Have you decided on what position to play in NBA 2K23 MyCareer? One of many users’ preferred picks is shooting guard. After all, who wouldn’t want to follow in the footsteps of two of the greatest players of all time, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant?
You have to the option to create a build that is similar to theirs. On the other hand, you can blaze your own trail and develop your own unique style of play.
Playing the shooting guard position makes for exciting gameplay. You can become your team’s go-to scorer, and you will not need to worry about expending too much of your character’s energy bringing down the ball and covering the opposing point guard.
If you’re looking for the best shooting guard build in NBA 2K23, we’ve got everything you need to know in this guide.
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Overview
If you watch how shooting guards play in the NBA, you will see that most of them have specialized areas of expertise.
For instance, some are proficient scorers who can create their own shot or space the floor for their star teammates. Others have made their marks on the defensive end of the court and can defend the enemy team’s best perimeter player.
What if you can create a character who can potentially be the best two-way shooting guard in your league? That can make you even better than the likes of Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, and Bradley Beal, who are known more as one-dimensional players.
The build below will teach you how to make an exceptional two-way 3PT shot creator.
Body Settings
- Height: 6’6″
- Weight: 204 lbs
- Wingspan: 6’10”
It is easy to set your player’s height, weight, and wingspan to your own preference. While that is fine, it can impact the maximum levels of some of your attributes.
For example, a lower height will reduce the cap of your player’s vertical and dunking attributes, whilst increasing your speed and acceleration.
A wider wingspan will boost the maximum of your defense/rebounding attributes, but your shooting attributes will be compromised.
For these reasons, you will need to find the right combination of physical profiles for your character to make the best SG build in NBA 2K23.
Attributes
In the next section, you will set the potential of your player’s attributes. Keep in mind that it will not be your character’s initial attributes. The right combination of these attributes will determine your player archetype, maximum overall rating, and the badges you can equip.
Finishing
- Close Shot: 56
- Driving Layup: 76
- Driving Dunk: 25
- Standing Dunk: 25
- Post Control: 25
Let’s go first to the finishing attributes. Common sense would be to increase your driving layup and driving dunk by a mile. If you want to create a high-flyer, you can go ahead and do that.
But what we are constructing here is the best possible shooting guard, and we only have so many points to allot to a lot of attributes. What I suggest is allocating some points to close shot and driving layup, just to make sure you can score effectively inside the paint.
Shooting
- Mid-Range Shot: 77
- Three-Point Shot: 92
- Free Throw: 72
Your shooting attributes are what you must prioritize. This can help you become an efficient scorer from various spots in the half-court.
I recommend maximizing the three-point shot attribute to ensure you can make varying types of 3-point attempts – from spot-up shots to catch-and-shoots. There are some users who tend to increase their free throw attribute. Alternatively, you can set it to a low-enough rating and just practice your shooting from the charity stripe through the free throw drill at the Team Practice Facility. This way, you will have more points to allot to other attributes.
Playmaking
- Pass Accuracy: 70
- Ball Handle: 93
- Speed With Ball: 83
The player you are building has to be versatile and should have the ability to create his own shot. In NBA 2K23, if you want to put up astronomical numbers, it is not enough to just be a standstill shooter. Your player must be able to dribble past and around defenders successfully. For that, you will need a high ball handling attribute.
Increasing the speed with ball attribute can also help you be more effective on offense, especially in fastbreak situations. As for pass accuracy, raising it to at least 70 will provide you with the skills to thread the needle when dishing the ball to teammates.
Defense/Rebounding
- Interior Defense: 34
- Perimeter Defense: 91
- Steal: 87
- Block: 25
- Offensive Rebound: 25
- Defensive Rebound: 47
Since you are a shooting guard, there is no need to prioritize your rebounding. You can leave fighting for boards to your frontcourt teammates and then grab a few rebounds here and there. To make sure you can outrebound smaller opponents when the situation arises, add some points to defensive rebound.
The defensive attributes you should apportion points to are perimeter defense and steal. Perimeter defense will allow you to stay in front of ball handlers. Meanwhile, I suggest increasing your steal attribute because the stat is a valuable source of virtual currency (VC) and can boost your teammate grade.
Physicals
- Speed: 85
- Acceleration: 85
- Strength: 74
- Vertical: 57
- Stamina: 92
The mark of an elite guard in the real-life NBA today is quickness. So, the best shooting guard build in NBA 2K23 has to be equipped with an outstanding amount of points in his speed and acceleration attributes.
For the speed and acceleration, you can set it to 85. That will already provide your character with enough quickness to run up and down the court. What you will want to focus on is giving it a high level of stamina. This way, your player will not get fatigued that much throughout any game.
