The Chicago Bulls finished the 2025-26 regular season with a record of 31-51, good for 4th out of the five teams in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. A massive part of the Bulls not falling below the 30-win mark was the play of Josh Giddey. The Bulls playmaker has a legitimate claim to being one of the best young guards in the league.
The point guard position is even more stacked than center position in the Central Division, which we broke down here.
The Eastern Conference No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons are led by Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Haliburton is the PG in Indiana, James Harden recently re-signed for three-years, $97 million with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Ryan Rollins splits playmaking duties with Kevin Porter Jr. in Milwaukee, and Josh Giddey controls the ball in Chicago.
As we gear up for training camp, here are our rankings of the Central Division point guards.
1. Cade Cunningham - stats vs CHI '25-'26 season: 20.5 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 11.5 APG, 33% 3PT
2. Tyrese Haliburton - stats vs CHI '25-'26 season: N/A
3. James Harden - stats vs CHI '25-'26 season: 30 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 7.5 APG, 45.5% 3PT
4. Josh Giddey - stats '25-'26 season: 17 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 9.1 APG, 36.4% 3PT
5. Ryan Rollins - stats vs CHI '25-'26 season: 18 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 6.5 APG, 51% 3PT
The Detroit Pistons took the league by storm last season. The young, up-and-coming Pistons used a stellar, rugged defense to finish 2nd in the league in Defensive Rating (DRtg) per Basketball-Reference at 109.7 points allowed per 100 possessions.
Detroit was able to have essentially all of their core players focus on defensive intensity with Cade Cunningham capable of handling such a large offensive workload. Cunningham possessed a massive 30.5% usage rate. His scoring has always been solid but this year he took his playmaking up a notch, which he showcased in moments like his 13-assist game in Chicago last February.
Tyrese Haliburton held the title of best PG in the Central Division for the 2024-25 season, but a torn right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals kept him out for the entire 2024-25 regular season. Haliburton's combination of high-volume 3-point shooting, playmaking and responsible ball-handling made him unquestionably the most valuable PG in his division.
Only time will tell if Haliburton is able to bounce back to any version of his old self. Even if Haliburton does reach past heights, it'll be tough to see him dethroning Cunningham, who seems to be a fully realized version of himself at this point.
James Harden--who recently re-upped with Cleveland--continues to defy Father Time, putting up 23.6 PPG and 8.0 APG last season. He now has back-to-back seasons averaging at least 20+ PPG and 8+ APG past the age of 34. He brings an element of getting to the free throw line (6.6 FTA per game last season) that no other PG in the division besides Cunningham brings.
While Harden is an excellent shooter, the fact that his game scales down come playoff time has to count for something. Ryan Rollins is a tenacious defender and capable guard on offense, but certainly not the class of player of the other PGs in the central division.
Josh Giddey has a clear chance to hop into the top-three PGs in the division this season, as Harden is due for some age-related drop-off at some point.
Giddey is certainly the same level of passer--if not better at this stage of their respective careers--as Harden. Giddey has also made him into a respectable 3-point shooter although he doesn't possess the off-the-dribble threat that Harden does. The clear separation at this point is that Giddey is a better defender and a much better rebounder than Harden. So while it is clear that Harden is the better player now, that may not be the case by the end of the year.
In any event, Giddey is coming off of a 17 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 9.1 APG season in which he shot 36.4% from the 3-point line and possessed a 56% true shooting percentage and a 24% usage rate. He did an excellent job controlling the offense for an undermanned Bulls team. Now with less on his plate offensively with Caleb Wilson joining the team, expect an increase in efficiency from Giddey as he settles in as one of the best guards in the central division.
Bold indicates player made All-NBA team.
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