{"id":114487,"date":"2024-12-28T14:57:10","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T19:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=114487"},"modified":"2024-12-28T14:57:10","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T19:57:10","slug":"chris-pauls-future-spurs-unclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/28\/chris-pauls-future-spurs-unclear\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Paul\u2019s Future With Spurs Unclear"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The San Antonio Spurs are rounding the corner amid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wembavi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Victor Wembanyama<\/a>\u2019s star turn.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re a play-in team if the season ended today. It\u2019s not all because of the second-year big man, but <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/25\/victor-wembanyama-new-generations-wilt-chamberlain\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">he\u2019s been elite at both ends<\/a> of the floor, especially as of late. There\u2019s plenty for the Spurs to clean up. Nonetheless, there might be more good than bad for first the time in a long time.<\/p>\n<h2>Chris Paul\u2019s Future With Spurs Unclear<\/h2>\n<p>With the team now somewhere between rebuilding and contending, there\u2019s now interest in whether they\u2019ll keep their most grizzled veteran: 39-year-old point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/paulch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Paul<\/a>. Paul, whose on-off numbers are second only to Wembanyama\u2019s for the Spurs, is currently in his 20th season. When asked by L\u2019EQUIPE journalist Maxime Aubin if he\u2019d be returning to San Antonio next season, Spurs acting head coach Mitch Johnson was diplomatic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not sure I have the liberty to answer that one,\u201d he says. \u201cHe\u2019s been excellent for us. I wish he had been here for the last 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Asked by <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MaximeAubin1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MaximeAubin1<\/a> about CP returning next season, Mitch Johnson said, &#8220;I&#8217;m not sure I have the liberty to answer that one. He&#8217;s been excellent for us. I wish he had been here for the last 20 years&#8230;Tutelage has been strong, and it has been suffocating in the best way&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tom_orsborn\/status\/1872788838659309999?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 27, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>A player who exudes a coach\u2019s mentality, Paul\u2019s mentorship of the Spurs\u2019 young players has certainly been invaluable. Even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jonestr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tre Jones<\/a>, whose minutes were likely the most impacted by his signing, has praised the veteran for imparting knowledge. If the team wants Paul back because of his intangibles, there could be a spot on the bench for him next season.<\/p>\n<h3>The Tre Jones Problem<\/h3>\n<p>Paul isn\u2019t just dropping gems for the locker room, he\u2019s dropping dimes as well.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most intelligent players in the NBA, his savviness extends far beyond his passing ability, as he understands the game inside the game. As evidenced by his assists numbers, he\u2019s doing a great job finding his teammates in the right spot. Though a simple concept, the Spurs\u2019 inability to properly process situations or execute if they did was a major issue in 2023-24.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Chris Paul lobs it up to Wemby for the 12,000th assist of his career \ud83d\ude4c <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aY3BTbdzcF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/aY3BTbdzcF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA TV (@NBATV) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBATV\/status\/1857589595300360363?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With that being said, if Jones was a better scoring threat, San Antonio probably would\u2019ve kept Jones in the rotation these last two seasons. That\u2019s not to say Paul is vying for the scoring title. The five-time assist leader is averaging a modest 9.6 points per game this season. However, he\u2019s shooting 36.4 percent from three (where 64.5 percent of his field goal attempts are coming).<\/p>\n<p>For comparison, Jones is shooting just 21.4 percent from deep this season. Despite being 6-foot-1, he gets more efficient the closer he gets to the rim. However, with San Antonio ranking eighth in average three-point attempts (39.5), he\u2019s not quite a fit for their offensive philosophy.<\/p>\n<h3>In LeBron James\u2019s Shadow<\/h3>\n<p>Paul\u2019s birthday falls just five months after that of Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, who has dominated for more than two decades. The Wake Forest product has been asked about retirement with increasingly frequency over the years. Nonetheless, it\u2019s a testament to James\u2019s larger than life stature that Paul\u2019s age and storied career falls in his shadow. As much as James\u2019s inevitable end is being discussed, Paul is also among the generation of NBA stars who are passing the torch.<\/p>\n<p>The No. 4 pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, Paul has racked up 49,654 minutes thus far in his 20-year career. To put that in perspective, a plane could fly around the world 19 times and still not have been in the sky as long as he\u2019s been on an NBA court.<\/p>\n<p>At this point of his career, he does still love the grind but he has other focuses too. His children are only getting older and he\u2019d like to <a  href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/LXbcUPguaZ4\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">spend more time with them<\/a>. He\u2019s interested in becoming <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/18\/nba-chris-paul-looks-make-rare-career-change-after-retirement\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">part of an NBA ownership team<\/a>, with Las Vegas looking like an attractive investment.<\/p>\n<p>Paul will likely play at least one more season. Whether he would choose the Spurs if he had his way is worth wondering though. The magnitude of the situation could lead to him making a last ditch effort to win for a ring.<\/p>\n<p>Riding into the sunset while guiding one of the NBA\u2019s newest young stars is a special opportunity. However, the possibility of winning a championship for the first time in his career Paul might just sound better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The San Antonio Spurs are rounding the corner amid Victor Wembanyama\u2019s star turn. They\u2019re a play-in team if the season ended today. It\u2019s not all because of the second-year big man, but he\u2019s been elite at both ends of the floor, especially as of late. There\u2019s plenty for the Spurs to clean up. Nonetheless, there [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":114615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,1608,62],"tags":[229,49818,297,4669],"class_list":["post-114487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spurs","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-chris-paul","tag-mitch-johnson","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-victor-wembanyama"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114487"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114617,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114487\/revisions\/114617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}