Chris Paul fits OKC Thunder perfectly in the new system:
But dive deeper and the argument that Chris Paul despite his massive contract is paying dividends beyond the statistics exists. His leadership is palpable and the chemistry of the team is robust, happy and humming along. It’s hard to believe that isn’t a direct effect of Chris Paul.
Vintage Point God shot.
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 1, 2020
Chris Paul getting it done in the clutch. pic.twitter.com/W16eviCtl7
And, this is not intended to slag Westbrook. Rather, it’s a case of logic in that CP3 is more of a typical point guard who prefers to “run the team” via a structured system.
Diving into the numbers offers further evidence. Paul’s PER (20.7) and wins shares (4.7) are higher than Westbrook’s (18.3 and 1.8 respectively) this season.
| Rk | Player | Age | G | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | TOV | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Paul | 34 | 37 | 12.1 | .470 | 4.4 | .373 | 7.8 | .524 | .537 | 4.0 | .905 | 5.1 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 16.6 |
| 2 | Russell Westbrook | 31 | 31 | 21.2 | .426 | 4.8 | .235 | 16.4 | .482 | .453 | 6.3 | .784 | 7.9 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 4.4 | 24.1 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/9/2020.
Although Westbrook posts a higher rate for points and assists Paul has better efficiency and doesn’t need to be load managed despite his additional three years on Russ. Notably, CP3 doesn’t tend to cough up the ball at the same rate as Westbrook which is partially a factor of their ability and of the speed of pace their teams utilize.
The stat that leaps off the page is the number of field goal attempts with CP3 taking 12.1 versus Russ’ 21.2 and yet the difference in points is 7.5 points. More specifically, in clutch time the Rockets will utilize James Harden and occasionally look to Westbrook.
On the OKC Thunder although Paul is happy to concede to whoever is rolling or most open he’s also shown he more than capable of being the primary scorer with two recent wins still resonating in the fan base where Paul simply took over to win the game.
| Rk | Player | PER | TS% | 3PAr | ORB% | AST% | OWS | DWS | WS | WS/48 | OBPM | DBPM | BPM | VORP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Paul | 20.7 | .599 | .359 | 1.1 | 31.8 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 4.7 | .189 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 4.3 | 1.9 |
| 2 | Russell Westbrook | 18.3 | .503 | .227 | 4.7 | 33.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 1.8 | .077 | -0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/9/2020.
Clearly, Westbrook holds the offensive rebounding advantage but Paul owns the advantage in every aspect of the box (offensive, defensive and total box plus/minus) as well as the value over replacement player.