LA Clippers: Chris Paul ranked 4th in NBA by Sports Illustrated
By Tom West
Chris Paul of the LA Clippers has been ranked as the 2nd best point guard and the NBA’s 4th best player in Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 for 2016-17.
LA Clippers star Chris Paul has ruled the NBA as the definition of an ideal floor general and two-way point guard for years. Until Stephen Curry exploded as league MVP in 2014-15 and repeated with the same honor last season, Paul has been on top in the eyes of most. Yet again, the respect for his unmatched poise, control, vision and intelligence has resulted in more high praise, leading to Sports Illustrated ranking him 4th in their NBA Top 100 players ahead of the 2016-17 season.
SI’s Rob Mahoney wrote their reasoning for Paul’s place, highlighting four key attributes that separated him from Russell Westbrook, who came in one spot behind at 5th place.
Here are a few quick extracts from Mahoney to introduce each argument that went in Paul’s favor:
"Control vs. explosion: Paul and Westbrook approach running an offense so differently that much of their distinction is a matter of taste. Paul is the sort of ball handler who manages everything; his job involves constant orchestration. His moves to score are deliberate. Paul knows how to pick his spots to score as much as is needed of him while still keeping all of his teammates involved in the exact spots that are best for their games…Defense: This is an open-and-shut case: Paul is a better defender. The more pertinent issue is how much better and to what extent it matters…Shooting: Not only does Paul take better shots, but he shoots a better percentage at literally every distance…Trust: One question we kept coming back to in our comparison: If you were a coach of an NBA team, who would you trust to run your team? Paul was the consensus choice. Westbrook wouldn’t be Westbrook without the thrills. That makes for great television and great basketball, but it’s often easier to get the most out of all five players on the floor when they can move and operate along a particular set of principles…"
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Mahoney explained the argument for Paul to rank ahead of Westbrook perfectly. While Russ can be unstoppable at times with his ability to do almost everything and terrorize opponents with freakish athleticism, he doesn’t play with the same poise and intelligence as Paul, and gambles on defense to lose position too often.
Paul, meanwhile, as Mahoney argued, is on a level of basketball intelligence and, specifically, trust, that makes him the ideal floor general to lead a team consistently. Rather than necessarily flat-out taking over a game in the same ferocious way that Westbrook can.
I’d also argue that Chris Paul should rank ahead of Westbrook for the same reasons that Mahoney offered, also placing Paul 4th overall.
Next: NBA Player Rankings: Top 10 small forwards for 2016-17
Falling into 4th place, only behind the likes of Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and LeBron James, Chris Paul is hardly experiencing much of a decline for a 31-year-old. No matter what some may say about other point guards and the shortcomings of his LA Clippers.