Detroit Pistons: Is it time to go all in on Chris Paul?

The Detroit Pistons were unable to land star point guard Russell Westbrook, but now should they shift their focus to Chris Paul?

Last night the Houston Rockets traded veteran guard Chris Paul to the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC is also receiving a pair of first-round picks in the deal (2024,2026) as an incentive to absorb Paul’s lucrative contract. James Harden and Russell Westbrook are once again reunited, the two played together in OKC early on in their career along with Kevin Durant, but the young trio was unsuccessful in the 2012 NBA finals losing to Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and the Miami Heat in five games before they were separated. With Westbrook off the board should the Detroit Pistons try and add the often injured Chris Paul?

The elephant in the room is Paul’s history with Pistons star Blake Griffin. The pair were teammates with the L.A Clippers; things became explosive as the two seemingly were never able to see eye to eye. Griffin at the time was a young up and coming superstar, Paul was already an established superstar and on many accounts, walked into Blake’s locker room and took over. Paul’s upfront, at times brash, truthful personality seemed to clash with Griffin leading to a split.

The Detroit Pistons would not be able to acquire Paul unless Griffin approves to let bygones be bygones. It’s unlikely, but Blake might look at Reggie Jackson and think man, things weren’t all that bad with Paul. There is a real possibility the two may have been able to put their differences aside as they’ve aged.

More from Detroit Jock City

Chris Paul has struggled to remain healthy over the last three season, but so has Reggie Jackson and Derrick Rose, so the risk remains the same. Jackson had similar offensive stats to Paul last season, except Chris, nearly doubled up Reggie on assists per game totaling 8.2 to Jackson’s 4.2. Paul also on average reeled in 4.6 boards to Jackson’s 2.6.

They were within 1% of each other from three but were both 86% from the free throw line. Chris Paul’s worth really spews out on the defensive side of the ball; he’s a much better defender than Jackson. Paul is a nine-time All-Star, but maybe more impressive he’s a nine-time all NBA defensive player.

The only reason OKC would have agreed to take on Chris Paul’s large contract was to add a couple of first round picks with the hopes of flipping Paul elsewhere. The Detroit Pistons could potentially land Paul for Tony Snell, Reggie Jackson & Langston Galloway.

Snell has two years remaining on his deal, Jackson & Galloway are both entering the final year of their agreement. The Oklahoma City Thunder would be able to completely free themselves of the terrible Paul deal, immediately entering a full-blown rebuild in the hopes of having a high lottery pick next season.

The Detroit Pistons could likely land a late first-round pick from OKC for taking on Paul’s deal, that would sweeten the pot for Detroit. Paul’s contract is very similar to Westbrook’s but expires a year sooner. The downside is Paul’s age, the 34-year-old would likely be a low-end starter or bench player in the final year of the deal, and he’s owed $125 million over the next three years.

The Detroit Pistons are currently set up to have significant cap space starting in 2021 when virtually everyone who makes any serious money becomes a free agent. Paul would be the last high priced player on the roster for a final season; it wouldn’t prevent the Pistons from making any additional roster moves in 2021 if Griffin indeed skips town.

Next. Betting on the recovery of Markieff Morris. dark

Adding Chris Paul would be a small upgrade for the Pistons, it wouldn’t elevate them much, but if they could add an additional first round pick at least, they’d be getting something for Jackson rather than allowing him to walk at the seasons’ end for nothing.

Home/Detroit Pistons