Changing of the Guards

The 2009 NBA Draft class has been largely dominated by guards, many of which are point guards or combo guards. With several of the league's elite point guards on the backside of their careers (Steve Nash, Chauncy Billups, Jason Kidd) there seems to be plenty of rookies poised to battle with the young elite, such as Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo, and Derrick Rose.

Clearly ahead of the pack is the Sacramento Kings' Tyreke Evans. If Evans continues to play at the rate he has this season, he's a virtual lock for Rookie of the Year. With his size and strength, he's able to slash to the basket with ease. He also has tremendous speed, lateral movement, and the ability to find the open lane, which makes him that much more deadly. Many questioned his ability to run the point but he seems to be doing a decent job, averaging just over 5 assists. Most importantly, Evans has the look of a true leader. Last night Evans led the Kings to an overtime win against the Knicks after having trailed by 15 in the fourth quarter. He scored 12 points in the quarter, and forced overtime by drawing a double team and finding Jason Thompson for a dunk. This isn't the first time he's led the Kings back from a big deficit for a win, as they beat the Bulls earlier this season after trailing by 35.

Here's an example of how Evans can terrorize defenses, this time against Kobe and the Lakers:

Brandon Jennings is another young point guard who has turned heads throughout the league, not only due to his play but also his sweet hairdos, like this House Party-esque flattop. Nicolas Perkins has had a thing or two to say about Jennings, and with good reason. He's capable of going off at any moment, as evidenced by his 55-point explosion earlier this year. In addition to this, he's averaging 6.3 assists to 2.5 turnovers, good for 11th in the league in assists and 20th in assist to turnover ratio, which leads all rookies. Though his scoring has dropped off a bit, he's still averaging just over 17 points a game, which is very good for a rookie. Like Evans, Jennings also recently had a big game against New York (whom he had hoped would draft him) scoring 22 points and dropping 8 dimes in a win. I bet the Knicks wished they had made Jennings dream of playing in New York come true, as Jordan Hill (who was drafted before Jennings) seems to be nothing more than a project at this point.

Son of former NBA sharpshooter Del Curry, Stephen Curry is another rookie guard who has been impressive. Although he does play some at the point, Curry is the definition of a pure shooter. He leads all rookies in three-point percentage at 42.3 percent, good for 11th overall in the NBA. Curry seems to be a player with great character, which is too bad that he's mired in the mess that is the 2009-10 Golden State Warriors. Apparently when he found out he would be participating in the Three-Point Contest this coming weekend, he talked to the league about his teammate and fellow sharpshooter Anthony Morrow taking his place in the contest. Curry's main weakness is that he looks about 8-years old.

The Hornets happened to round up two promising rookie guards in Darren Collison and second-rounder Marcus Thornton. Having to fill in for the injured Chris Paul, Collison has performed beyond expectations. Despite losing 4 of 6 games since he has started, Collison has averaged 18.3 points and 9.6 assists. Unfortunately, he's also averaging 4.0 turnovers. Thornton has also shined in CP3's absence, averaging 18.7 points and shooting 43.2 percent from three in his last seven games. Collison's only problem is that he is destined to be a back-up behind Chris Paul for years to come, despite being a capable starting point guard. There's a good chance that he'll eventually wind up elsewhere. At least he has the best in the league showing him the ropes.

Denver's Ty Lawson finds himself in a different position than Collison, as he's being groomed to eventually take over the point once Chauncey Billups starts to decline. Lawson's ridiculous speed makes him capable of singlehandedly creating fast breaks off of inbound passes. Although his speed is his greatest asset, he's also a good three-point shooter.

Although I haven't watched him much, Minnesota's Jonny Flynn has also been an excellent rookie point guard. Who knows what will happen with Flynn if Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio actually comes to the NBA and plays for the Timberwolves, who he apparently doesn't want to play for.

Honorable Mentions: Terrence Williams seems to be a promising player, but he's rotting away with the New Jersey Nets. The Hawks' Jeff Teague also has potential, but hardly gets into the rotation playing for a contender. The Sixers Jrue Holiday could develop into a good point guard, but he's stuck behind Allen Iverson and he's apparently pretty raw. Eric Maynor, who was drafted by the Jazz but traded to the Thunder for salary cap relief, seems to be a solid point guard.

Can't spell Philadelphia without A.I.

In an unlikely reunion, Allen Iverson has officially signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. After playing for the Sixers for 10 years, his tenure ended in 2006 with him feuding with former head coach Maurice Cheeks and refusing to play the fourth quarter of his final game against the Bulls. And now, he's back after a brief "retirement" following a three game stint with the Memphis Grizzlies.

With guard Lou Williams out with a broken jaw and rookie Jrue Holiday the only other capable point guard, Iverson has been guaranteed a starting spot. Apparently, when coach Eddie Jordan told Iverson he would like for him to start, Iverson was "like a kid on Christmas." I'm sure if he had been told he wasn't starting he would have acted like a kid on X-Mas who didn't get a PSP, or whatever it is the kids want these days.

So, is this really a basketball move or a business move? Team president Ed Stefanski insists that it's not simply to improve Philly's poor tickets sales this season, but I think it's pretty obvious that it is a move to get the city excited for the team again. The Sixers have lost seven straight games and look to be on their way to a loss to 'Stache's OKC Thunder as I write this. Apparently it has the city buzzing, as people have been calling into radio stations to talk about the signing. Whatever the motivation is for this move, I can't say I blame the Sixers for giving it a try. It's not a huge risk financially, and I'm guessing that the transition will be easy for Iverson due to the nostalgia. And let's face it, the Sixers aren't contending for shit this year, so they might as well have done it in hopes of getting a return from ticket and jersey sales. And if it actually does help the team, great.

The last remaining question is whether Iverson's isolation style of play will fit in with coach Eddie Jordan's Princeton offense, which puts an emphasis on ball movement. The Sixers' marquee player Andre Iguodala has even brought up this very issue when questioned about Iverson prior to the signing. Will Eddie Jordan move forward with his offense or try to adapt to Iverson's style? Despite his reputation to dominate the ball, Iverson does have a career average of 6.2 assists per game, so maybe he can find a way to fit in. But you also have to take into account that he has averaged 41.4 minutes per game over his career, which inflates his stats. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. I just hope that this can lead to Iverson ending his career on a respectable note, because it has definitely been rough for him since arriving in Detroit, even if it is largely his own stubbornness that got him there.