Oklahoma City Thunder: Chris Paul’s proving that the mid range shot isn’t dead

Despite the demonization of the mid-range shot, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul is proving that it still has value in today’s NBA.

Modern offenses in the NBA are heavily influenced by the analytical movement that spawned at the dawn of the previous decade. Someone, inexplicably, deemed that three points are greater than two, and we just ran with it. If you aren’t hosting up a myriad of perimeter jump shots are finding baskets in the restricted area, you’re forfeiting efficiency. That is unless you’re Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

So a quick disclaimer before we go any further: I’m not, in any way shape or form, advocating that teams revert back to traditional ways of approaching offense. No, but I am saying that having a versatile offensive threat like Chris Paul, who has the mid-range jump shot in his arsenal and can use it whenever he wants, still has value—immense value at that.

Per Basketball-Reference, 30.6 percent (career-high) of Paul’s shots are coming from anywhere between 10-16 feet, where he’s shooting an outstanding 52.4 percent from the field.

To provide perspective on how bizarre his shot selection is in today’s NBA, the Houston Rockets—who are, ironically, his former team and love their analytics—are shooting 3.5 field goals per game from 10-16 feet out. Paul, himself, is taking 3.85 field goals attempt from 10-16 feet out. That provides just a tad bit of insight into one of the few reasons that divorced reached Marriage Story levels of ugly.

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As Chris Paul ages and his quickness deteriorates, he’s learned how to adapt his offensive approach on the fly. No longer are the days where his first step was unparalleled and he could finish around bigs with crafty in-air maneuvers at the basket. Now his game is heavily reliant on his ability to find space off of pick-and-rolls in the mid-range or his ability to connect on perimeter jump shots.

But he’s still just as efficient as ever, sporting a 60.7 true shooting percentage for this season in comparison to his 58.2 career percentage. He’s reformed his game over the years and has countered what is deemed to be analytically-friendly to produce fantastic results.

In crunch time, when your team is in desperate need of a bucket and it doesn’t really matter where from, the benefits of having a player like CP3, who can score from essentially anywhere in a half-court setting, really is shown. To further back this point, no one has scored more in what is considered clutch time—final five minutes of regulation or OT with a score differential of five points—than Paul.

In fact, Paul’s 128 clutch points are 19 points more than the second-place Nikola Jokic.

Hell, we also saw it in last year’s playoffs—the resurgence (if you want to call it that) of the traditional mid-range jumper in late-game settings.

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke of the shot and how it still has a place in today’s NBA this past summer.

In summary, he detailed how defenses are scheming out three-point shots, layups, and free throws. So, if all their attention is primarily focused on those three aspects of the game, guess what is open? The mid-range shot.

And when that shot is open, there are few better, if any than Chris Paul at making opposing defenses pay.

Despite what math tells you about the mid-range shot, having a player of Paul’s magnitude that can get to his spot within 10-16 feet at any given time, is definitely not a deterrent. There’s still upside in having a balanced attack; Paul is proof of that.