Ranking EVERY Starting Shooting Guard From All 30 NBA Teams

So in my last video we kicked things off in this series and today we're keeping things chugging right along. Basically every year I publish my positional rankings twice per year. Once in the middle of the season and once in the offseason because things change pretty rapidly in this league and it's important to take all new data into consideration with this stuff. What we're doing is going through all five positions in basketball, ranking the starting player at each spot from all 30 NBA teams. Last video we got started by going through the point guards, so today we're moving on to the shooting guards which may not be as star studded of a group, but there is a whole lot more versatility and two-way production here so on that note let's dive right in. Starting at the bottom and working our way up to the number one spot at number 30 we have Keaton Wagler of the Los Angeles Clippers. Wagler is a rookie with nothing to show for yet, plus what we did see from him in the summer league displayed some signs that there are going to be some growing pains for him out of the gate. I fully believe Wagler has a ton of upside as a prospect and will be a very good NBA player for a long time, but at the current moment he comes in at the bottom pretty much by default. Next at number 29 we have Baylor Shireman of the Boston Celtics. The Celtics starting two-guard position is currently up for grabs, but based on what we've seen it seems like Shireman is the favorite to be slotted in here at the moment to play next to Derek White in the backcourt. Shireman is out there to shoot a ton of threes and he does have some sneaky playmaking talent that can be utilized in spurts, but he is still very much unproven in a larger role and needs to prove that he can handle this kind of workload before he goes any further up this list. Next at number 28 we have Yegor Djomin of the Brooklyn Nets. Djomin's rookie season last year was strong in some areas and weak in others, so in other news he had the season of a rookie guard. He did shoot the ball better from three than most expected, so at minimum he is looking like he can be a useful floor spacing threat, but there is still a ton of playmaking upside that can be tapped into in his game. We just need to see it from him more regularly. Next at number 27 we have Christian Brown of the Denver Nuggets. Brown signed a pretty big contract extension with the Nuggets last year and then unfortunately immediately after putting pen to paper his play on the court regressed pretty noticeably. Brown is an athletic defensive-minded perimeter player who plays well operating off of the playmaking of Nikola Jokic as a cutter and finisher around the basket, but his jumper went cold last season and injuries also hampered his year on top of it. He's shown he can be better, but for now this is where he lands. Next at number 26 we have Cedric Coward of the Memphis Grizzlies. Coward was a pleasant surprise from last season's rookie class as someone who entered as a bit of a mystery, but in year one he showed off very promising two-way potential. There are legit creation skills on the ball there to be developed in his game. He is a useful shooter from three who went through typical rookie's ups and downs in that regard, and he has tremendous size and length that he uses to be a pestering defensive presence. Over time he should definitely rise up this list as long as he continues on the trajectory that he's on. Next at number 25 we have Klay Thompson of the Dallas Mavericks. We're no longer in the glory days of the Golden State Warriors dynasty. We're in the year 2026 where Klay Thompson is definitely on the downturn of his career. He'll always be a useful catch-and-shoot three-point shooter, but every other part of his game has regressed pretty mightily. He's no longer a lockdown defender, he's a pretty inefficient scorer anywhere inside the three-point arc, and he has really poor shot selection which stems from him not being much of a willing passer. So for that he's now near the bottom of this list. Next at number 24 we have Duncan Robinson of the Detroit Pistons. Robinson is another pure shooter at the position, starting for one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, and he is someone who does his job very well. He just doesn't really do much else. Robinson scores about 12 points per game, knocking down 41 percent of his threes on seven attempts from three per game. He's not going to do much off the dribble, he's not really a playmaker, and he's a decent defender at best or realistically more subpar. So yes he is a great shooter, but there are plenty more versatile talents ahead of him on this list. Next at number 23 we have Brandon Pajemski of the Golden State Warriors. Pajemski is developing into a secondary ball handler for this team that can make things happen off the bounce, and he can score in bunches, but he gets himself into trouble within the Steve Kerr system because he has a tendency to try to do too much sometimes. With averages of about 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists per game on decent shooting splits efficiency-wise, he's clearly a talented young player, he just needs to improve on the mental side of the game. Next at number 22 we have Tim Hardaway Jr. of the Miami Heat. Hardaway has been in the league for a long time and has built a career around being a spark plug of a score. He is not afraid to let it fly from three anytime, scoring about 14 points per game last season, taking seven three-point attempts per game, and he knocks them down at a 41 percent clip, which is genuinely great for the volume. Last year he was integral to the Denver Nuggets success, and now he's looking to play a similar role next to Giannis Antetokounmpo and this new look Miami Heat side. Next at number 21 we have Kayson Wallace of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Wallace is genuinely the ultimate role player in today's NBA, and he encapsulates what it means to impact winning without needing to put up gaudy numbers. Nothing about his production jumps out at you, but he does all of the things that don't show up in the box score. He's an elite perimeter defender, he's a high IQ player both on and off the ball, and he serves as a connector in the lineup for one of the best teams in the NBA. So for that he comes in at the top of this role player tier of the list. Next at number 20 we have Keyshawn George of the Washington Wizards. George took a huge leap from his rookie season to his second