Lately my friends and I have had the great debate on who is the NBA's best point guard today and we always have come up with mixed results. Some like Chris Paul but others think it's Deron Williams. Some will say Rajon Rondo but some will answer Derrick Rose. Russell Westbrook's name comes up in the conversation and veterans like Steve Nash and Tony Parker find ways to stay relevant. There are even a few who would like to crown John Wall in his first year but, quite frankly, a coach would take any of these players to lead his team and he would be happy but for the sake of the argument who really is the greatest? 
Derrick Rose is in his third year for the Chicago Bulls and it appears that he has made his team into a serious contender. Chicago currently sits at third in the top-heavy East behind Miami and Boston and much of the credit should be directed at Rose who has kept the Bulls winning despite injuries to Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer. He averages 24.7 points which is tops on the team and among point guards. He has improved his shooting percentages and is now a threat to shoot the ball from deep, unlike his first few years when teams could sag off of him. His playmaking ability has been superb and his assist average is now at 8.1 per game. Saturday night Rose outplayed Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets in a 97-88 Bulls win and the game before that he outplayed Williams in another Bulls victory.
Rose, Westbrook, Rondo, Williams and Paul represent the new generation of point guards in the NBA and they are representing it well. Every single one of them is a pure point guard who can score but at the same distribute the ball to their teammates. All five average 8+ assists with Rondo's 12.3 leading the league. Three of the five also average over 20 points. Never has there been this great of a debate on this topic. Five point guards who seem to be equal. What sets Rose apart from the rest is that he is the winningest team besides Rondo and he has to do the most work for his team. He must take up the heavy scoring load, which he has done well thanks to his improved jumper, and he is expected to feed Boozer and Luol Deng. He is the face of his franchise and is also an all-star for the second time in his career. 
Rondo can't say he is the face of the franchise because he sits behind the Big Three and Westbrook plays second fiddle to Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City. Chris Paul owns New Orleans but he wants out and Williams name has surfaced as a factor in the resignation of coach Jerry Sloan. Derrick Rose owns Chicago and has embraced his role as that man. Also, imagine the pressure Rose is under in Chicago. The last player drafted by the Bulls in the post-Jordan era who was from Chicago will go down as one of the biggest busts ever. His name was Eddy Curry. Rose attended Simeon High and was drafted number one overall by the Bulls. He is expected to be the player that gets Chicago back to the glory days of the Jordan-Pippen era. He must play in MJ's shadow yet he has made his own name and received very little comparison. He is doing big things under immense pressure.
Rose has outplayed every one of the other contenders this season except Westbrook, who he matched stat-for-stat in their last meeting. He will also match up against every contender, except Westbrook, one more time this season. It will be interesting to see if Rose can keep up his high-level of play in the second half of the season. Of course, all five guards are excellent but Rose is steadily setting himself apart. It's his third season and he's improving every year. Now that's scary. That's my case for Derrick Rose being number one in the league but let me hear your thoughts and opinions. Leave a comment telling me who you think is the NBA's top point guard and why.
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