3-Man Weave: Kyrie Irving or John Wall? Conley or Lillard? Who you got?
In the latest edition of 3-Man Weave, we're breaking down three point guard matchups and asking: Who you got?
By
Eye on Basketball staff
•
7 min read
Pitting two players against one another and asking which one is better is practically a religion in the NBA, and there's no doubt that the most competitive position in the league right now is point guard. Every night we're watching great shooters, great playmakers, great defenders who maybe don't get the credit they deserve, and we're trying to figure out who's got the edge in three particular head-to-head matchups that could go either way. This isn't necessarily who would win one-on-one. It's everything. Overall impact. You're on the playground picking squads and all these guys are standing there with their hands out. Who you got?
Zach Harper: Give me John Wall. If this question were about who you'd rather pair with LeBron James, the answer would be Irving because he's the far-better off-ball player and shooter, but as a point guard, Wall is my guy -- largely for the impact he has at both ends of the floor. Pretty simply, Wall is one of the most dominating athletic forces we have over the entire 94 feet of court, and he's an incredible passer that really isn't utilized to his fullest under his current coach (unless they go small and push the tempo a bit, which they don't do nearly enough).
The shooting, again, is advantage Irving, who is also one of the best dribblers I've ever seen. But Kyrie just doesn't play on the defenisive end with the consistency that I would need to see to put him ahead of Wall.
James Herbert: Wall. He's far more athletic, perhaps the most terrifying transition player in the league and a far superior defender. Most important, he's one of the best and smartest passers in the NBA, a true point guard in a way that Irving is not.
This is not to say that the Cavaliers would trade Irving for Wall. With LeBron James on the roster, you can't overstate the value of Irving's incredible shooting. In a vacuum, though, I'm going with Wall.
Matt Moore: I will reluctantly go with Kyrie Irving here, but I can't feel good about it without at least ackowledging how extremely underrated Wall is on multiple levels. He's a defensive terror. He's quietly become a big shot-maker. He's unbelievable at getting to the rim. And as a passer, he's as good as anyone in the league. Imagine if Wall ran in a wide-open system, like with George Karl, Mike D'Antoni or even Gregg Popovich. But no, instead we get to see him plod along under Randy Wittman.
Still, Irving is the better player. He's able to take over games (as he did in his 57-point explosion vs. the Spurs) which is something Wall rarely does. Irving has maybe the best handle in the NBA, has come up huge in big games, and with how important point-guard scoring has become in today's NBA, there's a gap between him and Wall. But boy, is this tough.
Plus, I suppose it's time I stopped doubting the guy. I didn't think Irving deserved the Team USA spot over Damian Lillard or Wall last year -- he wound up winning FIBA Tournament MVP. I thought he would be the weak point in the Cavs' triumverate -- he wound up being the team's second-best, and for certain games, best player. I thought his defense would be exposed in the playoffs -- he did surprisingly well to the point that he was actually really bugging Steph Curry in Game 1 of the Finals before his injury. After Irving's rookie season I thought he'd be the best point guard in the league by now. He's not that, though I'll take him by a hair over Wall.
Damian Lillard vs. Mike Conley
Harper: Conley's far superior defense and generally underappreciated offensive production makes this a very close call, but given the state of the game, I give the nod to Lillard as a guy who is fast becoming a historic 3-point shooter. He did have a down season last year in terms of efficiency and shooting (especially in the clutch), but I think that was more an outlier than it was what we should expect from Lillard moving forward. Things will be tougher with LaMarcus Aldridge gone and with the Blazers rebuilding, but I feel confident we're going to see an even better Lillard adapt to this experience.
Herbert: Conley. This is entirely because of defense -- everybody knows how great Lillard is as a scorer, especially in high-pressure situations. He's entirely deserving of the maximum contract extension he got this summer. His defense, though, must improve.
It's not as if Lillard isn't trying. He made improvements last season, but he has not shown a consistent ability to disrupt opposing point guards while playing heavy minutes and running the team. Conley's ability to do that exact thing for the Grizzlies, all the time, even when hurt, is what makes him so special.
Moore: Listen, I'm a huge fan of Damian Lillard -- but this is all Mike Conley and it shouldn't be close. Probably what makes it seems like a closer call is perception. Conley doesn't seem great at anything. He's quick but not explosive. He's a good shooter but not lights out. He has great vision but doesn't rack up huge assist numbers. He's just very strong in every area, with very few, if any, weaknesses, and he runs Memphis' offense perfectly, making sure the ball is getting into the right hands in the right spots while keeping the tempo where the Grizzlies want it. Conley has never been an All-Star, but there's a reason he's always spoken of in those terms. His impact goes well beyond the box score.
Ty Lawson vs. Jeff Teague
Harper: Even if we're putting all the off-court stuff aside here, I'd still go with Teague over Lawson. It's true that Lawson has been the more productive player to this point, and he's led some of the best offenses we've seen over the past five years (those Nuggets teams were really incredible on that end of the floor and Lawson's ability to push the ball, finish around the basket, dish and shoot from the outside is tough to defend). But in the end, Teague's capable of doing a lot of that same stuff while being a much bigger and longer point guard. Lawson is 6-feet on a good day with a 6-foot wingspan, and defensively he can pretty much be used as a ball rack by shooting point guards -- which, you know, is sort of a problem given the number of point guards who can shoot the lights out these days.
Teague is just under 6-2 and has a 6-7 wingspan. He can push the ball, shoot the ball, and is a plus-defender with the Hawks' new direction. We've also seen him run that Hawks offense to near perfection on a lot of nights. I might be projecting here a bit rather than going on pure data, but I'll take Teague's size and overall game in a close call.
Herbert: Teague. While Lawson is a killer offensive player, Teague gets the slight edge here because of his all-around play. It's close because Lawson is as fast as anybody in the league and he's a great pick-and-roll player, but the leap Teague made last year was something special.
He made it look easy, but there was a high degree of difficulty for Teague last year in Atlanta. He knew precisely how to break defenses down within the Hawks' system, and he kept his scorers happy. His team was unstoppable for most of the season, and four guys, Teague included, made the All-Star team because of the way he orchestrated things.
Moore: I've written ad nauseum about how good Ty Lawson is, even if you don't think of him as an elite player. If you combine his scoring and assists per game last year, he was seventh in the league in terms of points produced, and that was on a bad Nuggets team. There's every reason to believe he can be an All-Star caliber player in Houston.
Still, I'm going with Teague here. Lawson suffers from his height, or lack thereof, which hurts him most on the defensive end in terms of contesting shots and getting over screens. Teague -- a bigger, longer player -- is an A-level defender, and the offense is right there with Lawson as Teague is ridiculously crafty with the ball, can knock down shots, and has become a patient game-mananger in Mike Budenholzer's system. Teague has been instrumental to a great team's success, while Lawson has failed to deliver what his weaker Denver team needed from him. Plus, Teague doesn't bring any of the baggage.
