Revisiting the point guards of the 2009 NBA Draft

Atlanta Hawks’ Jeff Teague (R) drives to the net on Chicago Bulls’ Omer Asik during Game 5 of their NBA Eastern Conference second round playoff basketball game in Chicago, May 10, 2011. REUTERS/John Gress (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

Jeff Teague’s series performance (17-4-3, 56% shooting) against the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semis got me thinking about all the promising point guards that came out of the 2009 Draft. Take a look:

5. Ricky Rubio, T-Wolves
6. Jonny Flynn, T-Wolves
7. Stephen Curry, Warriors
10. Brandon Jennings, Bucks
17. Jrue Holiday, 76ers
18. Ty Lawson, T-Wolves (traded to Nuggets)
19. Jeff Teague, Hawks
20. Eric Maynor, Jazz (traded to Thunder)
21. Darren Collison, Hornets (traded to Pacers)
25. Rodrigue Beaubois, Thunder (traded to Mavericks)
29. Toney Douglas, Knicks

It’s pretty amazing that with the emergence of Teague in Atlanta, no fewer than six players on that list have developed into starting caliber point guards in the NBA. Four others (Douglas, Beaubois, Maynor and Flynn) are rotation players.

Here are the 2010-11 stats for each player, sorted by Efficiency Per Minute, which is I believe the best way to quickly compare a player’s production.

NameMPGPPGAPGRPGSPGTPGFG%3P%EPGEPM
Stephen Curry33.718.65.83.91.53.1.480.44219.3.573
Ty Lawson26.311.74.72.61.01.7.503.40413.4.508
Jrue Holiday35.414.06.54.01.52.7.446.36516.4.464
Darren Collison29.813.25.12.81.12.5.457.33113.6.455
Toney Douglas24.310.63.03.01.11.1.416.37310.9.449
Jeff Teague13.75.22.01.50.70.9.438.3756.0.435
Brandon Jennings34.416.24.83.71.52.3.390.32314.5.422
Roddy Beaubois18.08.42.31.90.71.7.422.3017.0.390
Eric Maynor14.64.22.91.50.40.9.402.3855.6.380
Jonny Flynn18.65.33.41.50.62.1.365.3105.0.268
Ricky Rubio

From a numbers standpoint, Stephen Curry appears to be the best of the class, but Lawson, Holiday, Collison, Teague and Jennings are all solid starters and could potentially pass Curry as the years wear on.

This list makes Minnesota GM David Kahn look pretty silly considering he found a way to pretty much whiff with Rubio (who still is playing in Spain) and Flynn (who has been a disappointment, given his draft position) with all that talent on the board. He did draft Lawson, but traded him to Denver for Martell Webster.

And the Timberwolves still don’t have a point guard to build around. All of Kahn’s eggs are in Rubio’s basket at this point and he really needs the young Spaniard to make a splash when he finally arrives.

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