Post by jhb on Mar 15, 2021 13:32:47 GMT -5
Chris Paul
PG
6'0"
175
20
Wake Forest
Paul is a unique point guard prospect and possibly the best of the decade. He's dynamic, explosive, electric, and absolutely dominated college defenses for Skip Prosser and the Demon Deacons. After two seasons in Wake where Paul led his team to NCAA tournament appearances and top 3 offenses in the nation with, frankly, no help, Paul comes to ply his trades at the next level. And watch out.
Paul is a very advanced player and very fundamentally sound. He plays low to the ground and has a tremendous handle. With that and his quickness, there really isn't anybody that can stop him from getting wherever he wants on the court. He uses that ability to create shots for his teammates, but unlike guys like Deron Williams in this class, he doesn't seemingly defer to his teammates quite as often. And while he could go get 30+ every damn night if he needed to, he'll play for the smart look and take his when it's there. Paul isn't a tremendous leaper so he prefers to stay away from trying to finish at the rim, but he is absolutely deadly with the floater and that's if he hasn't already stopped on a dime to rise quickly and nail his mid-range jumper. He has an incredible understanding of spacing and while he will dominate the ball most of the time, he's also incredibly adept at moving off the ball to create catch and shoot opportunities for himself. He hit 47% from 3 in his college career and as a career 84% free throw shooter, you can't find much of a silkier stroke in this draft class.
Defensively, Paul uses his quick hands and great instincts to be a tremendous disrupter. He loves to pressure his assignments and hunt for opportunities to push transition off the steal. He's a good defender of his position but his size will limit his versatility at the next level. While he makes up for his lack of size with great positioning and instincts, there's only so much you can do when you lack adequate length.
Paul will probably be ready straight out of the box at the next level and as he's already showing an advanced basketball IQ and is incredibly fundamentally sound.
