NBA Player Rankings: Listing the 10-Best Point Guards In the NBA

2. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder

Mar 24, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) handles the ball against Portland Trailblazers guard

(2) during the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Considered to be one of the most explosive athletes on the planet, Russell Westbrook is also one of the most polarizing players in the NBA. He is what Bill Simmons refers to as a 90 percent/10 percent players–90 percent of his game is elite and very pleasing to watch, but the other 10 percent is so egregious that it detracts from all the good things the player does.

In Westbrook’s case, it’s his high rate of turnovers, if he could cut them in half, the Thunder would be the favorites to win the title, even ahead of the Miami Heat, because of the type of matchup problem Westbrook causes for the Heat.

Although Westbrook showed little out of college towards the type of player he would become, the Thunder took a chance on him high in the draft and it pay off. Playing alongside Kevin Durant doesn’t hurt, but it is Westbrook that is the primary ball-handler on the Thunder, and that showed, as the main reason the Thunder had trouble in the second round of the playoffs was due to Westbrook’s absence.