Rockets: Bleacher Report ranks Chris Paul as league’s 2nd best point guard

Bleacher Report recently announced their rankings of the top 15 point guards in the NBA and they ranked Chris Paul at No. 2.

Usually, many media sites don’t give the Rockets, or their players, the proper credit they deserve. However, Bleacher Report got everything spot on in their latest rankings article.

BR decided to rank the top 15 point guards in the league ahead of the 2018-19 season. Lonzo Ball and Ricky Rubio made the list, as did Mike Conley, even though he missed most of last season due to injury. After just one season, Ben Simmons also made the list, ranking at No. 5.

Chris Paul, who is entering his 14th year in the NBA at age 33, is considered the second best point guard in the league by BR. Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale and Adam Fromal don’t see CP3 slowing down anytime soon.

“Chris Paul will eventually drop off the superstar radar. Maybe. We think. But don’t bet on it happening anytime soon, just in case he doesn’t. Because he might not.

Joining the Houston Rockets looked good on Paul. He cold-turkeyed long twos like they were complex carbohydrates but didn’t have to reinvent his style. Head coach Mike D’Antoni and his staff didn’t task Paul with ditching his one-on-one inklings. They catered to them.”

Paul absolutely deserves a No. 2 ranking among point guards because he’s probably the most well-rounded point in the league.

Russell Westbrook and John Wall are extraordinarily athletic and can play good defense when they want, but both are poor outside shooters. Wall made just 28.1 percent of his mid-range shots last year and Westbrook shot only 29.8 percent from 3-point range. Whereas Paul nailed 53.9 percent of his mid-range shots and drilled 38.0 percent of his 3-pointers.

Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard are elite scorers, but they aren’t anywhere near the passers that Paul is, nor do they play defense. Last season, Paul ranked sixth among point guards in defensive real plus-minus. Lillard ranked 42nd and Irving ranked 69th. In other words, there are plenty of back-up point guards in the league that play better defense than Portland and Boston’s captains.

If you were wondering, yes Bleacher Report has Stephen Curry in the first spot. And he absolutely deserves it after winning three championships and two MVP’s in the last four years, so no arguments here.

But it’s nice to see Chris Paul get the recognition he deserves as one of the elite guards in the NBA.  Paul’s first 13 years in the league have been absolutely spectacular, lets hope his 14th season is just as rewarding.