The Modern Combo Guard: NBA Pathways & Early 2024-'25 Risers

With the combo guard quickly becoming one of the most sought-after commodities by NBA front offices, we dive into why they hold so much value along with two early risers to monitor.

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Nov 18, 2024

Depending on which NCAA team(s) you’re tracking, we’re now about three to four games into the regular season, meaning teams have had a bit of time to settle in and shake early nerves. And while the likes of Cooper Flagg, Tre Johnson, Dylan Harper, Egor Demin, and other highly-touted prospects have already begun justifying their preseason hype, some lesser-known, under-the-radar players have also gotten a chance to insert their names into draft conversations.

Here, we’re going to look at the position that’s become my favorite to watch as an evaluator: the combo guard. And a bit later, we’ll go over two players—Alabama’s Labaron Philon and Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears—who have stood out as early big board risers. But first, it’s worth diving into what a modern combo guard prospect typically looks like and why the position is only becoming more valuable in the eyes of NBA teams.

What Makes a Combo Guard a Combo Guard?

The concept of an NBA combo guard has been around for many years now, so I’m not going to “explain it like you’re five,” so to speak. But for the sake of this conversation and general transparency, when I think of a modern combo guard, I think of a player that profiles primarily as either a point guard or shooting guard, but one who a team’s coaching staff can feel good about when it’s necessary for them to play at the other position for extended minutes. To really boil it down, if a prospect can consistently run the team’s offense but also create their own offense at a respectable rate when others can’t (or vice versa), there’s a good chance they qualify as a combo guard. But there’s more to it than that.

What Makes Combo Guards Valuable?

Upside at a Discount

The best of the best combo guard prospects who fit or come close to fitting this mold–especially those with already-polished fundamentals, good length, and/or at least above-average athleticism–tend to be ranked highly on draft boards even in the preseason. Jalen Suggs, Keyonte George, Cason Wallace, and even Stephon Castle all serve as recent examples of that, with Rutgers’ Dylan Harper likely being the most obvious lottery-bound candidate in this draft cycle who fits the same bill. Of all the already-drafted players listed above, George was the only one selected outside of the lottery.

Other combo guard prospects who have similarly high upside, albeit slightly more questionable developmental pathways, tend to slip down the draft board, though. Bub Carrington and Jared McCain—two current Rookie of the Year frontrunners—are good, recent examples of this phenomenon. Leading up to the draft, McCain was often knocked for his size (at 6’3” on a good day) and his questionable point guard skills, given that he played in a mostly off-ball role at Duke next to Caleb Foster, Tyrese Proctor, and Jeremy Roach. Carrington, on the other hand, brought more size and showcased a more even blend of PG and SG skills, but compared to McCain was knocked far more for his shooting efficiency at the rim and from beyond the arc.

But being that offense now comes at such a premium in the league, NBA teams that are willing to do their homework on these prospects and lend them patience in their development can see big-time dividends come their way. The Philadelphia 76ers, after all, have already seen such dividends in Tyrese Maxey, who was selected 21st overall in the 2020 NBA Draft and now already has one All-Star selection under his belt. That kind of value is exceptional, and Maxey likely won’t be the last talented combo guard to fly further under the radar than he deserves.

Multiple Developmental Pathways

Outside of sheer draft value relative to upside, though, there are actual basketball and team-building benefits to be had by selecting a modern combo guard. While the concept of “positionless” basketball is often overblown, versatility in nearly any sense of the word is still highly desirable for NBA teams. A modern combo guard, first and foremost, will ideally bring offensive versatility in that, on some level, they can dribble, pass, and shoot. If they bring size, physicality, and athleticism (or at the very least enough to match up well against both guard positions), even better. But generally, with the occasional exception, combo guards in the 6’4” to 6’6” range strike me as being in a “sweet spot” that affords them enough size for some defensive and finishing upside without compromising key offensive fundamentals—particularly dribbling and shooting.

Even more importantly, though, versatile combo guards who enter the league with good size and a workable baseline of fundamentals tend to have more ways to keep themselves on the court, and therefore more developmental pathways. In essence, if a team were to select a guard with the sole intention being that they’ll fill a scoring role, and yet he struggles to score early in his NBA career, that player could struggle to stay on the court for important developmental minutes. This has been the case to some extent for San Antonio Spurs guard Malaki Branham at times, for example, who profiles much more as a true shooting guard as opposed to a combo. He’s struggled to stay on the court during some stretches of games where he hasn’t scored the ball efficiently, as he doesn’t have the requisite point guard skills to play extended minutes at that position or the athletic tools to be a consistently positive defender. The Spurs have occasionally attempted to play him at point guard anyway with very questionable results, but that’s neither here nor there.

