Chris Paul Is the leader the Clippers needed

LOS ANGELES -- There is no place like family and home that message is being sent loud and clear throughout the public surrounding NBA players as of late. Beginning with Damian Lillard who returned back to the Portland Trail Blazers where he chose family and love over ring chasing. This message would be reciprocated by future Hall of Famer player Chris Paul who is signing back with the Los Angeles Clippers.

NBA insider Shams Charania broke the news on Twitter that Paul after weighing out his options would be returning back home to where his prime years were in LA.

Unless the Clippers choose to make more moves as far as waiving certain players, the acquisition for Paul would complete the Clippers roster. Before, the news was broken by Charania; there were already hints that the signing of Paul was already done.

Paul has made his aspirations known well before this point he wanted to play one more year but also finish his last season as close to LA as possible mainly because of family.

What qualities does Paul have to help the Clippers?

Now that Paul will be playing his final season with the Clippers, the question now becomes how can he help the Clippers at this point of his career? Paul at the age of 40, and well past his best days of playing, that is a fair question to ask.

Leadership

The Clippers roster from top to bottom is filled with very good talent and now well balanced offense and defense. The component, though they were heavily lacking, was a vocal leader who has been at the highest level. Let's start from the top, with head coach Tyron Lue. 

Five seasons as the head coach for the Clippers it doesn't take long to see a coach's tendencies and personality. Lue has had very good regular seasons and average post season runs with the team. Watching numerous of Clippers games throughout the years it is almost a given to watch Lue have his arms crossed and looking on as the action is going on during the games. There is nothing wrong with calmness, but there are times when it is called to show emotion to drive your team.

The Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard shares much of that same makeup. To nitpick and critique, a certain area of Leonard's qualities is his laid back leadership much like Lue. Since coming into the league, with the San Antonio Spurs Leonard has had the luxury of being surrounded by great leaders and mentorship. Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan, and Kyle Lowry have all been the vocal leaders where it allows Leonad to go out there and just show his greatness on the court. Being more vocal, is a skill Leonard has had to develop, but his leadership nature is not talkative. If there was someone who the Clippers looked at as a leader, it would be James Harden.

Harden did a good job as the point guard/leader last year for the Clippers during the regular season. However, that is just it; the regular season is Harden's playground, but the playoffs are where multiple years he has come up short as the leader. The Clippers in the last five seasons has had Rajon Rondo, John Wall, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden to look and fill in the role as the on-court leader. This is a role that Paul has mastered.

The basis of this is that Paul has intangibles that the Clippers can heavily utilize in their pursuit of seeking an NBA championship. Even at the age of 40, last season with the Spurs they were on pace to be a play-in team until their star Victor Wemenyama got injured. This comes after multiple years of the Spurs being in the bottom of the Western Conference.

Elevating teams

Throughout Paul's career, he has had this aura of just elevating teams to be better than what they previously were. Paul has been on the New Orleans Hornets, Clippers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, and the San Antonio Spurs. 

Five of those six teams were either non playoff teams like the Hornets, Thunder, and Suns that became playoff teams, or there were playoff teams who got better like the Clippers and Rockets. The only team Paul didn't have much effect on was the Warriors mainly playing a bench role as a backup behind Steph Curry.

Paul's stint with the Suns was for three seasons, and they reached the NBA finals while also being a top four seed in the West all three years. Since Paul's departure, the Suns have declined even with their superteam of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. 

In 2019-20, Paul was with the Thunder, which was a rebuilding franchise after Paul George was traded to the Clippers, and Paul was traded for the Thunder's franchise player, Russell Westbrook. Paul the next season had the Thunder as the fifth seed in the West. While they did lose to the Rockets in seven games Paul's departure put the Thunder in a three year drought of not making the playoffs even with their now superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Paul's prime years with his time with the Clippers and Hornets were highlighted as well. After a five-year stretch of the Clippers missing the playoffs. From 2012-2017, the Clippers would make the playoffs every season with Paul's tenure there. They never reached the conference finals, but Paul was on the front line of putting the organization as no longer as a laughing stock in the NBA.

Skill set/IQ

Paul has a body of work where he will go down as one of the top 10 point guards of all time. However, it is not about his blazing speed, elite handles, or untapped athleticism he had in his prime years that makes him who he is. It is how long he has been able to stay impactful with his skill set and IQ that has kept him relevant.

Players such as LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant are all players that have at least 10 years of body work as top players in the NBA. Each year they get older, it is another year they have to adapt and tweak their games. Paul falls in that same group as James, Curry, and Durant. Paul in the 2024-25 season with the Spurs completed 82 games of play as a starter for the first time of his career.

In those 82 games, Paul averaged 8.8 ppg, 7.4 apg, 1.3 spg while shooting 37.7 from the 3 point line. It is clear to see Paul has valued using his mind even when his body is no longer able to do the things on the court he used to do. However, that hasn't stopped him from helping elevate every single team he has gone to. Paul has traits and abilities that are rare to find and that is why outside of the Clippers there were other suitors looking to sign the 21 year vet.