season, and going into year three that progress should absolutely push forward on a team looking to finally make some noise in the standings. He is a six foot eight shot creator with a smooth handle, excellent feel for the game having also dished out about five assists per game, and as a scorer he put up about 15 points a night shooting 44% from the field and 38% from three, which is above average. Next at number 19 we have Jalen Green of the Phoenix Suns. Green's career has just not panned out as expected since he was drafted number two overall. Green is on the floor to score the basketball, and he doesn't really look to do much else. Admittedly he always does have a handful of games every year where things fully click and he explodes for a big scoring night, which reels people in thinking he can be finally turning a corner and becoming the star that he was meant to be. But overall he's an inefficient volume scorer who takes bad shots and overall has played some losing basketball. He'll give you 20 points per game but he won't really play any defense or mold his game around the teammates around him. So for that I have him ranked below quite a few players who may not have better individual production but they impact the game more meaningfully. Next at number 18 we have Zach Levine of the Sacramento Kings. Levine at this point in his career falls into a very similar boat to Jalen Green. He is an explosive scoring talent who throughout his career has just never been able to prove he can actually play winning basketball despite his impressive production. He is a more efficient scorer inside and out than Jalen Green hence being slightly ranked better but he is a pretty bad defender, is becoming increasingly injury prone, and has played in just one total playoff series in his entire career which doesn't feel by accident. Next at number 17 we have Vijay Edgecombe of the Philadelphia 76ers. Edgecombe's rookie season exceeded all expectations and now he finds himself in a lineup surrounded by stars of the highest caliber. He's an explosive athlete who makes some incredible highlight reel plays at the rim, he's a tenacious perimeter defender, and is a blur in the open floor. He just averaged about 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists per game in his first season and he still hasn't come close to scratching the surface of his upside. So while his usage will be going down a little bit this upcoming season, long term he'll be someone that should soar up this list. Next at number 16 we have Andrew Nembhard of the Indiana Pacers. Nembhard has established himself as a pretty brilliant secondary ball handler and playmaker who can turn up under the bright lights and help lead a Pacers team on a run that made it to the NBA finals in 2025. He's coming off of the best individual year of his career in a season where Tyrese Halliburton was out, so now he's going into this season with a ton of built-up confidence, ready to assume his role right next to Halliburton again. Next at number 15 we have Josh Hart of the New York Knicks. Hart is the who does a little bit of everything for the reigning NBA champions. Averaging about 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game, he is one of the best rebounding guards in the whole league, who also tends to make the right decision with the ball in his hands without playing selfishly or hunting for buckets for himself at the expense of what's best for the team. He's a grinder, he's a winner, and he makes all of the hustle plays. And he's someone who stuffs the stat Next at number 14 we have Darren Peterson of the Utah Jazz. So I want to be very clear, this list is a combination of how good I think these players are right now and how good I think they'll be next season. And while Darren Peterson is an unproven rookie, I will not hesitate to make it clear that I'm a pretty big believer in his talent and expect him to be a solid two guard out of the gate. Health issues are the only thing that give me some reservation about Darren Peterson's production this year, because when he's right and healthy, there isn't a single thing that he can't give you as a guard, and I think he will be a big time scorer this year right away. Next at number 13 we have RJ Barrett of the Toronto Raptors. RJ Barrett will consistently give you 20 points per game, and his work as a downhill driver is as good as anybody's at the position. The critiques with his game have always come with how streaky of a shooter he is from the outside, and he's never really been someone to take that leap to the next level that some hoped to see out of him, but for a good Raptors team he has settled in nicely and provides a strong source of offense and defense. Next at number 12 we have Trey Murphy of the New Orleans Pelicans. Trey Murphy has been one of the position's biggest breakouts over the last two years. The problem is that he's been doing it on one of the most dysfunctional franchises in that span, so it's been heavily overlooked. He's gone from being a solid two-way role player who is a 3 and D type of guy, to genuinely being someone who's a capable on-ball go-to scoring threat while still maintaining efficiency as a high volume 3 point shooter. There is absolutely a path for him to crack the top 10 of this list, it's just hard to put him there yet with how hollow and empty his production has been on one of the worst teams in the league. Next at number 11 we have Nikhil Alexander-Walker of the Atlanta Hawks. NAW is another player that took a big leap from being a promising role player before that, to being more of a go-to scoring option last year. In his first season with the Atlanta Hawks he stepped right into their starting lineup and put up about 21 points per game shooting 46% from the field and 40% from three. And he looked so good that the Hawks felt comfortable trading Trey Young away, knowing that their backcourt was in good hands with him. Now to start off the top 10 we have Desmond Bain of the Orlando Magic. Bain was brought to Orlando last season to try to open things up for the team's offense and bring some much needed sharp shooting into the lineup. For the most part he did that as well as he averaged about 20 points per game shooting 39% from three and the team's offensive rating did improve a bit from the year prior. Bain has been a terrific secondary option on offense for years now and still has many more years ahead of him of the same, so he cracks the top 10 with that kind of track record for playoff teams. Next at number 9 we have Tyler Hero of the Bucks. Hero