It’s a shame that NBA scouts and executives often pass up on quality point guards because of their lack of size. I just don’t agree that size is a vital quality in a point guard; they’re not going to be posting up or dunking on opposing teams anyway. Sure, size in point guards is nice – Magic Johnson and to a lesser extent Russell Westbrook clearly benefit(ed) from being able to overpower their shorter counterparts. But I’m sick of seeing talented guards overlooked because of their diminutive statures. Four perfect examples in the past few years are Sherron Collins (of KU), Daniel Ewing (of Duke), Dee Brown (of Illinois) and Tyrese Rice (of BC). To me, all four are very talented and deserve to be in the NBA.  For God’s sake, Dee Brown was the star at Illinois, not Deron Williams! If Dee hadn’t broken his foot he’d have been a first round pick easily! Now, I’m not sitting in on mini-camps, so there may be more defects in these aforementioned guards than size, but there’s no doubt all of these players were written of as undersized.

Earl Boykins exemplifies the irrational distaste for short point guards in the NBA.

How many times have we initially labelled guys as undersized, who have later proved to be solid contributors in the NBA? Jameer Nelson is a classic case. He’s got that fire-hydrant build, like Sherron Collins, yet has averaged as high as 14 points a game and was at one point a focal point of the Orlando Magic offense. Earl Boykins has been electric for some teams during his NBA career. In Denver, especially, he was a joy to watch. Last is DJ Augustin. Not many people are as high on Augustin as I am, but I’ve seen him play a fair amount – the man can play and deserved more minutes.

I understand that you can’t use cases like Steve Nash and Rajon Rondo as more proof of undersized guards succeeding; they’re extraordinary, unparalleled passers, thus making up for their small size. Still, a quick look at Earl Boykins, Jameer Nelson, and DJ Augustin, among many others, will prove that NBA scouts need to drop size as a pre-requisite for point guards, and focus instead on pure talent.