Naming the Houston Rockets All-Decade First Team

Point Guard: Chris Paul

Chris Paul’s services in Houston were recently terminated after the Rockets sent a package centering around him to Oklahoma City for Russell Westbrook. By the time 2020 comes, Westbrook will only have played a little over two months in Houston, not long enough to make any major contributions in this decade. That makes CP3 the easy answer for Houston’s starting point guard on the All-Decade Team.

In Paul’s two years with the Rockets, he averaged 17.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game. The Rockets won 77 of Paul’s 116 games played in Houston. The Rockets out scored their opponents by 10.75 points per 100 possessions when Paul was on the floor over the last two seasons.

When Houston first made the trade for Paul back in 2017, everyone wondered how well he could play alongside James Harden, another ball-dominant player. Paul was often injured, so he and Harden didn’t get to play together as much as they would’ve hoped. However, the duo finished with a 81-22 record when they shared the court together, a 78.64 win percentage. That win rate would put them on track for 64 wins over the course of an 82 game season.

Paul’s passing ability is obviously second to none, but his mid-range shooting skills also provided a bit of variety in Houston’s 3-point heavy offense. It was disappointing to see Paul go down with that hamstring injury in Game 5 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals and also to see him play poorly throughout much of the 2019 playoffs, but we can’t forget just how much better he made Houston after his arrival.

Next: Shooting Guard