Chris Paul: One of the All-Time Greats at Age 23?

What can be said about Chris Paul?

• Tremendous passer
• Phenomenal ball handler
  
• Penetrates like no other! 
• Uses his team and makes everyone better
• Great in the clutch
• Fast as lightening
• Master of the steal

It sounds almost to good to be true. Sadly, for his opponents, it is all true, and maybe even understated.

I have been watching the NBA since the days of Bob Cousy. I have watched the greatest handle the ball. I am comfortable in saying that no one has consistently handled the ball as well as Chris Paul.

No NBA team can disrupt his pick-and-roll drive. CP3 drives into the lane whenever he wants. He can stop on a dime and change direction at will. He does what I have been trying to get the guard on the 11-year-old Biddy All-Star team that I coach (the Slidell Steel) do for the last four years—consistently dribble the ball low.

He generally dribbles so low that it is nearly impossible to steal can the ball from him.  Most of his turnovers are mistakes on his part, not defensive moves against him. CP3 has such great court vision that he sees the open man before the defense can adjust or shift.

His greatest weakness has been his shooting, which has seen some definite improvement this season. He would benefit even more, if he could improve his shooting even more, in a manner similar to what his teammate Rasual Butler has done.

After being benched last season, Butler worked out six days a week. Part of his routine was making 500 jump shots each day.

On defense, there is nobody better in the NBA than Chris when it comes to steals.  CP3  is quick enough to stop most penetrations. His second minor weakness in his game is related to guarding the tall jump shooting guard.

Chris, who is 6'0" tall with his spine fully stretched, is averaging under .2 blocked shots per game.

SI.com did an OP/ED article of the best point guards of all time. The winners were:

• 10) Marques Haynes - the Harlem Globetrotters
• 9) Mo Cheeks - the Philadelphia 76ers
• 8)Guy Rodgers - Philadelphia / San Francisco Warriors
• 7) Nate Archibald - various teams
• 6) Lenny Wilkins - St Louis Hawks
• 5) John Stockton - Utah Jazz
• 4) Isaiah Thomas - Detroit Pistons
• 3) Bob Cousy - the Boston Celtics
• 2) Oscar Robertson - Cincinnati Royals/Milwaukee Bucks
• 1) Magic Johnson - LA Lakers

Even though he has not yet reached 24, CP3 his a legitimate claim to be on this list. He will if he continues to improves as he has done since his rookie season. For discussion purposes, let's assume that the list from SI.com is correct.

How high can CP3 get on this list. What would it take for him to get to the top?

I propose that he has already done enough to enter the list at No. 6. He handles the ball better than Lenny Wilkins, who was a lefty with a weak right hand, is a better penetrator, and defender.

So what does he need to do to pass up Nos. 1-5?

5) John Stockton - Stockton was one of my favorite players of all time. He was a tremendous defender, passer and the leader in career steals by hundreds. To pass up Stockton, CP3 simply needs to keep doing what he is doing—for a long time!

If he can avoid major injury and play through his mid-30's Paul will easily pass up Stockton. CP3 is already a better ball-handler than Stockton, and at least for the present moment, has a better supporting cast.

4) Isaiah Thomas - Early in his career, Paul is a much less selfish player than Thomas, who was considered a ball-hog by some in his first few season.CP3 is at least equivalent at all phases of the game, and in fact is a better shooter than Thomas.

Yes, shooting is the one area where Paul can improve, but if you look at his career stats, Thomas was only a 45 percent field goal shooter, 29 percent from the three-point line, and 76 percent from the charity stripe.

The only reason Isaiah scored as much as he did is because he shot so much.

3) Bob Cousy - Cousy is so high on the list because he was an innovator. Although he did not invent the position of "point guard", he certainly put it on the path of development that makes that point guard the play caller of the team.

If you, however, look at Cousy's stats, CP3 is well on his way to knock Cousy out of third place.

2) Oscar Roberton - For the first nine years of his career, the Big "O" averaged near or at 30 points per game, while still averaging near double digits in assists. Additionally, for his first five years in the league, Robertson had nearly a double-digit average in rebounding.

He was quite amazing. He was also blessed with something that CP3 is not—height. Oscar was 6'5" and played at around 220 pounds for most of his career. This leads us to the next position.

1) Magic Johnson - What can said about Magic. He could, and in fact did, do it all. He played every position on the floor like it was his natural spot. I am not sure that even with nine more inches of height, Chris Paul would ever accomplish what Johnson did through out his career. 

Some may argue that Johnson's teammates and coaches are what made him so great. I would argue that at the height of his career, Magic could make the LA Clippers great.

How high do you think CP3 can go?