Falling into this trap as a young NBA player is often what distinguishes a “shooting guard with point guard tendencies” (or vice versa) from a truly blended combo guard. To use a few previously-mentioned players as examples of what putting the “combo” in combo guard looks like, Cason Wallace may not make plays for others at the rate of a traditional point guard, but stayed on the floor as a rookie because of his efficient shooting, defensive tenacity, and ability to put the ball on the floor. Despite being on the cusp of the dreaded “undersized” label as a guard and being an underwhelming defender to boot, Jared McCain is currently finding success early in his rookie season because he can dribble, pass, and shoot at a high level. Stephon Castle likely isn’t going to shoot the leather off the basketball quite yet, but his size, elite defensive skills, ball-handling ability, and sneakily good playmaking chops have been coming on very strong over the past several games since moving into the starting lineup.

Scalability

Lastly, what I think gives combo guards value for nearly any team in the draft is their scalability. The versatility that good combo guards typically offer allows them to begin their careers in specific roles and then slowly expand from there if that’s what the team needs, but often times they can also be “thrown into the fire,” so to speak, and make strides that way. If an already-competitive team picking near the end of the first round needs a player that can simply shoot threes and play good on-ball defense, the right combo guard can do that. On the other hand, if a rebuilding team wants a player with high upside in a vacuum but who can also adapt to new roles as the team adds players and otherwise evolves, a combo guard can be just as good of a team-building solution in this scenario too. Whether a team is in need of a player that can fill a high- or low-usage role, the best combo guards can often adapt depending on what a team needs.

Some of the league’s most successful combo guards who come to mind also happen to be players who have seen their teams dramatically changing around them, yet have remained effective or become vastly more effective. The two names who come to mind that fit this description to a T are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Devin Booker who, for vastly different reasons, have seen the teams around them undergo near-complete overhauls in the past few seasons. And yet because they both lend their teams such a tremendous amount of versatility on both ends of the floor, both are still playing at All-Star levels in their evolving roles. But on the other hand, combo guards can also find success by playing an important, albeit complementary role in the context of a team with existing star power. Derrick White is a prime example of this for the Boston Celtics.

Two Early Risers in the 2025 Class

With all of this in mind, it’s now time to dive into a couple of combo guard prospects who, for now, are flying a bit under the radar. For those who follow a team that may be in position to select Dylan Harper, Egor Demin, or Ben Saraf, among others, then your team will likely have plenty of high-upside combo guard prospects to choose from. But other teams with picks in the late lottery to the end of the first round may have to look elsewhere for Maxey-esque diamonds in the rough. It’s still entirely too early to be making any definitive statements about the combo guard prospects we’ll discuss here, but in the early going, the following two players give me some optimism that they’ll be in draft riser conversations as time goes on.

Labaron Philon - Alabama

Alabama freshman guard Labaron Philon was named in our recently-released SEC Prospect Preview and was the freshman I deemed as “my early pick to quickly rise from ‘sleeper’ status,” and alas, he’s the prospect here I’m most excited about. Standing at 6’4” and 177 pounds, Philon had his most impressive performance against a very good, #13-ranked Purdue team, putting up 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists with only 1 turnover. Furthermore, he shot 7/10 from the floor, including 3/4 from beyond the arc. Purely from a counting stats perspective, it’s difficult to imagine a much better outing from a freshman coming off the bench on a team with several older, more experienced mouths to feed.

Even beyond the numbers, though, there’s gobs to like with Philon. I’d call him a slithery athlete in half-court settings, but in the open court, his speed jumps off the screen. But even in those half-court settings where he doesn’t have much of a running lane, it’s abundantly clear how high of a motor he has. Just in his game against Purdue, he had multiple good moments of off-ball movement, high-pointing rebounds, and making high-effort winning plays to keep possessions alive. In this way, he was responsible for more points than the stat sheet will give him credit for. While a bit on the chaotic side, the following offensive sequence shows Philon (#0) relocating on the perimeter, moving through space to pull defenders and create a driving lane, collapsing the defense and making a pass to an open shooter, and saving the possession at the end. The sequence resulted in two free throws for Alabama.