Takeovers
Current-Gen
- Primary takeover: Spot Up Shooter
- Secondary takeover: Playmaker
A new feature of NBA 2K23, which I find a welcome development, is the introduction of two takeovers. The ability to give your player two different ways of boosting its stats when catching fire adds more realism to the game. It also lessens your dilemma in choosing what takeover to equip when all of them are such good options.
The takeovers you should get for your shooting guard are the Spot Up Shooter and Playmaker.
Spot Up Shooter allows you to hit more deep shots efficiently. Meanwhile, Playmaker increases the odds of freezing defenders when you perform dribble moves. It also improves the likelihood of teammates making their shots after you pass them the ball, giving you more assists.
Next-Gen
If you are playing the next-gen version of the game, you will have more takeover options to select from. While all of them are terrific choices, my suggestions are the following.
- Primary takeover: Spot-Up Precision
- Secondary takeover: Limitless Range
For the primary takeover, Spot-Up Precision is a no-brainer. It boosts your well-timed and aimed stationary jump shots. Because your player archetype will ask you to play more from the perimeter, a badge under the Spot-Up Shooter category will work best.
As for the secondary takeover, you can opt for Limitless Range. When your player gets hot on the court, you can continue your offensive barrage by draining 3-point shots from anywhere between the 3-point arc and half-court line.
Badges
Here is one of the most exciting parts of building your player – the badges. While we want to equip as many badges as possible, for this build, the game’s mechanics provide a total of six points for finishing, 24 for shooting, 21 for playmaking, and 15 for defense/rebounding.
You can only unlock all the points after achieving a high rating. Therefore, I advise learning how to get a 99 rating in NBA 2K23 in order to achieve the fastest way to unlock badges.
Here is how I suggest you should allocate the badges once you have unlocked all the points.
Finishing
- Acrobat: Bronze
- Bully: Bronze
- Giant Slayer: Silver
- Slither: Bronze
If you are like most NBA 2K23 users, you may have the tendency to go hard at the rim to try to put bigger opponents on a poster. Remember, though, that your player is not that adept at finishing near the rim.
Hence, the finishing badges you want are those that can help you slither past defenders going to the rim and when inside the paint. Instead of concentrating your points on one or two badges, it is better to distribute them to several choices.
Shooting
- Amped: Gold
- Catch & Shoot: Gold
- Corner Specialist: Bronze
- Deadeye: Gold
- Limitless Range: Silver
- Slipper Off-Ball: Silver
- Space Creator: Silver
- Volume Shooter: Gold
Here comes the hardest part – the shooting badges. Ideally, you can equip as many badges as you like. Unfortunately, that isn’t possible, as there is only a maximum of 24 badge points available.
You cannot go wrong with equipping the gold badges for Catch & Shoot, as you are playing the shooting guard position, and Deadeye, which can help you still make shots in the face of an opponent. I also recommend getting Volume Shooter to decrease the penalty your shots receive even after attempting a lot of baskets and Amped to reduce the penalty of fatigue on your ability to hit shots.
Playmaking
- Ankle Breaker: Gold
- Clamp Breaker: Silver
- Dimer: Bronze
- Floor General: Silver
- Handles for Days: Silver
The best shooting guard build in NBA 2K23 will give you up to 21 badge points for playmaking.
Suppose you like button-mashing and unleashing different dribbling combinations. In that case, the badges you should be looking to unlock gold or Hall of Fame for are Ankle Breaker, Handles for Days, Hyperdrive, and Killer Combos.
However, if you are more intentional when handling the ball and making your teammates better, then you’re better off prioritizing other badges, such as Quick First Step and Floor General.
Defense/Rebounding
- Ankle Braces: Gold
- Clamps: Silver
- Glove: Silver
- Menace: Gold
- Off-Ball Pest: Silver
For the defense/rebounding badges, you have two choices to go about it.
If you want to pad your stats with steals, maxing out Glove and Interceptor would help you achieve that. But if stopping opposing perimeter players from racking up the score gives you satisfaction, then be sure to upgrade the badges below.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know how to create the best shooting guard build in NBA 2K23, it is time to head to MyCareer and start your journey to becoming a legend.
The Milwaukee Bucks, which are also among the best teams to manage in MyGM and MyLeague in NBA 2K23, is a terrific option for you to look at joining. The team already has a strong starting lineup and is only missing a starter-level shooting guard.
Another is the New Orleans Pelicans, which would give you the opportunity to play with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. In New Orleans, your backcourt partner would be C.J. McCollum, a combo guard. Choosing the Pelicans will then give you plenty of room to maximize your two-way 3PT shot creator abilities.
