In 1979, a young rookie out of Michigan State took the NBA by storm.  Listed at 6’9″, Magic Johnson had the ability to play center and, on the very next possession, direct the offense as a point guard and see the court in a way shorter guards simply couldn’t.  Nearly 40 years later, the NBA has turned into a league that has a Johnson-type player leading several of its offenses.

Forwards with the ball-handling and passing abilities of guards have the ability to create mismatches for defenses that even the quickest point guards cannot generate. If an opponent commits a shorter, quicker player to defend LeBron James, he can see the entire floor more easily and simply pass or shoot over his smaller counterpart.  If an opponent commits a taller player to defend him and impede his vision, LeBron can simply blow by them on his way to the paint.

And the advantages that the new wave of tall, non-traditional point guards have extend far beyond just those two elements. The initial benefits resulting from the quickness and/or height disparities lead to tangibly positive results for offenses—most significantly manifested as improved team spacing.

It’s no secret that offensive spacing is critical in today’s game.  As players have become bigger, stronger and more athletic, the floor has become functionally smaller.  Driving and passing lanes are tighter.  Jump shots are more easily contested.  As a result, teams have learned they need to be able to spread the floor better via the three-point line.

The Golden State Warriors have developed and acquired three of the best shooters in the league and have become an unstoppable force.  The Cleveland Cavaliers built a team of shooters around James on their way to a championship.  The number-savvy Houston Rockets are attempting three-point shots at a historic rate.

It has become imperative for NBA general managers to not only build offenses that can space the floor by hitting three-pointers, but also to build defenses that can prevent opposing offenses from attempting and making those same shots.  Defensive positions have become less strictly defined.  Coaches and general managers have, instead, focused on long, athletic players who can cover multiple positions and switch off screens without hesitation.  Defenses have become faster, longer and more complex.

Now, the response to the new defensive schemes is finding different ways to get shooters open looks.  Gone are the days when teams can simply run straight-forward pick-and-roll sets and make shots when defenders go under screens.  As defenses have become more and more aggressive in how they defend the PnR game, offenses have begun to move their best shooters off the ball.  And as that has happened, it has become increasingly important for offenses to develop their forwards and centers into primary ball-handlers.

Enter the non-traditional point guards.

When Chris Paul was traded to the Rockets this summer, the Los Angeles Clippers opened themselves up to new possibilities in the form of their terrific passing power forward, Blake Griffin.  The Philadelphia 76ers found themselves in a similar position with rookie Ben Simmons finally serving as the primary ball-handler for whom they’ve been searching throughout “The Process.” The Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks entered the season expecting their star forwards, James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, to again serve as their lead distributors. And, though the season is still young, the results have been encouraging for all four teams:

In all four cases, their teams are attempting more three-pointers or making the deep attempts at a higher rate when their non-traditional point guards are on the floor.  Especially for Simmons, Griffin and James, the differences between when they are on and off the floor are striking.  The gap in three-point percentage is minimal for Giannis, but it’s still significant given his usage rate and lack of three-point shooting.

The obvious counterpoint is that all four men are starters and suit up alongside better players (and, often times, superior shooters) when they are on the floor.  Still, the differences between many of these unorthodox 1-guards and their fellow starters’ on/off numbers are significant.

The Clippers, for example, are only shooting 28.3 percent from behind the arc when Blake Griffin is off the court.  The next-lowest number among rotation members is 34.5 percent when DeAndre Jordan isn’t playing.  When Patrick Beverley, the traditional point guard, is absent, the Clippers are still shooting 38.5 percent on their three-point attempts.

Of course, the impact of big men who can handle and pass the ball does not begin and end with these four dynamic players.  The Pelicans, for example, have experienced far better spacing with DeMarcus Cousins than with their traditional floor general, Jrue Holiday.

They’re shooting 35.4 percent from three with Cousins leading the charge, compared to only 32 percent with Holiday. When they leave the floor, the gap is even more dramatic.  The Pelicans shoot a team-low 27.6 percent from three without Cousins.  When Holiday is riding the pine, New Orleans still connects at an impressive 37.7 percent clip.

The impact passing forwards and centers are having on today’s game is hard to deny.  And it certainly makes sense.  Not only do these big men often create mismatches in one-on-one situations, but they also cause defenses to break down in a way that traditional point guards just can’t.

When a conventional 1-guard beats his man on the perimeter, defenses typically rely on a single rim-protector to eliminate the threat of the drive. Today’s interior stoppers are often able to do a good enough job defending both their own man and the attacking backcourt members in these situations.  They have the length and athleticism necessary to contest any result of the point guard’s burst to the basket.  The rest of the defense is then able to stay close to their counterparts and prevent passing lanes to the perimeter.

Things become a lot more complicated when Simmons or Antetokounmpo is driving to the hoop.

Those two are tall enough to stop short of the tin and get a clean runner or hook shot over a rim-protector if he stays under the basket. If the defender comes out to contest, they possess the length and passing ability to make an easy alley-oop pass to his original assignment. The result forces foes to commit additional defenders to stop the drive when such a ball-handler beats his man off the dribble.

Against the Toronto Raptors, Simmons bounces past DeMar DeRozan, which causes four different opponents to collapse toward him in an effort to stop his drive.  Robert Covington fills the resulting open space and makes a wide open, in-rhythm three-pointer with no real threat of a close-out.

The size of the rookie is what ultimately leads to such a dramatic collapse of Toronto’s defense.  If this were T.J. McConnell or Jerryd Bayless driving, the Raptors wouldn’t have committed so many help defenders.  But Simmons’ ability to score at or around the rim demands more help and results in a wide-open perimeter shot.

In the first quarter of a loss to Cleveland, Giannis commands a similar amount of help defense on a basic pick-and-roll possession.

The Cavaliers are dedicated to preventing Antetokounmpo from getting into the paint and essentially work to trap him with Kevin Love and Jae Crowder.  LeBron has to help cut off the roll man, and Malcolm Brogdon is left wide open in the corner for an uncontested three-pointer. Cleveland is so concerned with keeping Giannis out of the restricted area that its defense breaks down in a way that it wouldn’t if another Bucks ball-handler were running the pick-and-roll.

Non-traditional point guards also affect how defenses react when they are simply standing still.  The most common situation takes place in the post.  When Griffin or LeBron are operating as the primary ball-handlers and are able to post up smaller defenders, they command extra help.

Above, Griffin created easy offense for Patrick Beverley from the post against the Phoenix Suns.

The power forward makes his initial move on the block, and Eric Bledsoe immediately moves to double team him. Beverley shifts into the open space and hits an in-rhythm, uncontested triple—a direct result of the size advantage Griffin boasted on the block.

While visiting New Orleans, LeBron gets a smaller defender in a third quarter possession after a switch and immediately backs him down into the post area.  J.R. Smith’s man has no choice but to help, and the result is an open trey for the 2-guard.

As the emphasis on spacing and three-point shooting intensifies, the need for unique ways to create open shots will continue.  For good reason, the increasingly popular method for the creation of uncontested looks is through the use of big men as primary ball-handlers.  And as long as the league continues to produce and develop dynamic passing forwards like Simmons, that trend is here to stay.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all stats are from NBA Math, Basketball Reference or NBA.com and are accurate heading into games on November 2.