A starting point guard is the established leader of a good basketball team. He directs traffic, barks orders, and decides what play to run and how said play should develop. On most teams, he possesses the basketball more than anyone else, making him the literal quarterback of an offense and also the tiny nose tackle on the defensive end, doing his best to blow up an opponent’s play before it has chance to begin. Some point guards lead through their actions, some through their demonstrative voice. They’re usually the smartest, most well-respected players on the team, capable scorers, and quick decision makers. This isn’t an all encompassing statement but more an accurate generalization: More people on a basketball team depend on the point guard than any other position. It’s the brain, the coach’s on-court extension. Even if he isn’t the team’s best player, a good point guard knows who is; when the blood begins to flow, he decides who will emerge with a band-aid.
The Houston Rockets don’t have one or two capable point guards—something every team in the league craves to take them through the slippery hills of an 82 game season—they have three. An incredibly rare luxury that straddles the border of unnecessary, like having a solid gold toilet.
Kyle Lowry, Jonny Flynn, and Goran Dragic are all very talented, nobody shoud dispute this. Between the three of them, almost every imaginable up and down passage to maturity a young player could face has been experienced: Lottery pick expected to lift a poor franchise onto his shoulders, wide eyed understudy to a future Hall of Famer, and the in-between who’s scratched and clawed his way towards earning a permanent spot in someone’s starting lineup. It’s an eclectic, emotional group that combines all those previously mentioned leadership qualities into one three-headed dragon of a floor general.
Assuming Daryl Morey keeps them all together—not even close to a guarantee, as two of the three are more dirt cheap asset than prime time difference maker—and there ceases to be inevitable friction caused by the need of all three to be a full-time starter, throughout the next couple of seasons these guys will motivate one another in practice, pushing each other each and every day to become the best at their position they possibly can be. They’ll learn things about themselves and their whole experience as a three man unit, if done harmoniously, could be one of the team’s brightest lights and most fortunate surprises. As long as each one is able to settle into an appropriate role assigned to them by Kevin McHale, and as long as they accept that role and trust that in its capacity they’ll be helping themselves by helping the team, then this could be a mutually beneficial “experiment” of sorts. If not, the walls could crumble quickly. Worst case scenario is a hasty trade for more spare parts or future draft picks. But seeing the situation of Dragic and Flynn, two guys who were recently traded, they should be highly motivated to prove they aren’t busts. Reputations are easy to acquire and hard to shake , and all three guys are in different stages of reforming themselves in Houston.
Dragic is an interesting piece, coming over, in essence, to make room for Kyle Lowry as the undisputed starter. In Phoenix he was one of the league’s most dynamic back up point guards, a guy who showed flashes of brilliance but couldn’t consistently fit it all together. In the end, he fell out of favor in Phoenix as a long term solution. Backing up one of the best point guards in basketball history, Dragic’s minutes were limited for obvious reasons, but Lowry is no Nash, and if he shows an ability to make each and every minute count, if his three-point shooting becomes too deadly to dismiss or he suddenly develops unstoppable pick and roll chemistry with a big like Scola, then maybe him and Lowry play alongside one another a little more. This would most likely take Kevin Martin out of the game, but for a few minutes at a time it gives the Rockets two ball handlers able to make plays off the dribble and open the court up for everyone else. Tinkering with the lineups a bit more, this combination goes for any two of the three: Flynn/Dragic, Lowry/Flynn, Dragic/Lowry. All three could be interesting whenever the team is looking to unleash holy hell on an aging, slower backcourt opponent.
What makes these three so interesting together is their similarities in style. All three are a mixture of flash and grit—hustle and highlights. Each of them exerts themselves to their body’s absolute limit on both ends of the floor, and even when poor decisions are made, it can’t be blamed on lack of preparation, but more youth and inexperience. They’re growing up on the job, ready to make mistake together and grow as a unit. What we have with Flynn and Dragic is somewhat of a mystery, and Rockets fans should only hope Morey keeps his three point guards together.
Realistically however, unless the two can somehow prove to be indispensable pieces on a team that’s guaranteed a playoff berth, either Flynn or Dragic will likely be moved before the trade deadline. Flynn was openly shopped by the Rockets about 15 seconds after they acquired him, so that’s not a hopeful sign. The trade which brought him over was widely recognized as more a grab at the Lithuanian, Motiejunas, and a successful attempt at shaving money off the top, but that doesn’t mean Flynn can’t become the trade’s golden ticket. It’s a hopeful viewpoint, but hey, crazier things have happened. Sometimes a change of scenery can go a long way in helping dictate a player’s success, and if any player needed to be relocation it was Jonny Flynn.
The three-headed point guard situation Houston has is both a blessing and a curse heading into next season; with only one basketball to be played with and three guys who need it in their hands to be successful, the team’s backcourt could sardine itself into anxiety. Or, the three could compliment each other nicely, making Houston’s backcourt a rotating door of energy no rival looks forward to challenging. Either way it’s one of the team’s more interesting subplots as they battle tooth and nail for a return to the postseason.
