Chris Paul signs with the Spurs
We saw just how lost the Spurs were without Tony Parker in the Western Conference Finals. Sure the injury to Kawhi Leonard in Game 1 played the biggest role in the team being swept, but Patty Mills and Co. simply could not run an offense in Parker’s stead.
We know San Antonio absolutely loves 2016 first-round pick Dejounte Murray as the team’s point guard of the future. And for good reason. He showed up well in the postseason.
With that said, adding someone of Paul’s ilk to run an offense with Kawhi out on the wing would be an absolute coup for Gregg Popovich and Co. Here’s a guy that’s among the best players in the history of the game at pass distribution. He’s averaged nine-plus assists in each of the past 11 seasons.
With Leonard’s ability to hit the open shot (49 percent shooting, 56 percent uncontested), Paul’s presence would be absolutely huge here. Simply put, if the Spurs are able to give Leonard more open looks, he’ll become even more dominant. This is obviously one of the primary reasons San Antonio has been linked to Paul since the end of its season.
We have no idea how the Western Conference Finals would have played out if Leonard didn’t go down early in the series. While some say it would have been more competitive, Golden State did end up sweeping the Spurs. Does one player make that much of a difference? We’re not too sure. But adding Paul to the mix would be huge in terms of narrowing the gap between the two teams.