The Chris Paul Effect

[Goldstar88]

Well, Phoenix is headed to the conference finals after sweeping the Nuggest. Led by the old man, 36 year old CP3 who scored 37 Pts last night on 14/19 shooting and 9-9 from the line. Makes you wonder... How good would the C’s be if they had traded for Paul? If healthy, I think a CP3, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Timelord starting lineup would be competing for the top spot in the East with Brooklyn.

[gouki88]

Well, Phoenix is headed to the conference finals after sweeping the Nuggest. Led by the old man, 36 year old CP3 who scored 37 Pts last night on 14/19 shooting and 9-9 from the line. Makes you wonder... How good would the C’s be if they had traded for Paul? If healthy, I think a CP3, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Timelord starting lineup would be competing for the top spot in the East with Brooklyn.

Knowing our luck Chris Paul would break down with injury after injury upon signing here. Phoenix have traditionally had an excellent medical staff

[Rondo9]

Well, Phoenix is headed to the conference finals after sweeping the Nuggest. Led by the old man, 36 year old CP3 who scored 37 Pts last night on 14/19 shooting and 9-9 from the line. Makes you wonder... How good would the C’s be if they had traded for Paul? If healthy, I think a CP3, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Timelord starting lineup would be competing for the top spot in the East with Brooklyn.

Knowing our luck Chris Paul would break down with injury after injury upon signing here. Phoenix have traditionally had an excellent medical staff

Recall that Grant Hill had a resurgence with the Suns so it's not too much of a surprise that Paul is thriving there.

[Goldstar88]

Well, Phoenix is headed to the conference finals after sweeping the Nuggest. Led by the old man, 36 year old CP3 who scored 37 Pts last night on 14/19 shooting and 9-9 from the line. Makes you wonder... How good would the C’s be if they had traded for Paul? If healthy, I think a CP3, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Timelord starting lineup would be competing for the top spot in the East with Brooklyn.

Knowing our luck Chris Paul would break down with injury after injury upon signing here. Phoenix have traditionally had an excellent medical staff

Recall that Grant Hill had a resurgence with the Suns so it's not too much of a surprise that Paul is thriving there.

Shaq’s last good season was in Phoenix, too. Maybe it’s the weather? Lol.

[Kiorrik]

Well, Phoenix is headed to the conference finals after sweeping the Nuggest. Led by the old man, 36 year old CP3 who scored 37 Pts last night on 14/19 shooting and 9-9 from the line. Makes you wonder... How good would the C’s be if they had traded for Paul? If healthy, I think a CP3, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Timelord starting lineup would be competing for the top spot in the East with Brooklyn.

Knowing our luck Chris Paul would break down with injury after injury upon signing here. Phoenix have traditionally had an excellent medical staff

Recall that Grant Hill had a resurgence with the Suns so it's not too much of a surprise that Paul is thriving there.

Shaq’s last good season was in Phoenix, too. Maybe it’s the weather? Lol.

Wouldn't be surprised. My move to Australia made me more spry too :]

[LilRip]

Well, Phoenix is headed to the conference finals after sweeping the Nuggest. Led by the old man, 36 year old CP3 who scored 37 Pts last night on 14/19 shooting and 9-9 from the line. Makes you wonder... How good would the C’s be if they had traded for Paul? If healthy, I think a CP3, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Timelord starting lineup would be competing for the top spot in the East with Brooklyn.

Knowing our luck Chris Paul would break down with injury after injury upon signing here. Phoenix have traditionally had an excellent medical staff

This. Phoenix medical staff has been excellent

The C’s? Not so much. Wasn’t there some sort of controversy too with a member of our med staff (or head trainer?) within the past decade? I might be misremembering

[slamtheking]

Well, Phoenix is headed to the conference finals after sweeping the Nuggest. Led by the old man, 36 year old CP3 who scored 37 Pts last night on 14/19 shooting and 9-9 from the line. Makes you wonder... How good would the C’s be if they had traded for Paul? If healthy, I think a CP3, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Timelord starting lineup would be competing for the top spot in the East with Brooklyn.

Knowing our luck Chris Paul would break down with injury after injury upon signing here. Phoenix have traditionally had an excellent medical staff

This. Phoenix medical staff has been excellent

The C’s? Not so much. Wasn’t there some sort of controversy too with a member of our med staff (or head trainer?) within the past decade? I might be misremembering

I may be wrong but I believe one of the people most criticized was Brian Doo who was the conditioning coach.  apparently he was let go for doing a Doo(dy) job

[Big333223]

At the start of the payoffs, there was a lot of talk about whose legacy would be most helped by a championship and people were talking about Lebron, Giannis, Durant, Harden... Not many people were mentioning Chris Paul. But if the Suns win it all this year with Chris Paul leading the way, his legacy is completely different than it was a year ago.

[Moranis]

At the start of the payoffs, there was a lot of talk about whose legacy would be most helped by a championship and people were talking about Lebron, Giannis, Durant, Harden... Not many people were mentioning Chris Paul. But if the Suns win it all this year with Chris Paul leading the way, his legacy is completely different than it was a year ago.

Is it though?  I mean he is generally regarded as a top 5/6 PG all time (Magic, Oscar, Stockton, Curry, Kidd) and I don't think a title really changes his positioning on the list at all. 

[td450]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned that is pretty annoying is the Jae Crowder effect. I have to give the guy credit. There really was no place for him here with Hayward on board, but now that he's gone I wish we still had him.

He's pulling this off because what we are missing is pretty common throughout the league.

