#5 Chris Paul – Los Angeles Clippers
Season Averages: 19.6 points, 9.9 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.05 steals.
Player Efficiency Rating (PER): 26.35 (5th best)
For the last three to four years, the duo of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin have been keeping the Los Angeles Clippers competitive in the West with regular 50+ win season and Playoff appearances. This season only 30 year old Paul did so, after Griffin missed 45 games due to a hand and quad injuries.
In the games that he missed the Clippers went 31-15 (67.3%) and a lot of those wins were because of the team’s new system.
The team’s new style was to put either DeAndre Jordan or Cole Aldrich on the court as a center and surround them with four shooters, Paul being one of them playing the role of a ball handler. Paul thrived in the new system as it allowed him to penetrate into the teeth of the defense and find open teammates for shots or himself knock down open jumpers after screens by Jordan on one side of the floor.
His play is one side of the coin, the other is his leadership. Paul is among the best leaders in the league and his game not only allows him to ask more of his teammates but also gives them opportunities to prove themselves by finding them open shots to knock down. His on court vision and ability to draw fouls is paralleledd by very few in the league.
