Not a word on Chris Paul's defense yet. Makes me think everyone in this thread are Joe Mazz burner accounts.
JK
His defense is still pretty solid. The bigger drop-off has been on the offensive end of the court. He can't get to the rim anymore. He can't finish when he does get there. He had the lowest number of baskets at the rim in the league this year (big minute players). Lowest or 2nd lowest along with PJ Tucker.
CP3 has become wholly reliant on his jump-shot to score the ball. He has a brilliant midrange game and an above average 3 ball. But no paint finishes and hardly any FTs cause you get most of your FTs by taking it to the rim means that his scoring efficiency ain't that good anymore.
His main advantage is that he takes care of the ball and is a good passer. However, his playmaking has declined too because again he cannot get to the rim anymore. So his passing still adds value but not as much as it used to. He can't unwrap difficult defenses like he used to. He gets a lot of assists out of more sideways / lateral passes and low incision passes. He doesn't cut apart defenses as much anymore. Still some but not as much. He generates good offensive looks rather than great offensive looks nowadays.
It was interesting to see PHO's offense look better with CP3 out and Devin Booker handling the ball more. Booker could get to the rim, he could draw loads of help defenders, he could playmake on drives better than CP3 could.
CP3 is still a solid two way player but he is not a high end player at anything anymore. Not scoring, not passing, not defense.