Houston Rockets: Chris Paul’s season is underrated

As the sidekick to James Harden’s MVP campaign, Chris Paul’s season has been underrated for the Houston Rockets. Just how good has he been this season?

Chris Paul has had an incredible career in the NBA. He is a first ballot Hall-of-Famer, one of the greatest point guards in league history and one of the most well-known players over the past decade. The 32-year-old is a nine-time All-Star, an eight-time All-NBA member, four-time assists leader, six-time steals leader, nine-time All-Defensive team member, and is still going strong as he leaves his prime.

In previous seasons, Paul was widely regarded as a top-10 player in the league. If you said Paul was outside the top 10 2-3 years ago, your credibility would be questioned. However, we’ve come to a point where it seems that if you believe Paul is still in the top 10, you’ll get confused looks across the faces of fans and other analysts. Now, I’m not saying Paul is still a top-10 player in the league, but he is certainly still close to that level.

What this is all getting to is the fact that as a result of many things (playing next to the likely MVP, being 32 years old, getting injured, etc.) Chris Paul’s season with the Houston Rockets has been underrated. For the most part, his traditional counting stats are lower than previous seasons, and Paul has often been overshadowed by his backcourt teammate, who is having an incredible season.

While his scoring is up from last season (18.8 points from 18.1 points per game), Paul is shooting worse from the field (albeit at only a small decrease), averaging fewer assists, and for the most part, looks slower on the court than previous seasons.

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However, not only has Paul been dealing with nagging injuries for a large part of the season, he has taken a backseat to the James Harden show. Harden’s assists are also down, mainly due to the fact that both are taking turns having the ball in their hands and running the offense.

Paul has improved in other aspects of his game. First, Paul has improved his rebounding, averaging a career-high 5.6 per game despite being in his 13th season in the league. Then you realize that the former Wake Forrest guard is attempting a career-high 6.5 3-pointers per game. It’s that newfound willingness to let it fly from beyond the arc that has opened up Paul’s game and the Houston Rockets’ offense. While he is hitting 38 percent of those shots compared to 41 percent last season, the volume makes up for the dip in percentage, allowing him to increase his scoring output.

Another crucial aspect of Paul’s season is his value to his teammates. Everyone knows how great of a passer the nine-time All-Star is, and the numbers certainly back it up this season, as Paul has had a profound impact on his teammates’ shooting. Here are what several key rotational players are shooting on 3-pointers off of a pass from Paul compared to their season percentage:

• Ryan Anderson – 47.9 percent (season: 38.3 percent)
• James Harden – 47.3 percent (38 percent)
• Gerald Green – 45.5 percent (38.2 percent)
• Luc Mbah a Moute – 44.4 percent (35.3 percent)
• P.J. Tucker – 39.1 percent (36 percent)
• Eric Gordon – 37.3 percent (34.2 percent)

Paul is so adept at finding his teammates at the perfect time and then delivering a pass that doesn’t force them to get out of their shooting rhythm. Just look at how aware Paul is of where his teammates are and what type of pass will give them the best chance to get right into their shot:

With the Rockets having one of Paul or Harden always on the floor providing passes like that, it’s no wonder they have one of the best offenses in league history this season.

However, Paul can also take over a game offensively on his own, as he has been an incredible isolation player this season. Alongside Harden, Paul is the second-most effective isolation player, posting 1.16 points per possession, which puts him in the 94th percentile. Harden and Paul rank first and second respectively in isolation frequency, making them a deadly and nearly unstoppable duo.

Paul can attack and take advantage of defenders big and small, which is exactly what he did down the stretch of a crucial Rockets win in Portland:

Paul is crafty when finishing at the rim, which has led him to shoot a career-high 70.9 percent on shots within three feet of the rim. Oftentimes the Rockets will rely on isos from Harden and Paul down the stretch of games, which some many consider an ineffective strategy compared to the beautiful ball movement from the San Antonio Spurs or Golden State Warriors. But when you have two of the best isolation players in the league, it makes for a good tactic.

Finally, Paul has continued to be an excellent defender, both on and off the ball. This is mainly because he is strong enough to withstand post ups, and has a bag of tricks to cause turnovers when guarding bigger players. Paul’s defensive box plus-minus of 1.2 is actually higher than it was last season, and he still grades out as a very good defender according to defensive real plus-minus (2.04).

Paul has arguably been more effective on a per-minute basis than in previous seasons, as his win shares per 48 minutes (.269) is at its highest since the 2014-15 season.

This is all to say that as a result of being a No. 2 option behind an MVP, missing over 20 games due to injury and hitting his early 30s, Chris Paul has been underrated by many this season. He is still providing extremely good defense and effective passing, all while becoming one of the best isolation players in the league. Paul is more willing to shoot, and with the floor being spaced effectively around him, has become a deadly leader of a historic offense.

Next: The 50 greatest NBA players of all time (updated, 2016-17)

Come playoff time, the Rockets will need Chris Paul to bail them out of certain situations. Luckily for them, he seems more than up to the task with his revamped and slightly altered game, a game that has (for now) become underrated.