Chris Paul has always been an offensive conductor, the captain of a ship, a commanding facilitator. That’s netted him the nickname ‘The Point God’ over a wonderful 17-year career, and nothing has changed in his two seasons at the Phoenix Suns.
He can easily relate the Suns emergence to his arrival at the franchise in the 2020 offseason. But with the ultimate success still alluding the team, and himself not getting any younger, Paul may need to rejuvenate and add a new layer to his sublimely polished game.
The success of the Phoenix Suns may hinge on the evolution of All-Star point-guard Chris Paul, even as he enters his 18th season at 37 years of age.
Paul’s passing and ball-handling, his navigation through pick-and-rolls, and the mid-range pull-up jumpshot, are all trademarks that’s become second nature to him. Still, come playoff time, that style has proved itself easier to game plan against. When it’s cratering and becoming less productive, what do the Suns have to lean on?
Although he’s defied father time much better than many expected, the fact is that Paul’s pick-and-roll style will become less effective the more he ages. Not that we want to be comparing Paul to Russell Westbrook, but it’s the same sort of question asked of all aging point-guards – what can you do to become more effective off the ball?
Westbrook can’t shoot, but he still holds the athleticism that could make him a good cutter. Yet, to this point of his career, much to the frustration of fans, he’s shown no willingness to buy into that. Paul is the reverse – he might be the biggest opposite to an above-the-rim player there is, but he can shoot.
So, as Devin Booker continues his rise into a more efficient ball-handler and play-maker, Paul’s effectiveness may boil down to his off-ball ability. Is he capable of that? Well, for all but one season since 2013-14, the 12-time All-Star has shot over 40% on catch-and-shoot three point attempts. Last season was the first time Paul dipped under that mark, taking a significant drop to 35.3%.
Granted, we’re talking low frequency here. The highest came when he shot 1.5 catch-and-shoot threes per game in 2014-15, knocking down 43.8% of them. More concerningly though, last season was his second lowest frequency rate in the last nine seasons.
We actually got a glimpse of potential growth in the playoffs, but unfortunately that came out of necessity rather than choice. In the Suns series loss to Dallas, Paul nearly tripled his catch-and-shoot three-point attempts as they rose to 1.9 per game.
That evidently didn’t work – Paul averaged less than ten points after Phoenix took a 2-0 lead. That’s not to say it won’t though if the Suns tipped into it more during the regular season. Any offensive style is likely to come undone during the postseason if it’s vastly different to how you’ve been playing the 82 games prior.
Paul is capable of doing it, and more importantly, unlike Westbrook, he has the self awareness to understand how his role best suits the team. The onus is now on head coach Monty Williams to actually ask something different of his veteran point-guard, in the hopes it may deliver them an elusive championship.