Getty Chris Paul is now a member of the Phoenix Suns teaming up with Devin Booker in the backcourt.
Chris Paul is now a member of the Phoenix Suns and he’ll play alongside teammates, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton.
Is that a level up?
“It’s a definite level up,” Memphis Grizzlies’ Fox Sports color commentator Brevin Knight told me on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
“And it scares me very much and the fact is when you are a team like the Grizzlies and you hang around that kind of 6th through 8th… 6th through 10th. Your team is 6th through 10th at this point and continuing to grow. When the teams are 9, 10,11 and 12 start to get better, then you start to worry. The one thing that I feel confident in is that this Grizzlies team; they were also able to get better with the addition that they had; they re-signed De’ Anthony Melton but, then they have such a young nucleus that they are depending on, they’ll be a year older. So, the other teams got better, but this Grizzlies team got better and the one thing that’ll happen now is that you just have full battles throughout the Western Conference as you go. There… the stops of going somewhere and like thinking, ‘Okay. Tonight you may have a chance…’ if you don’t step on the floor already – that’s what Chris Paul brings to the Phoenix Suns. You will not walk outta there with a victory as easy as it could’ve been in the past. And so, because of his influence and because of Monty Williams influence and then also getting Jae Crowder; the toughness side of the Phoenix Suns; now you couple that with the skilled players that they have, and that sort of puts them in a different realm and I think that’s what those two vets can do for them.”
The New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers were suitors in the Chris Paul sweepstakes during NBA free agency.
GettyDennis Schroder with Chris Paul.
A Wake Forest product, Paul averaged 17.6 points, 5 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.6 steals in the regular season for an Oklahoma City Thunder team that exceeded expectations this season.
Paul helped guide the Thunder to a 44-28 record and fifth place finish in the NBA’s Western Conference standings. The Thunder had a potent roster that included Steven Adams, Lu Dort, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dennis Schroeder, Danilo Gallinari, Nerlens Noel and more. The Thunder ended this season with a 44-28 record and fifth place in the NBA’s Western Conference standing.
After finishing last season with a 34-39 record, the Suns had a successful showing in the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida last season.
Phoenix went 8-0 and shined behind the stats stuffer that Devin Booker was. Booker averaged 30.5 points, 6 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 33.8 minutes a game for Phoenix.
Deandre Ayton will enter his third year in the league and last season the former Arizona Wildcat averaged 18.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
During NBA free agency, the Suns added Jae Crowder to a roster that already included Mikal Bridges.
Adding Paul to their puzzle is an added bonus. CP3 will reunite with Monty Williams and the 2020-21 NBA season will begin on December 22.