Phoenix Suns: Is This Chris Paul’s Best Team Ever?

The Phoenix Suns own an extensive basketball history, as does point guard Chris Paul. Playing at the NBA level for a whopping 16 years now, he knows his way around the league, having run with several different teams and beside countless superstar players.

But last year, he finally reached the NBA Finals, a goal which he infamously missed out on time after time throughout his career. Although Paul failed to walk away from it with a Larry O’Brien trophy in hand, the Suns team which helped catapult him there still earned nation-wide praise for its competitiveness and poise under head coach Monty Williams.

Still looking to rebound from the loss though, the Suns spent their most recent offseason retooling their team, improving it by notable standards. They first brought over sharpshooter Landry Shamet from the Brooklyn Nets, but then also added high-flyer JaVale McGee and Elfrid Payton.

Surely with more talent, this incoming team looks ready to make a greater claim to the NBA’s throne this season. But does that make it better than last year’s Western Conference winning squad, and beyond that, better than every other team which Paul formerly played for?

Will the 2021-22 Phoenix Suns be Chris Paul’s Best Team Ever?

With so many seasons at Paul’s back, cutting through the less impressive teams he played for comes as the first task in answering this question.

To pull out the weeds, let’s narrow it down to the 2007-08 New Orleans Hornets, the 2013-14 Los Angeles Clippers, the 2014-15 Los Angeles Clippers, the 2017-18 Houston Rockets, and of course the 2020-21 Phoenix Suns. These teams posted the five highest winning percentages across Paul’s career, and achieved the most playoff success.

From that point on, this breakdown includes both general skill, as well as head-to-head favor.