NBA 2K23: Best Shooting Guard (SG) Build and Tips - Outsider Gaming (2024)

Some of the NBA’s most beloved players are or were shooting guards. Fans have been drawn to the likes of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant because of their supreme scoring abilities. They and players like them relish having the ball with the clock winding down in a close game. There really aren’t many players that boast this ability, which makes a potential shooting guard build appealing to play with.

As such, the INSIDE-OUT SCORER build offers an absolute scoring machine backed by difficult shot-making and a diverse offensive repertoire. As one of most fun builds to use, this is a 2K favorite for users looking just to simply score. Think of the best scorers in the league, and your player will have shades of Devin Booker, Zach LaVine, Anthony Edwards, and Bradley Beal. Put simply, if you want a certified scorer on all levels who can make any shot in the book, then this SG NBA build is everything you could want and more.

SG NBA build overview

Below, you will find the key attributes to build the best SG in NBA 2K23:

• Position: Shooting Guard
• Height, Weight, Wingspan: 6’6’’, 235 lbs, 6’10’’
• Finishing skills to prioritize: Close Shot, Driving Layup, Driving Dunk
• Shooting skills to prioritize: Mid-Range Shot, Three-Point Shot, Free Throw
• Playmaking skills to prioritize: Pass Accuracy, Ball Handle, Speed with Ball
• Defense/Rebounding skills to prioritize: Perimeter Defense, Block
• Physical skills to prioritize: Speed, Strength, Stamina
• Top Badges: Fearless Finisher, Agent 3, Quick First Step, Challenger
• Takeover: Finishing Moves, Spot-Up Precision
• Best Attributes: Driving Layup (87), Three-Point Shot (92), Speed With Ball (84), Perimeter Defense (86), Strength (89)
• NBA Player Comparisons: Devin Booker, Zach LaVine, Anthony Edwards, Bradley Beal

Body profile

At 6’6”, you have the prototypical height of the shooting guard mold. Sitting at 235 lbs, you’re definitely on the heavier side, but this will aid in your finishing abilities. Specifically, you’ll be able to bully your way to the paint against weaker players while still maintaining a relatively elevated burst of speed with the ball. You’re tall enough to see over smaller guards and with a 6’10” wingspan, you have the capacity to play the passing lanes. The body shape to go with here is compact to keep your player’s figure skinnier at that weight.

Attributes

The Inside-Out Scorer specializes in getting buckets on all three levels, whether it’s finishing at the cup, hitting middy jumpers, or stroking threes. From an offensive perspective, there’s no secret as to this build’s intentions. Though there’s less versatility in the attributes, you’re also afforded a clear direction for where you can take this build.

Finishing attributes

Close Shot: 75
Driving Layup: 87
Driving Dunk: 86
Standing Dunk: 31
Post Control: 35

With your hyper-athletic shooting guard, you want to accentuate finishing around the rim by giving your player 75 Close Shot, 87 Driving Layup, and 86 Driving Dunk. Totaling 18 badge points, the build creates the ultimate slashing guard who isn’t afraid to attack the basket. You’ll have two Hall of Fame badges, six gold badges, four silver badges, and four bronze badges. The Bully badge is the most important one to equip in order to capitalize on the 89 Strength, enabling you to punish smaller and weaker defenders on your way to the basket. The Fearless Finisher and Masher badges also allow you finish through contact exceptionally well. Every top scorer is able to will their way to the rim and these attributes aid tremendously in this effort.

Shooting attributes

Mid-Range Shot: 77
Three-Point Shot: 92
Free Throw: 79

Clearly, this is the best part of the build. With 24 potential badge points, you have access to a ridiculous ten Hall of Fame badges and six gold badges, complemented by 77 Mid-Range Shot, 92 Three-Point Shot, and 79 Free Throw. You’ll easily be the best shooter on the court due to your fantastic shot-making ability. Specifically, in combination with the Agent 3 badge, your three-point shot will be effortless from all angles and situations. Using these badge points, you can load up on all types of badges such as Limitless Range, Blinders, and Space Creator.

Playmaking attributes

Pass Accuracy: 55
Ball Handle: 85
Speed With Ball: 84

Though this shooting guard build doesn’t emphasize playmaking like other builds do, there’s still plenty of room to pick up some attractive badge points for your player. The 85 Ball Handle and 84 Speed With Ball are solid attributes to help shooting guards create space and keep a tight handle. Along with one Hall of Fame, four gold, three silver, and seven bronze badges, your player will have just enough playmaking to create space and score buckets with ease, a trait possessed by the great shooting guards like Jordan, Bryant, and contemporaries like Booker or peak James Harden.

Defense & Rebounding attributes

Interior Defense: 55
Perimeter Defense: 86
Steal: 51
Block: 70
Offensive Rebound: 25
Defensive Rebound: 66

Inevitably, with all the resources being devoted to finishing and shooting attributes, 2K23 requires you to sacrifice in other aspects. Despite only having 13 badge points, your player still has 86 Perimeter Defense and 70 Block. Plus, you’ll have access to three Hall of Fame, five gold, two silver, and four bronze badges. These attributes highlight the more important defensive skills that shooting guards ought to have by prioritizing staying in front of other guards. As a sharpshooter, this is the bare minimum needed to keep the opposition honest.

