Toronto Raptors: Is Fred VanVleet the best back-up point guard in the NBA?
1. Lou Williams
No surprises here: one-time Raptor and three-time Sixth Man of the Year, Lou Williams is the best back-up point guard in the NBA. A pure scorer and most likely defined as a shooting guard, Williams will likely be playing alongside Landry Shamet this season so gets the nod as the point guard.
Williams averaged 20 points, three rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game in 75 games. Despite only starting one game for the Clippers, there was no doubt that he was the teams best player. Williams is as dangerous at creating for others as he is for himself, and now that this Clippers team is even better, acquiring Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, we might still yet see the best from Williams.
Even at 32 years old – and 33 at the start of the NBA season – Williams defies the logic of a typical bench scoring, taking the game into his own hands on multiple occasions for the Clippers last season.
Williams scored more than 30 points on eight separate occasions last season, putting up more than 40 in two more games. Realistically, how many bench players can do that on a regular basis? Not many.
He averaged just over 15 field goal attempts per game last season, along with his lowest number of three-point attempts per game since his 2013-14 season with the Atlanta Hawks. He’s a volume shooter, and while the Clippers have a larger variety of offensive weapons, Williams will likely still lead the bench unit.
Next. What to expect from Pascal Siakam as a primary scorer. dark
As it stands, only Lou Williams is a better back-up point guard than Fred VanVleet. But VanVleet is catching up by the day.