magic Johnson is the best comparison for LeBron James. LeBron gets a lot of recognition for his ability to score, but his well-rounded game should not be forgotten when evaluating who he is on the floor.