The Death Of The Shooting Guard

It's not breaking news by any means, but the shooting guard position in the NBA is all but dead.  Quick, name a superstar SG besides James Harden?  You really can't. 

One would argue the same for the center, but although they may not all be superstars, I can list a few quality centers off the top of my head; (Howard, Asik, Hibbert, Pekovic, Noah, Jefferson etc.)  I can't do that for SG's.  I really have to think about it. 

I honestly don't even think I could argue who is the second best SG after Harden.  Now for those still arguing Kobe is number one, I'm excluding him from this blog for one big reason.  We have no idea what Kobe is going to be like when he returns.  Could he return to scoring 27 PPG?  With Kobe anything is possible, but I would wager that is highly unlikely due to his age and mileage on his body.  He's not a spring chicken anymore.  I'm as big of Kobe fan as anyone, but people saying he's still the best player in the NBA are complete fools.  Even at 100% he wasn't the best player in the league.  (I'm ashamed to say it, but Laker fans are delusional at times.) 

Wade was another big time player- many moons ago.  He has seriously broken down.  I used to think, "If Wade didn't have LeBron and he had to be the man, we would see just how beaten he is."  Well now that is going to be reality.  (Don't even say he has Bosh to rely on.  That's not at all the same thing.)  I'm not saying he's going to be Ron Artest-bad, but when he plays (AKA when he's not injured) he's not going to be all-star D-Wade anymore.  Will he make the all-star team off of name recognition?  Absolutely, but in name only.  (Don't get me started on the stupid voting.) 

So with those two big names gone from the SG position, it's no wonder it's dying.  (Ginobili had a renaissance in the Finals, but his best days are clearly behind him as well.)  It's just strange that the most famous player in any sport ever, Michael Jordan, has the weakest position in the sport now.  Everyone wanted to be a SG when Jordan was around.  Not saying they don't now, but the skill level just isn't there.  Of the six guard slots on the All NBA teams this year, only one (Harden), made the team.  Granted, you could make an entire all-star team out of just PG's, but it still speaks of the lack of elite talent at the position. (Speaking of "elite" talent, please check out my book by clicking here.)

This isn't to say that the SG will be an inferior position for eternity.  I'm sure it's just in a down-cycle.  It would take quite leap for it to top the quality of SF's at the moment (James, Durant, Leonard, Anthony, George), but I'm sure in time it will rebound.  Pun intended.

And if you do research the best SG's in the league, you will find a list of very young talent. 

Klay Thompson
Dion Waiters
Bradley Beal
DeMar Derozan
Lance Stephenson
Jimmy Butler
Arron Afflalo

These guys are all super young.  They are no where near the primes of their careers.  (With the exception of Afflalo)  Also, who knows what the new group of  rookies are going to do.  I'm sure they will add their names to the list.