Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose or Los Angeles Clippers Chris Paul: Why not Both?
Motivated by a debate among some of the NBA writers here at Rant Sports, I wanted to take the time and address the seemingly never ending question: Who is the best point guard in the NBA?
The debate stems from the fact that the NBA has evolved and is going to continue to evolve until the old ways are all but shattered.
It does not take a dominant big man to win in the NBA anymore.
Instead, we have seen an influx of athletic freaks who can handle the ball, score at will, and find the time to dish the ball to their teammates.
The Derrick Rose-s of the world, a master at getting to the rim and the youngest MVP winner ever at just 23 years old.
Is there anything Rose can’t do? Yes, he does not have the best shooting percentage from outside. Yes, he does not lead the league in assists.
Who cares? For how much he scores is there really much room for his teammates to get him assists? Even with that in mind, Rose is 8th in the NBA in assists this season.
Being the team’s primary scoring option AND being a top 10 player in assists does not happen very often. Rose is a great player and top 5 player in the NBA right now.
Then there are the Chris Paul-s of the world. One who most would call a “pure” point guard. His primary goal is not to score points, but to set up his teammates.
Sure, he could score if he wanted to, but that’s not what his team is asking of him. Steve Nash made a living of this for his entire career; he even has two MVP awards to show for it.
If you had to pick one player to start a team with, you would almost certainly go with a player like Rose. The transformation he has made to the Bulls’ organization has been incredible.
However, it is not like you can go wrong by picking a true point guard as long as you have the pieces to go around him.
Jason Kidd is a perfect example of this. He was not asked to do much for the Dallas Mavericks last year besides facilitate the offense, and the Mavericks won the NBA title.
It seems as though we are comparing the same position, but it is really apples to oranges. To me, neither answer is wrong when deciding between Rose and Paul, it is all a matter of preference.
Bulls and Clippers fans would likely disagree, but that’s why we love sports.
