The Top 5 shooting guards in NBA history according to Nick Wright pic.twitter.com/PT8zmrRJW9
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) February 27, 2018
How do you like this list? Also, if we made a distinction between best shooters at the 2-spot versus best 2 guards, who would be in the former? Off the top of my head, here’s who I’d put in there:
Ray Allen
Kobe Bryant
I can think of a bunch of others, but none that really stand out ahead of the pack. Oh, I’m tempted to put Klay Thompson in there. Some other players that come to mind: Jeff Hornacek, Reggie Miller…By the way, I think Ray Allen didn’t really have the killer instinct, and that hurts him in my mind. Shoot, if you put Reggie Miller into Ray Allen’s body, and I think that player might have been one of the best shooting guards of all time.
Oh, I think Clyde Drexler has to be in the first list, and I’d probably choose him over Harden. I also like Mitch Richmond, but he probably doesn’t belong in there.
I bring him up often, but Andrew Toney was a hell of a shooter.
Drexler, all around, definitely is better than Harden. Drexler could rebound and defend. But if I was building a team, I may lean Harden. He’s unstoppable and is someone coaches have to go out of the way to defend. “If do right, no can defense.” That should open it up for other guys. Plus Harden can really fill it up and put up 50 or more.
Toney came to mind, but my memory is hazy. Plus, did he play enough years at a high level?
As for Harden vs. Drexler, you don’t think Drexler would have a similar impact if he played in today’s NBA? I’m not sure, but I tend to think so.
I was just picking Toney as a shooter. He could light it up from deep. And he had an “unblockable” shot.
Drexler didn’t seem like a force on offense. Maybe in isolation he can be effective, but he’s definitely not even close to being hard-to-stop when compared to Harden. Plus Harden can get to the line just about anytime he wants it seems.
Toney could shoot–and I can remember a few games where he went off, but I can’t remember many of them. I guess, I’m also including how much points they scored, from the perimeter. I thought Dana Barros was a really good shooter, but I’m not putting him in there. I also thought of Rolando Blackman and Jeff Malone (although maybe they didn’t have range). Downtown Freddy Brown comes to mind, my memory of him is even hazier.