Point guard used to be the position where fantasy drafters could set a tier and walk away. Not this year. A June trade turned the Trail Blazers backcourt into a five-man traffic jam, two former All-Stars are stepping back onto the floor after Achilles tears, and a vacated starting job in Memphis is up for grabs. Here is how the position actually shakes out for 2026-27 once the noise is sorted from the signal.
Tier 1: Set It and Forget It
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander heads into the season as the Thunder’s unquestioned engine after Oklahoma City’s run to the 2026 Western Conference Finals, and he carries zero of the role uncertainty hanging over the rest of this list. Luka Doncic is the other name to draft without hesitation: a Grade 2 hamstring strain ended his 2025-26 season in April, but he was cleared for full Lakers training camp activity on September 29 with no restrictions and has reported to camp in peak condition. Cade Cunningham enters the year as a legitimate top-five point guard after an All-NBA First Team season in Detroit that included a fifth-place MVP finish, and Jalen Brunson remains the offensive hub for the defending-champion Knicks, who raise their banner on opening night October 20. Trae Young, James Harden, De’Aaron Fox and Darius Garland round out a group worth drafting as clear-cut starters with no red flags attached.
The Comeback Guards: Haliburton and VanVleet
Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals and missed the entire 2025-26 season. The Pacers have been described as extremely optimistic he will be available for the season opener on October 21 at New Orleans, and Haliburton himself has said his rehab is complete with no physical limitations. That is the outlook to draft on, but his per-minute workload should still be treated as a question mark through the first month rather than assumed at full pre-injury usage. Fred VanVleet is in a similar spot in Houston after missing all of 2025-26 with a torn ACL and meniscus. He exercised his $25 million player option, Rockets general manager Rafael Stone has publicly said he expects VanVleet ready for the opener, and VanVleet himself says he should be good to go. Both players carry legitimate week-one injury risk that should knock them a round below where their talent would otherwise place them.
Portland’s Backcourt Logjam
The Grizzlies traded Ja Morant to Portland on June 29 for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray, dropping a two-time All-Star into a backcourt that already had Damian Lillard returning from his own Achilles tear, Jrue Holiday, Shaedon Sharpe and 2023 lottery pick Scoot Henderson. Lillard has not played a regular-season game for Portland since March 2023, and his return is targeted for the October 21 opener against Phoenix. New head coach Micah Nori has said he plans to use the preseason to tinker with the starting lineup before deciding whether Lillard or Morant comes off the bench, which tells fantasy drafters everything they need to know: nobody in this group has a settled, minutes-guaranteed role. Sharpe is now listed behind Camara at small forward on Portland’s early depth chart rather than purely at guard, which complicates his per-game crossover value. Henderson is squarely the odd man out in a five-deep group and is the one player here worth letting fall several rounds past where last year’s hype would have had him drafted; everyone else in the Portland backcourt should be valued for scoring efficiency in a timeshare, not for the box score they produced on their last full-time starting job.
Sleepers Worth a Late-Round Flier
Reed Sheppard was forced into full-time point guard run in Houston last season while VanVleet recovered, starting all 82 games and averaging 13.5 points, 3.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds. VanVleet’s return pushes Sheppard back toward a reserve role, but a full season of in-game reps and his efficiency as a shooter make him a sixth-man-type value play who should outscore his draft slot in three-point-heavy formats, especially if VanVleet needs a maintenance night here or there early in the year. In Memphis, Morant’s departure leaves an open competition between Scotty Pippen Jr. and Ty Jerome for the starting point guard job. Pippen has the inside track after flashing real passing feel in spot duty the last two seasons, and either outcome hands a late-draft or waiver-wire point guard a real role on a team now built around rookie big man Cameron Boozer.
Draft Strategy Takeaway
This is a year to pay for proven, unblocked roles rather than name recognition at point guard. Gilgeous-Alexander, Doncic, Cunningham and Brunson are the only point guards worth a true first or second-round pick with no asterisks attached. Haliburton and VanVleet belong in the next tier down, not because of talent but because of workload uncertainty in the season’s first few weeks. And every player wearing a Trail Blazers jersey at the position should be drafted as a committee piece, with Henderson specifically worth avoiding at anything resembling his old price. Spend the draft capital you save there on Sheppard or Pippen as a league-winning bench stash instead.