Knicks rumors: 3 positive things a Chris Paul trade would bring
By Josh Wilson
Taking care of the ball, initiating the offense
A point guard is often one of the highest usage guys on the floor for a team, facilitating the offense and finding ways to get himself and his teammate looks. Paul has routinely done a great job of taking care of the ball without losing it.
His assist to turnover ratio this year is ninth best in the league of guards that have a usage percentage of 15% or greater and play at least 15 minutes per game. He turns the ball over just 2.2 times per game.
His turnover rate per game is in-line with the current starting point guard Elfrid Payton, but Payton’s usage percentage is lower and he doesn’t score as much.
Paul has a vision for where the ball needs to be and can defer to himself to score when his team needs a bucket. Paul creates 16.7 points via assist and tacks on 17.5 of his own points per game for a grand total of 34.2 per game. Payton creates 17.9 points but scores just 9.8 per game for a grand total of 27.7.
Payton is not a bad player but is probably better slotted as a backup point guard. The Knicks may be wisest, though, to attempt to unload Payton in a potential trade to leave minutes for Frank Ntilikina and Dennis Smith Jr. to develop.
Paul is also an incredible pick-and-roll ball handler. This year he creates 1.09 points per possession in the PnR and is in the 94th percentile. Take a few seconds and imagine him and Robinson in the PnR. Soak it in.
Paul’s upside initiating offense is huge. He took a dip in Houston, but one can easily point to the overwhelming ball dominance James Harden brings to the table and see why that was a poor fit.
In New York, he’d be in the driver’s seat.