You may have heard that we're living in the golden age of the point guard. Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, John Wall, Isaiah Thomas, Kemba Walker ... that's just an embarrassment of point-guard riches.
We aren't here to talk about those guys, exactly. Those guys are bona fide stars. They're All-Stars and All-NBAers, superstars and superduperstars, and they aren't going anywhere. But there's a handful of other fine point guards in the league, some of whom could well find themselves on the move before this season is up. These are super-solid (if unspectacular) players, guys stuck in bad situations who can still move the needle for the right team. These are the NBA's semi-star point guards.
Who wants to trade one? Who wants to trade for one? Let's make some educated guesses.
Semi-star PG sellers
Team: Phoenix Suns
Semi-star point guard: Eric Bledsoe
The Suns would certainly prefer to move Brandon Knight, but it's hard to envision much of a market for the defensively deficient combo-guard currently mired in the longest shooting slump of his career. Bledsoe, on the other hand, is a bruising, blazing-fast force who is rebounding and getting to the free-throw line at career-best rates. He's also scoring at the second-best rate of his career, despite an atypically low 3-point percentage that should stabilize with time and/or better teammates.
His defense has slipped, which is likely the result of some combination of losing-induced apathy and knee-surgery fallout. In any event, his clean bill of health through the first quarter of this season may assuage fears about his ability to stay on the floor.
The Suns are building for the future, and Bledsoe will be a free agent before they're ready to even sniff contention. He's not a foundational superstar you can build around, and he's about to turn 27, putting him on a different timeline than the Suns' 19-year-old core of Devin Booker, Dragan Bender, and Marquese Chriss.
Likelihood of trading semi-star point guard: 8/10
Team: Miami Heat
Semi-star point guard: Goran Dragic
The Heat are primed for a rebuild, and Dragic is their most obvious trade candidate. He's recouped his value by retaking the reins of the Heat's offense in the wake of Dwyane Wade's departure, but his age (he'll be 31 by season's end) may preclude his being part of Miami's transition to a new era.
More sensibly, the torch bearers for the next phase of Heat basketball should be Hassan Whiteside and Justise Winslow, plus whatever they can get for Dragic (more on that later). They dished out two first-rounders to get him at the 2015 trade deadline, when he was an impending free agent. Now that he's locked into a reasonable deal for the next three years, they should be able to get that back, and then some.
Likelihood of trading semi-star point guard: 6/10
Team: Minnesota Timberwolves
Semi-star point guard: Ricky Rubio
The Wolves clearly haven't made the leap many expected them to this season. Their defense still isn't anywhere near where it needs to be, their timeline hasn't accelerated to the point that Rubio feels like a necessary piece of the puzzle, and keeping him would be more of a compete-now decision.
If they acknowledge they're still a couple years away, the Wolves may decide they'll be better served bringing back high-upside young talent, getting another top-five-ish draft pick, and getting Kris Dunn more reps - painful as that may be in the short term.
It's possible they'd be selling low on Rubio, who's struggled to start this season and has done little to prove he'll ever be even an average shooter. But he still carries plenty of value as an ace defender and one of the game's best distributors. He could be a real boon to a team hoping to contend.
Likelihood of trading semi-star point guard: 5/10
Semi-star PG buyers
Team: Milwaukee Bucks
The young Bucks are loaded with raw talent and elastic potential, and when Khris Middleton eventually returns, they could emerge as a legitimate threat to the established Eastern Conference order. They're not close enough to make a swing-for-the-fences move that would mortgage their future, but they have the pieces (John Henson, Rashad Vaughn, Malcolm Brogdon) to swing a low-risk deal for a mid-tier point guard with multiple years of control left.
Their offense could use a jolt. Giannis Antetokounmpo has co-opted the lion's share of ball-handling and distributing duties, and as voraciously as he's taken to the role, having a second strong playmaker could open up even more possibilities for him and the Bucks. Matthew Dellavedova is wringing the most out of his specialized set of skills, but he doesn't put much pressure on an opposing defense.
Dragic would bring some much-needed shooting, Rubio would be a great fit in the team's aggressive defensive scheme, and Bledsoe could do both while also goosing the Bucks' already potent open-court attack.
Likelihood of trading for semi-star point guard: 7/10
Best fit: Bledsoe
Team: Sacramento Kings
If they're really intent on keeping DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings need to do something to upgrade their roster in a meaningful way, and soon. As it is, they're just spinning their wheels until Cousins hits free agency (and almost certainly leaves town) in the summer of 2018.
The closest thing Cousins has had to a star point guard in his seven-year career was Isaiah Thomas, and the Kings gave him away for literally nothing. Now there's talk of dealing Cousins, lest they lose him for the same amount in 18 months. But given how they've operated recently - in the lead-up to, and wake of, their move into a new arena - it seems more likely the Kings will try go the other direction.
Picture this: Instead of blowing things up, they roll the dice on a pass-first point guard who can shore up their defense at the point of attack and put Cousins and Rudy Gay in all the right spots on offense; a guy with a strong track record whose trade value has dipped, and who can potentially be had for the cost of, say, Ben McLemore and Willie Cauley-Stein.
Would you put it past Vivek Ranadive and company?
Likelihood of trading for semi-star point guard: 6/10
Best fit: Rubio
Team: Orlando Magic
After a bizarre six-month stretch that's seen the Magic turn a promising young team on a clear and synchronized development timeline into an overpriced jumble of mismatched parts, GM Rob Hennigan is this season's prime candidate to make a please-don't-fire-me panic trade. At this point, there isn't much for him to do but push all his chips into the middle.
It's probably too early to give up on 22-year-old point guard Elfrid Payton, but it's becoming harder to imagine him as much more than a poor man's Rajon Rondo. He's a strong passer, but not good enough at present to make up for his bricky shooting, inability to get to the line (or hit his free throws when he does), and questionable decision-making.
The Magic are a stout defensive team that's a complete tire fire on offense, and a scoring point guard with some range could go a long way toward tying their ill-fitting roster together. Payton, meanwhile, would still have considerable value to a team that's looking to start over, and there may be one downstate aiming to do just that.
Likelihood of trading for semi-star point guard: 5/10
Best fit: Dragic
