As he enters his 21st and final NBA season, Chris Paul has decided to spend it in Los Angeles with a team he’s all too familiar with.
Paul is expected to sign with the Clippers, putting a period on what has been an absolutely tremendous offseason for the organization after acquiring John Collins, Brook Lopez and Bradley Beal as well.
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Paul, who is now 40, just came off a year in San Antonio in which he started all 82 games, proving he’s still very capable of being an impact player.
The point guard might have had pedestrian numbers (8.8 points and 7.4 assists per game) compared to his prime, but the stats only tell part of the story. He’ll join a Clippers team where the ball will be in the hands of James Harden and Kawhi Leonard a fair bit, meaning he’s likely to play a role that supports him being even more opportunistic in regard to establishing himself.
With Collins and Derrick Jones Jr. on the roster, Paul will have several lob targets at his disposal, just as he’ll have shooters who can fill the wing in the form of Bogdan Bogdanović and Beal, who is likely to play a not insignificant amount of minutes alongside Paul.
The addition of Paul, in conjunction with the organization’s other moves this summer, has catapulted the Clippers into contender status, at least assuming Leonard is as healthy as he looked in the playoffs against the Denver Nuggets.
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The depth chart of the team is rather ridiculous as well. If we assume a starting lineup of Harden, Beal, Leonard, Collins and Ivica Zubac, the secondary rotation will consist of Paul, Bogdanović, Nicolas Batum, Jones and Lopez, forming one of the most potent 10-man rotations in the NBA.
Paul’s leadership qualities might allow him to take the starting spot over Beal, but if so, the Clippers will only have an even stronger scoring punch on their second unit.
While this won’t be at all similar to the Lob City version of the Clippers, with Paul feeding Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, there’s a case to be made that this could be the best Clippers team Paul has ever been on.