Elite defense at the point
Elite playmaking
Elite pressure decision making

And, he provides an excellent 3rd scoring option

His numbers were not crazy this year, and Phoenix had some other players develop, but this is amazing. Part of it is that the difference between winning and losing isn't that big any more for a lot of teams. There is a ton of talent in the NBA. One really clever glue player can make quite a difference.

[Big333223]

At the start of the payoffs, there was a lot of talk about whose legacy would be most helped by a championship and people were talking about Lebron, Giannis, Durant, Harden... Not many people were mentioning Chris Paul. But if the Suns win it all this year with Chris Paul leading the way, his legacy is completely different than it was a year ago.

Is it though?  I mean he is generally regarded as a top 5/6 PG all time (Magic, Oscar, Stockton, Curry, Kidd) and I don't think a title really changes his positioning on the list at all.

He's a guy whose reputation had become a playoff choke artist. If he wins a ring and maybe even a finals MVP and does so at this age, all of his past postseason problem gets re-written as a problem of the teams he was, not a problem with himself. 

I don't know what everyone else's pg ranking is, but I wouldn't be surprised if a FMVP for Paul meant he was talked about alongside Magic and... no one else. Maybe Steph and Oscar? Not sure.

[Moranis]

At the start of the payoffs, there was a lot of talk about whose legacy would be most helped by a championship and people were talking about Lebron, Giannis, Durant, Harden... Not many people were mentioning Chris Paul. But if the Suns win it all this year with Chris Paul leading the way, his legacy is completely different than it was a year ago.

Is it though?  I mean he is generally regarded as a top 5/6 PG all time (Magic, Oscar, Stockton, Curry, Kidd) and I don't think a title really changes his positioning on the list at all.

He's a guy whose reputation had become a playoff choke artist. If he wins a ring and maybe even a finals MVP and does so at this age, all of his past postseason problem gets re-written as a problem of the teams he was, not a problem with himself. 

I don't know what everyone else's pg ranking is, but I wouldn't be surprised if a FMVP for Paul meant he was talked about alongside Magic and... no one else. Maybe Steph and Oscar? Not sure.

He is behind Magic, Oscar, and Curry for sure and a title won't change that.  I think you could reasonably argue he is better than Kidd or Stockton right now.  I just don't think a title will change much of how he is ultimately viewed when compared to those two guys.  Kidd picked up a title late in his career after multiple finals appearances without winning.  Stockton also has multiple Finals losses.  I just don't think a title would have changed how either of those two guys were viewed.  I mean does the title Oscar picked up late in his career with Kareem change how he is viewed. 

[Big333223]

At the start of the payoffs, there was a lot of talk about whose legacy would be most helped by a championship and people were talking about Lebron, Giannis, Durant, Harden... Not many people were mentioning Chris Paul. But if the Suns win it all this year with Chris Paul leading the way, his legacy is completely different than it was a year ago.

Is it though?  I mean he is generally regarded as a top 5/6 PG all time (Magic, Oscar, Stockton, Curry, Kidd) and I don't think a title really changes his positioning on the list at all.

He's a guy whose reputation had become a playoff choke artist. If he wins a ring and maybe even a finals MVP and does so at this age, all of his past postseason problem gets re-written as a problem of the teams he was, not a problem with himself. 

I don't know what everyone else's pg ranking is, but I wouldn't be surprised if a FMVP for Paul meant he was talked about alongside Magic and... no one else. Maybe Steph and Oscar? Not sure.

He is behind Magic, Oscar, and Curry for sure and a title won't change that.  I think you could reasonably argue he is better than Kidd or Stockton right now.  I just don't think a title will change much of how he is ultimately viewed when compared to those two guys.  Kidd picked up a title late in his career after multiple finals appearances without winning.  Stockton also has multiple Finals losses.  I just don't think a title would have changed how either of those two guys were viewed.  I mean does the title Oscar picked up late in his career with Kareem change how he is viewed.

Yeah, I think so. Just think about how Oscar is mentioned in all time conversations and Elgin Baylor never is. Baylor never averaged a triple double but he had just as eye-popping stats.

If Chris Paul winds up with a FMVP, I won't be surprised at all if we see Magic v. CP3 conversations.

[RJ87]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned that is pretty annoying is the Jae Crowder effect. I have to give the guy credit. There really was no place for him here with Hayward on board, but now that he's gone I wish we still had him.

He's pulling this off because what we are missing is pretty common throughout the league.

Elite defense at the point
Elite playmaking
Elite pressure decision making

And, he provides an excellent 3rd scoring option

His numbers were not crazy this year, and Phoenix had some other players develop, but this is amazing. Part of it is that the difference between winning and losing isn't that big any more for a lot of teams. There is a ton of talent in the NBA. One really clever glue player can make quite a difference.

I think you might be overrating his value a bit. Crowder's a perfectly fine 5th starter who can be a decent release valve for better scorers Booker, Ayton, CP3, and Bridges are the top 4. I think if you have him as your 3rd scorer, you're in bad shape.

[Ogaju]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned that is pretty annoying is the Jae Crowder effect. I have to give the guy credit. There really was no place for him here with Hayward on board, but now that he's gone I wish we still had him.

He's pulling this off because what we are missing is pretty common throughout the league.

Elite defense at the point
Elite playmaking
Elite pressure decision making

And, he provides an excellent 3rd scoring option

His numbers were not crazy this year, and Phoenix had some other players develop, but this is amazing. Part of it is that the difference between winning and losing isn't that big any more for a lot of teams. There is a ton of talent in the NBA. One really clever glue player can make quite a difference.

This.