In the NBA, people often talk about the first point guard, the first small forward, and so on. When discussing who is the strongest point guard in the league today, fans can't help but think of Chris Paul. Maybe more people like Stephen Curry's ability to shoot and Kyrie Irving's ghostly dribbling breakthroughs, but from the perspective of a traditional guard, Chris Paul may be the last traditional point guard in the NBA.
At the end of yesterday's Suns game against the Spurs, Paul made 7-of-12 shooting and scored 15 points, 2 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 0 turnovers. Coupled with this game, Paul is the 48th time in his career to have 10 assists and 0 turnovers, ranking first in NBA history, and second place is John Stockton (44 times).
Even looking at the current NBA league, the second-most player in his career with 10 assists and zero turnovers is Paul's nemesis Rajan Rondo, while LeBron James has only 10 times. This is enough to say that Paul was excellent. He's not the guard of the small-ball era now, he doesn't have accurate three-pointers, he doesn't have a blasting sadistic performance, but you have to be sure that Paul's organizational ability is definitely the strongest in the NBA.
This has been evident since he played for the Thunder, and with his excellent organizational skills and excellent overall view, he dragged the rebuilt Thunder into the playoffs and played 7 games with his old club. Despite his regrets coming out, Paul has proven himself. After coming to the Suns, Paul used his organizational skills to revitalize the entire team and bring them to the finals.
Maybe you think that doesn't prove anything, Booker and Ayton are very strong players who already have the opportunity to impact the playoffs. But you can't deny Paul's organizational ability, and under Paul's tandem, you can see that the suns play the whole team very regularly and methodically. In yesterday's game, the Suns started with zero mistakes, and that's the impact Paul brought, maybe these are not his own credits, but he is absolutely indispensable.
This season, Paul and Booker led the team to play 34 wins and 9 losses, ranking first in the West, and now that the schedule is more than halfway through, it is no exaggeration to say that the Phoenix Suns have locked a ticket to the playoffs in advance, and in the next game, they just need to play steadily. But according to their lineup, it is still difficult to impact the championship, and in today's league, the strong teams are almost all double-core or even triple-core, so they still need to remain competitive or even stronger in the playoffs.
Recently, the deal for Rockets veteran Eric Gordon was once very hot. Gordon is arguably back to being the best sixth man this season, averaging 14.9 points and 3.3 assists in 29 minutes per game, and most importantly, he also has a 45.5% three-point shooting rate, ranking second in the league. The Rockets' asking price for Gordon was just a first-round pick, and the Suns are considered the team most likely to make the deal with the Rockets.
If the Suns do make the deal, they send a first-round pick in exchange for Gordon, their squad will be upgraded again, there are threats on the outside and strength on the inside, so that they will be more confident to play against other teams.