Trade Value by Position: Shooting Guards

Being that I love the NBA, I'm going to break down, position by position, the players with the most trade value at this point in time.

The shooting guard position, though not as dominant as the point guard position is right now, is very important position on the basketball court. There aren't a ton of stars that are true shooting guards and, in fact, the position is pretty lackluster overall.

This will probably be just as hard as ranking point guards by trade value but not because there are so many good ones. There are a ton of albatross contracts at the 2-spot. 

Here goes:

1. James Harden, 24 years old, Houston Rockets - Contract: (First year) 5 years, $78.7 million -

Harden is undoubtedly the most valuable shooting guard in the NBA. His production/scoring has been constant since taking over an expanded role after being traded to Houston last year. His Player Efficiency Rating is a whopping 21.8 (league average is 15) and he's averaging 24.6 points per game. Harden and Dwight Howard should be a dynamic duo in the Western Conference for some time.

2. Dwyane Wade, 31 years old, Miami Heat - Contract: (Fourth year) 6 years, $107 million; has early termination clause after this season - 

The fact that D-Wade is now in his early 30s and is oft-injured drops him out of the top spot. However, when he's healthy, he's still one of the most dominant and explosive players in the Association. If LeBron is 1A of the "Big 3" in South Beach, Wade is 1B. He's shooting 54 percent from the floor this season, a career high, and is continuing to make a huge impact on the defensive end of the floor.

3. Lance Stephenson, 23 years old, Indiana Pacers - Contract: (Final year rookie deal; only 930K this year) - 

Stephenson has emerged as a legitimate starting shooting guard in the NBA. He's done a good job of improving his decision making and is a strong defender with his length. Scoring-wise he might not do as much as other guys in the list but he's surrounded by a good supporting cast in Indiana. Don't look now, but Stephenson will likely end up in New Orleans next month for the All-Star game. It'll be interesting to see what he can garner in free agency this offseason.

4. Klay Thompson, 23 years old, Golden State Warriors - Contract: (Third year of rookie deal) - 

Thompson has been a straight knockdown three point shooter since day one of his NBA career. He and Warriors' PG Steph Curry (know as the Splash Bros.) have formed arguably the best backcourt tandem in the league. Thompson's true shooting percentage is 56.4 percent this year up from 53.3 last year. He's hitting on 41 percent of the whopping 290 three point attempts so far this season. I fear that he's a little one-dimensional but he'll probably make the All-Star team either way. Remember, you can't say "shooting guard" without saying "shoot."

5. Wesley Matthews, 27 years old, Portland Trail Blazers - Contract: (Fourth year) 5 years, $26 million) -

Another shooting guard from Marquette makes the list. Matthews has gone from an undrafted free agent to one of the best two guards in the NBA. He's third among NBA shooting guards in true shooting at 62.4 percent (Charlotte's Chris Douglas-Roberts is second but has only played in 14 games this year). Matthews has also been a key part in the Blazers being as good as they have been this season. His reasonable contract makes him very moveable.

6. Bradley Beal, 20 years old, Washington Wizards - Contract: (Second year of rookie deal) - 

Bradley "Real Deal" Beal has stepped his game up a notch in his sophomore season, numbers-wise. His usage has gone up, thus his efficiency has gone down some. If his efficiency would have gone up significantly he'd probably be much higher on this list. This is essentially based on what Beal could be. He's been banged up this year but he's been compared to Ray Allen coming out of Florida. That's fairly unreasonable but if he can become a poor man's Ray Allen, that's a damn good ball player.

7. Eric Gordon, 25 years old, New Orleans Pelicans - Contract: (Second year) 4 years, $58 million 

Gordon hit restricted free agency after the '11-'12 season and the Phoenix Suns signed him to this huge offer sheet that New Orleans ultimately matched, against Gordon's better wishes. If it weren't for this contract and his nearly chronic injury issues leading up to this season, Gordon would have much higher trade value. He's fairly undersized for an NBA shooting guard but still shoots just over 45 percent from the floor and his TS% his is up significantly from last year (55.8 percent). He's apparently being actively shopped by the Pelicans, so we may know exactly what his league-wide trade value is very soon.

8. Jimmy Butler, 24 years old, Chicago Bulls - Contract: (Third year of rookie deal) -

It's hard to say whether the Bulls like Butler at the 2 or 3 spot but he can probably play either. For the most part this year, he's been a shooting guard so that's why he's here. Butler has shown, since last year, that he can/will be a lockdown defender in the Association. Offensively, Butler hasn't really built on the great efficiency he showed last year. I'd directly attribute that to Butler playing 34 minutes per game this year versus just 26 per game last year and also that he's been essentially biggest offensive threat for the Bulls when he's on the floor. Still, his defense and athleticism is intriguing.

9. Victor Oladipo, 21 years old, Orlando Magic - Contract: Rookie year -

Speaking of defense and athleticism, look no further than the Magic's Victor Oladipo. I think it's safe to say that Oladipo has lived up to the hype of being the number two overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft thus far. He scored 35 points last night against the Bulls and also handed out eight assists. He did have eight turnovers, basically canceling out the eight assists still it was a great performance. 'Dipo should be a main stay in the core the Magic have developing. Once they get a point guard to go along with Victor in the backcourt, the Magic should be ready to make the next step.

10. Giannis Antetokounmpo, 19 years old, Milwaukee Bucks - Contract: Rookie year - 

Call me a homer, but you know I had to include a Buck in one of these pieces. Giannis is another one where we're not sure what position he is exactly but ideally, he can play in the backcourt so I thought it to be fair to include him with the shooting guards. Giannis has been a bright spot in an otherwise horrible year for the Bucks. He hasn't been perfect every night but that's to be expected for a relatively unknown, 19 year old prospect. He had a good game against Kevin Durant and the Thunder last Saturday. This was nice to see considering Durant is the guy that many basketball minds are comparing Giannis to. He's shooting 45.7 percent from the floor with a true shooting of 54.3 percent. His impact has been felt one way or another most games. It's always nice to see a guy that can impact a game in ways other than scoring. He needs to work on his jumper but there's no reason to believe he can't become a good shooter.