Physical attributes

Speed: 77
Acceleration: 68
Strength: 89
Vertical: 75
Stamina: 95

In terms of physical attributes, the 89 Strength is ultimately what stands out. As alluded to previously, it will nicely bolster the Bully badge and punish defenders. Also, the 95 Stamina is an underrated attribute because all that driving can cause fatigue to set in, which is why it’s important to have a great endurance. You won’t be fast or quick, but your playmaking should help alleviate some of these deficiencies.

Takeovers

Since your two best skills are finishing and shooting, you’ll want to further capitalize on these attributes. Equipping Finishing Moves will keep your drives sustained at a high level by absorbing even more contact when you get hot. With this same mindset, select Spot-Up Precision to re-assert your exceptional shooting. Together, you are doubling down on what your best at and leaving no spot on the court free of scoring potential.

Best badges to equip

Overall, these badges will present your player as prodigious offensive talent who is able to score from every spot in the half-court. The emphasis on sharpshooting will raise your game to another level. The value of the build lies in being the ultimate scorer.

Best Finishing badges

2 Hall of Fame, 6 Gold, 4 Silver, and 4 Bronze with 18 potential badge points

• Fearless Finisher: This badge will allow your player to finish through contact layups while also preventing the amount of energy lost. Since finishing is an emphasized attribute for this build, it’s necessary to have this badge. When defenders try to stay in front of you, they’ll bump off of you due to this badge.
• Masher: As an average height player, you need to equip yourself with badges that elevate your player’s ability to finish inside layups. Thus, Masher is important to improve the layup percentage around the rim.
• Bully: This badge will enable you to initiate contact and keep defenders bumping off you as you drive to the cup. Complemented by the 89 Strength, the build makes it supremely easier to make hard drives to the paint and finish with finesse.
• Acrobat: As an athletic guard, you will have a boosted ability to hit high degree of difficulty layups. For example, layup packages like spin, half-spin, hop step, euro-step, cradle, reverse, and change shot attempts will receive a significant boost.

Best Shooting badges

10 Hall of Fame and 6 Gold with 24 potential badge points

• Blinders: As a knockdown shooter, you will be unfazed by defenders closing out on you from the side. The best shooters have a knack for draining buckets while appearing to be undisturbed by commotion surrounding them. This is why it’s important to enlist this badge because defenders will inevitably be coming after you.
• Limitless Range: Pairing 92 Three-Point Shot with this badge can make you unguardable. With such a deep stroke, defenders will have to sell out to guard your shot, which will open up driving lanes immensely as well as passing lanes for slashers. The further you’re able to draw out the defense with your range, the more space you’ll create to make plays.
• Agent 3: With this unique badge, you’ll have a profound ability to hit difficult three-pointers off the dribble. This is where your skill as a 2K gamer can pair masterfully with in-game features. Just like NBA superstars, you’ll be able to use a combination of dribble moves that lead into effortless three-pointers.
• Space Creator: This badge will give you an improved ability to hit step back jumpers and hop shots while also causing defenders to stumble more often. This is all about generating ways for your shooting guard make more space, which will open up the rest of your scoring.

Best Playmaking badges

1 Hall of Fame, 4 Gold, 3 Silver, and 7 Bronze with 16 potential badge points

• Quick First Step: As a scorer first, you’ll want to prioritize beating the defender in front of you. This badge will provide more explosive first steps out of triple threat and size-ups along with quicker and more effective launches as the ball handler.
• Handles For Days: Typically, when your player is performing dribble moves, you are going to be subject to a depleted stamina as it drains your energy. However, this badge allows you to chain together combos quicker for longer periods of time, reducing the amount of energy lost and keeping your dribble package intact. When paired with Space Creator, you can dribble to your heart’s content.
• Clamp Breaker: Pairing this with your 89 Strength will do wonders for your driving abilities. This badge will help you win more one-on-one body bump confrontations, effectively countering other players who enlist Clamps. Those 50-50 encounters in the paint when the defender is at your hip will now be more likely to go your way.
• Unpluckable: Smaller guards feast on playing the pass lanes and stripping the ball on your drives. In an effort to minimize silly turnovers, this badge will aid your ball handling by making it difficult to steal the ball whether you’re performing dribble moves or driving in the paint.

Best Defense & Rebounding badges

3 Hall of Fame, 5 Gold, 2 Silver, and 4 Bronze with 13 potential badge points

• Anchor: With your 70 Block, you can equip this badge to improve your player’s block and shot-contest ability in the paint. Being a good help defender means disrupting drives from the opposition and helping out when possible.
• Challenger: The defense on this build emphasizes perimeter defense, so you’ll want to use badges that will help for this objective. Without a doubt, this badge will markedly enhance your perimeter shot contests such that even if you get beat, you’ll still be able to recover and provide a solid defense. This is crucial against many of the quicker guards in the league.
• Clamps: Again, this will help in your venture to be passable on the defensive end. You’ll be able to use quicker cut off moves and be more successful when bumping or hip riding the ball handler.
• Menace: This badge will reward you for staying in front of your man with solid user defense by having the opponent’s attributes dropped when your player stays in front of them. Menace and Clamps should go together to turn you into a lockdown perimeter defender.

What you’ll get from the Inside-Out Scorer build

At the end of the day, this build has one goal and one goal only: put the ball in the basket. You’ve got ridiculous sharpshooting and a plethora of finishing abilities, arming you with elite scoring from all over. This is one of most fun builds to play with, especially if you love putting up shots.

At 6’6”, you’re a prototypical shooting guard with a strong build and beaming athleticism. With this SG NBA build, look to be a closer on teams and hit clutch shots in NBA 2K23.