That positive impact on the scoring column is even further enhanced by his impressive playmaking, which was just as noticeable. He showed serious versatility as a playmaker against Purdue by pushing the pace in transition with quick outlet passes, executing nifty pocket passes in the pick and roll, making unselfish skip passes to trailing and/or open weak-side teammates, and more. His comfort as a passer was evident against Purdue in particular, and he rarely forced the issue.

It’s easy to see how effective Philon also was as a scorer in this game due to his sheer numbers, but it was his eye manipulation that created several of those opportunities. You’ll see in the first clip how he uses a pump fake to clear a defender out of his driving lane, where he’s able to finish with soft touch through contact. In transition scenarios, he seems to like using his change-of-pace to his advantage through hesitation moves with subtle head fakes.

If Philon can successfully string together more games that come even close to his performance against Purdue, it will only be a matter of time before he starts rising on draft boards. If he remains an efficient scorer, stays disciplined when defenses target him, and can consistently create for others, he will have many pathways for NBA success and should draw interest from several teams.

Jeremiah Fears - Oklahoma

To move on to an even more under-the-radar candidate, Oklahoma freshman combo guard Jeremiah Fears, younger brother of Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears, has had a sizzling start to his season after reclassifying to the 2024 class. At 6’4” and 182 pounds, Fears also sits right in that aforementioned “sweet spot” for combo guards we described earlier and is nearly identical in stature to Philon.

Fears’ best two-way performance came against Lindenwood in the Sooners’ season opener, where he put up 16 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals. Like Philon, Fears’ playmaking stood out early and in a meaningful way, particularly being that his very first possession resulted in a dunk off an on-target lob pass to Jalon Moore. But beyond that, he made several other great passes within the flow of the offense, showing that he’s unafraid to throw passes with some serious heat and distance with either hand. In the first clip below, you’ll see Fears find a cutting Mohamed Wague from beyond the three-point line, whipping a quick bullet pass past a sagging defender for an easy layup. In the second clip, you’ll see him throw a cross-court pass to the weak side after recognizing a double team, leading to an open three-point shot.

Beyond Fears’ playmaking, his comfort as a ball-handler was just as evident in his game against Lindenwood, where he was able to successfully drive to the rim semi-regularly and either put up a shot or hit a shooter after the defense collapsed. For having just turned 18 only a month ago, he has a level of poise and calm decision-making that isn’t found in many players of his age, even if it’s still a bit inconsistent. In the best instances of this, though, he’s able to either creatively finish at the rim or find a teammate for an open shot through traffic.

With all of this in mind, being that it’s still so early in the season, Fears does still have some potential drawbacks to address. Notably, in contrast to Philon, even despite some high-scoring AAU showings, Fears hasn’t historically been a good three-point shooter. Even so, his tape shows some promising indicators of touch and he’s a career 79% free-throw shooter through lower levels of play, which leaves a bit of room for optimism. Regardless, though, he’ll need to be at least a league-average shooter in his freshman season for NBA teams to confidently take a flier on the rest of his tools.

Lastly, while Fears has the size and length that Philon does, Fears’ defensive consistency will be something to monitor. He’s prone to being blown by while defending the ball-handler due to inconsistencies in his closeouts and flat-footedness, and hasn’t been particularly physical through his first few games. For his defense to be recognized as any kind of a strength by the time the draft comes around, he’ll have to lean into his defensive playmaking capabilities, which have already periodically shown up in film. In the clip below, you’ll see Fears use his athleticism to intercept a down-court pass. After his teammate misses a shot in transition, Fears then uses his open-court speed to run the floor and disrupt a shot at the rim.

It’s worth emphasizing one last time that it’s still exceptionally early in the draft cycle and that other combo guard prospects will begin to rise alongside these two freshman. With three to four games in the books, though, it’s difficult to ignore what Philon and Fears have brought to the table as prospects and evaluators should continue to monitor both players. And for a look into some higher-profile combo guards in the meantime, our very own Jordan Ennis dove into the likes of Baylor’s VJ Edgecomb, Arkansas’ Boogie Fland, and Texas’ Tre Johnson.