Offense: A
Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan went together like peanut butter and jelly. When Paul was throwing lobs in Jordan’s direction, he looked like a fortified All-Star and one of the best bigs in the NBA.
So when CP3 left Los Angeles, many fans and experts alike were predicting Jordan’s demise.
The main assumption was that Jordan’s rise to power was simply a byproduct of Paul’s abilities. His numbers made a significant jump when Paul arrived, and more people attributed that to Paul rather than Jordan.
However, what most people overlooked was Jordan’s ability to create his own shot.
Even when Paul was in LA, Jordan showed from time to time that he could outwork his opponents in the paint. And although a majority of his points come from Paul’s hands, he didn’t need him.
Jordan has played a large chunk of the season without a true point guard at the helm, (see: Milos Teodosic injury) and he’s done fine without one. He still sees his fair share of lobs from guys like Lou Williams and Austin Rivers, but he’s actually attempted more lay-ups than dunks this season, 44% of which he’s assisted on. He’s also averaging more points per game this season (11.9) than he did in four of the six seasons when he had Paul with him (two seasons of 12.7).
And how could I forget his improvement from the free throw line? Jordan is converting 60% of his attempts from the stripe this season, 12 percentage points better than his previous season-high 48%.
It’s not much, but it’s a start, and he’s proving all of his doubters wrong. For that, he gets an A.