![Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker is a superstar on the making. - [Fai Le / Flickr]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/4/14/660x290/b_502x220x82/phoenix-suns-devin-booker-a-superstar-on-the-making-fai-le-flickrcom_1937707.jpg "Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker is a superstar on the making. - [Fai Le / Flickr]")
What should an NBA shooting guard be judged by - his scoring, shooting range, or value to his team and the game of basketball? The following list of my best five shooting guards in the league right now will dissipate some of these doubts. The names are presented along with their ages and a breakdown of which team they play for and their contributions to the league so far.
Devin Booker (21)
Devin Booker has certainly arrived and intends to stay on these kinds of lists. Booker is easily scoring over 20 points per game and now he is also contributing over four assists and rebounds a night as well.
Booker can score in every way. His offensive repertoire is as polished as they get, and that is amazing to say about a 21-year-old. His 70 points in one game last season was proof enough that he is special and uniquely aggressive. If Booker were able to improve the play of his teammates and bring substantial wins to the Phoenix Suns, who knows where he would have landed on this list?
Brady Beal (24)
Brady Beal has a taken a step forward with the Washington Wizards. It was uniquely John Wall's team. Now, Beal is also leading the team. He is actually the team's leading scorer and continues to have a great field goal percentage. You cannot let Beal be open. He will shoot on and off the dribble and from mid-range and the three-point line.
Those are exactly the attributes the Wizard's primary star lacks. Thus, Beal has become the team's go-to-guy and closer in many moments, with or without Wall on the floor. He also plays some defense, and that is rare for a guard nowadays.
CJ McCollum (26)
It is unclear at times who is leading the Portland Trail Blazers - Lillard or McCollum?
That is CJ McCollum's great merit. He is playing alongside a unique talent like Lillard and is still able to outshine him at times. McCollum is one of the best shooters in the game. He shoots the ball with ease from the mid-range as well as long-range. And while he is a volume shooter, he is an efficient one. But McCollum is not only that.
He handles the ball like a solid point guard and makes the right reads off the pick-and-roll. He might not be too preoccupied with playing defense, but his offense makes up for it and has helped the Blazers secure a surprising third seed in the loaded Western Conference.
DeMar DeRozan (28)
Demar Derozan is the Toronto Raptors' leader and a major reason why they were atop the Eastern Conference at the end of the regular season. He might not have developed a reliable three-point shot yet, but he has made great strides in this department this season. On the other hand, his mid-range game is clearly among the best in the league. He keeps defenders on their heels because of his hesitation moves and his ability to quickly launch a pull-up jumper off the pick-and-roll.
DeRozan lives in the paint and is a great finisher. There lies his success. While Kyle Lowry's game is going downhill, DeMar DeRozan continues to keep the Raptors among the top teams in the NBA.
Klay Thompson (27)
Klay Thompson is the NBA's best shooting guard. Klay is one of the most lethal snipers the game has ever seen. The sharpshooter needs very few dribbles or touches to impact a game. His quick release allows him to launch a jump-shot in the most challenging moments. But his success comes from his mentality and hard work. Thompson is not the best shooting guard in the league because of his beautiful shot. Thompson is the best because of his winning mentality and his willingness to do everything it takes to win.
Discounting Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson has become the best perimeter defender in the league. Some modern-day guards forget about that end of the floor. Klay accepts the challenge of stopping the opposing team's best perimeter player.
Thompson has also embraced his role as the third wheel on an offense dictated by Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, and that is no easy task. He has become a great slasher and off-ball player. And when the ball is in his hands, he has proved that he can quickly get hot and keep his team in games or create important leads in a matter of a minute. The Golden State Warriors would not have won two championships without Klay Thompson.
