Chris Paul Ranks 4th in CBS Sports’ Latest MVP Rankings

Originally posted on Sideline Sources | By Maurya K. | Last updated 4/15/21

Chris Paul has been gaining a lot of MVP steam recently, as the ‘CP3 effect’ has been trending on all social media platforms. In short, it showcases how every team Paul goes to gets drastically better and becomes instant playoff contenders. Though it lacks a little bit of context, it’s a great way of representing Paul’s impact and longevity.

The Chris Paul effect…
Hornets:
– Year before CP3: 18-64
– First year with: 38-44 (+20)
– First year after: 21-45 (-25)
Clippers:
– Before: 32-50
– With: 40-26 (+8)
– After: 42-40 (-9)
Rockets:
– Before: 55-27
– With: 65-17 (+10)
– After: 44-28 (-9)

Thunder:
– Before: 49-33
– With: 44-28 (-5 … better WP%)
– After: 20-27 (incomplete)
Suns:
– Before: 34-39
– With: 33-14 (incomplete) Originally tweeted by Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) on April 2, 2021.

The fact that Paul is doing this at age 35 is pretty crazy. And although he is certainly not going to win the Award, it’s great to see him getting the respect he deserves. That has only been more true as CBS Sports ranked him 4th in their ‘NBA MVP Rankings‘ updates last night.

Chris Paul or Devin Booker?

Now, there has been some debate on if teammate Devin Booker should be the Suns’ leading candidate? Well, as writer Brad Botkin put it:

Yes, Devin Booker has been spectacular. It’s difficult to separate him and Paul in terms of who the best player on the team is… but just for a second, strip away all these fancy numbers and just look at the obvious: Before Paul showed up, the Suns missed the playoffs 10 straight seasons. The first year he gets to the desert, they have a shot at the No. 1 overall seed and are a fringe title contender.
Written by Brad Botkin in CBS Sports’ Weekly ‘NBA MVP Rankings‘

Whether you believe in Booker or Paul being Pheonix’s best player and MVP candidate, one thing is a fact: The Suns are locked in as a top 2 seed and have ascended to true title contenders, but only after Chris Paul arrived in Arizona. That, too, a 35-year-old Chris Paul in his 16th NBA season.

This article first appeared on Sideline Sources and was syndicated with permission.

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