was one of the headlining pieces in the trade that brought Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami, so now he's navigating the next phase of his career. Hero is yet another player in this tier of guards that will give you about 20 points a night consistently and he'll do it pretty efficiently as well. He's just as capable as anyone of catching fire and taking a game over, he just doesn't have that it factor to be a true number one on a team with lofty aspirations, but now in Milwaukee he'll be able to play in a much more relaxed system outside of the pressure that the Heat were placing on him. Next at number 8 we have Norman Powell of the Chicago Bulls. It's funny, Powell and Hero were teammates on the Heat last season and now they sit right next to each other on this list and neither of them are even on the Miami Heat anymore. Powell was named an all-star for the first time of his career last season averaging an efficient 22 points per game and now he's in Chicago to give this young squad more offensive firepower. He's someone who will not hesitate to let it fly from three if he's open and his game seems to only be getting better and better with age, so the Bulls are hoping that that's a trend that continues for them. Next at number 7 we have Con Canipple of the Charlotte Hornets. Canipple came out as a rookie and silenced every doubter out there when he emerged as one of the very best shooters in the whole NBA from day one. He nearly won the rookie of the year award behind averages of about 19 points and 5 rebounds per game while shooting a red hot 43% from three which ranked amongst the best marks in the whole league while also taking more threes per game than the players that were ranked ahead of him, so there's a case to be made that based on the volume he's already the best shooter currently. Lamello Ball is now gone from the Hornets so Canipple's usage is about to increase a ton and I think he could absolutely be someone who averages anywhere from about 22 to 23 points per game and that combined with his high basketball IQ and strong feel for the game have made him a great player already. Next at number 6 we have Stefan Kassel of the San Antonio Spurs. Kassel was the rookie of the year in 2025 and he carried that momentum into 2026 where he grew as a player across the board. Right now he's not only one of the best perimeter defenders in the game but he's improved immensely as a playmaker dishing out about 7.5 assists per game. He also puts up about 17 points per game with him mastering the art of deceleration around the rim, throwing off defenders and making for some easy finishes. He needs to cut down on his turnovers and continue working on improving as a three point shooter but he was huge for San Antonio during their run to the NBA finals this year and he has still not even reached his peak. Next at number 5 we have Eamon Thompson of the Houston Rockets. Thompson is without a shred of a doubt an incredible two-way talent and weapon in this league. He is a freak athlete who may be the most explosive player in the whole NBA in that regard. He's a dominant defender and he averages about 18 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists per game. The one problem is that he is at risk of suffering a similar fate as peak Ben Simmons where he was also great on defense and was an athletic playmaker in the open floor but the fact that Simmons was a complete non-factor shooting the ball from the perimeter really limited his effectiveness in a playoff setting and Eamon Thompson could find himself at risk of that too. Next at number four we have Austin Reeves of the Los Angeles Lakers. Reeves continues to get better and better every year and now with LeBron James off the team he is about to be featured even more which has proven that he is ready for it time and time again when he's gotten the chance. Through the first month and a half of last season when LeBron James was out injured, Reeves was averaging about 29 points per game which was amongst the league leaders in that category at the time and while I don't necessarily think he'll hold that kind of a number across an entire season I do think he's about to explode this year as long as he stays healthy. He may not be a very good defender but he's as crafty as they come creating off the dribble and he's a legit threat from all three levels playing next to Luka Doncic who is even more so. Next at number three we have Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers. Yes Lillard is of course more of a point guard but it seems as though he will be sharing the backcourt with John Morant this season on the Trailblazers and with Lillard being the far superior shooter of those two I had to put Lillard on this list instead of one in my last video. Lillard missed the entire season last year due to the fact that he tore his achilles which is a serious injury and there is no guarantee that he'll be able to return to the form that he was in when it happened. There's a real chance that this is way too high of a ranking for the current version of him we're about to get to but until we actually see that I'll happily give him the benefit of the doubt. Next at number two we have Donovan Mitchell. The top two shooting guards are in a tier of their own on this list above the rest of the pack. Donovan Mitchell is one of the best scorers in the entire NBA coming off of a year where he just averaged about 28 points per game. He's been an all-star seven years in a row now. He's been the focal point of dangerous playoff teams year in and year out and he led the Cavaliers to the conference finals this season with a track And finally coming in at number one as the best shooting guard in the NBA right now we have Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Edwards just gets better and better every year and it feels like he's going to be the king of this position for the foreseeable future. On top of being an uber explosive slasher with top tier finishing ability at and above the rim he's now also one of the most three point shooters in the league knocking down 40% of his threes. Edwards just averaged a career high 29 points per game and now with lamello ball in the backcourt next to him his job is going to be a lot easier without having to carry as much of the playmaking load. And with that being said that's all I have for you today. Make sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and comment down below how you think the shooting guards currently stack up. Thanks for watching and I'll see you all next time.