In this new era of positionless basketball, shooting guards have fallen in a strange middle ground. Of course, “guard” is in the position’s title, but some shooting guards are closer to being small forwards than combo guards.
For instance, Joe Harris is a shooting guard, but he’s certainly not bringing the ball up the floor. Yet fellow Brooklyn Nets off-guard Caris LeVert could also play ball-handler as needed or even roll up to the three.
Those two both came to Brooklyn in 2016-17 and have put together some impressive work. But have they secured a seat among the franchise’s best shooting guards of all time? Nets Wire examined the point guards to wear a Brooklyn or New Jersey uniform through the years and selected the five best:
5. Joe Johnson
Nets Stats: 14.7 PPG | 37.8 3-PT% | 3.4 APG
Johnson could have also fallen under the category of small forward, but his game fits in better with shooting guards.
That’s because Iso Joe was about one thing above all else: buckets.
Johnson’s highest scoring average over his four-year Nets career was 16.3 points per game — his first season in Brooklyn. But it was the next year that he was named an NBA All-Star, and shot 40.1% from 3-point territory.
RELATED: A look back at Joe Johnson, the ultimate isolation scorer