Three Rockets Legends Crack HoopsHype's All-Time Shooting Guards List

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February 20, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Team LeBron guard James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers (13) before the 2022 NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets have historically had an embarrassment of riches at the shooting guard position. The Rockets have won championships with the likes of Vernon Maxwell and Clyde Drexler, and have gone on deep title runs with James Harden and Tracy McGrady.

Oh, and don't forget about Cuttino Mobley and Eric Gordon -- two of the best long-range shooters that ever played for the organization. In fact, Gordon only trails Harden for the most threes made in Rockets history.

But how many of the Rockets' scoring guards are all-time greats?

HoopsHype's Frank Urbina put together a list of the NBA's best shooting guards ever and the Rockets had a considerable amount of representation.

Harden had the highest ranking among all Rockets players, coming in fifth, while Drexler came in seventh and McGrady came in at 12th, falling just outside of the top-ten.

Interestingly enough, each of the three arrived in Houston by way of a trade. Urbina's thoughts on each of the three are included below, starting with Harden.

"James Harden has a Hall-of-Fame resume thanks to his unreal scoring ability and playmaking. His crossover and stepback jumper made him impossible to slow down, as did his strong shoulder on drives to the rim. He still has a chance to add to his legacy over the coming years, though winning a championship ring in L.A. feels like a really long shot by now."

Drexler's synopsis is below:

"Clyde Drexler was a fantastic scorer, rebounder and playmaker for his position, while also using his athleticism well defensively. Drexler even won a championship in his career, arguably the toughest in NBA history at that, playing a fantastic second fiddle to Olajuwon and turning the Rockets that year from a borderline playoff team into a championship repeater."

McGrady:

"A more impressive playoff career (he never made it out of the first round in his prime) could have greatly changed where Tracy McGrady finished in this ranking, as could have more longevity. But at his peak, McGrady was one of the most explosive and productive do-everything wings in basketball, one who would have dominated in the modern NBA."

Generally speaking, Harden being ranked fifth, behind Wade and Iverson, will be unpopular, especially in Houston circles. One could also argue that Harden should be on the point guard positional list instead, as he's spent far more of his time operating as the floor general, especially of late.

The challenge with lists of this sort is that we never quite know the criteria of the person putting the list together.

Many times, these things come down to a matter of preference and stylistic favorites. However, the first two will probably be agreed upon by the masses.