The Milwaukee Bucks have had a busy off-season, adding top free agent center Myles Turner on a four-year, $107 million contract and waiving Damian Lillard. The team’s superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, was not pleased with the latter, and the decision left the team needing backcourt help in a top-heavy, ultra-competitive Eastern Conference.
Enter 12-time NBA All-Star, Chris Paul.
Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported that the 40-year-old point guard has had conversations about potentially joining the team.
On the surface, Paul is no longer the dominant, game-changing player he once was. Last season, he averaged just 8.8 points per game and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 42.7 percent from the paint and 37.7 percent from beyond the arc.
His greatest asset remains his ability to spread the ball around, facilitating offense and setting up his teammates’ scoring opportunities.
He has averaged 9.2 assists per year, a strength that would suit the Bucks well as he sets up Antetokounmpo to be the dynamic, game-changing force that he has historically been.
The decision, though, may ultimately have more to do with Paul’s desire to be a father to his children, as he revealed on The Pat McAfee Show.
If Paul decides to return to the court, and he signs with Milwaukee, he has the potential to be a playoff difference-maker for a team that has championship aspirations.
He no longer has to be the guy but, rather, a complement to that player and in a wide-open Eastern Conference rocked by a rash of torn Achilles during the playoffs that will keep stars Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton out for the entirety of next season, a Paul-assisted Bucks team would have a real opportunity to climb back into the title hunt.
Considering the frustrations its star player has experienced over the last year, and questions about the organization’s championship window closing, it is a move that must be made in order to we preserve the possibility that Giannis and Co. can secure a second Larry O’Brien Trophy.