OKC Thunder: Everyone was wrong about Chris Paul’s contract
The overwhelming opinion about the Chris Paul trade was the OKC Thunder landed a well past his prime vet on an untradeable albatross contract. Boy were they wrong!
With all due respect to Russell Westbrook, the OKC Thunder trade which jettisoned the 2017 MVP to the Rockets for Chris Paul is one of Sam Presti’s best trades of his tenure. Moreover, it may go down in franchise history as the trade that reshaped the future.
Granted, the Paul George trade netted more long term benefits with the seven draft picks (five picks and two swaps) and cornerstone talent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Yet, without Chris Paul on this iteration of the OKC Thunder and even with Danilo Gallinari and SGA are the Thunder anywhere near the team they’ve so quickly developed into? They are likely a scrappy club embroiled with the Grizzlies and chase pack fighting for that eighth seed.
Remove Chris Paul from the mix and this is a team like many others in the Association – one with a few untradeable assets and skilled players on the rise.
It is Chris Paul that makes the OKC Thunder of 2019-20 the team they have become. The personality, identity, and swagger of this team all stem from CP3. T.I. often refers to the ‘Raging Bull’ strut Paul displays at pivotal moments in games. Like the flip of a switch that strut appears and the team feeds off him especially at these moments.
It was on full display Sunday during the clutch time victory in Boston as it has been in numerous clutch time wins this season.
There are those who might still be in the camp of Paul’s contract not being ideal for the Thunder. Let’s examine why it was a smart investment…
The Statistics:
In comparison to other point guards here’s how the vet ranks:
Points: 22nd (17.5)
Assists: tied 14th (6.8)
Rebounds: 9th (5.0)
Steals: 5th (1.6)
Field Goal Percent: tied 10th (true ranking closer to 5th) *notably of the players ranked ahead, five have played between four and two games.