Perennial All-Star Chris Paul has always been regarded as not only one of the best point guards, but players in the NBA since his arrival. He has the ability to make his teammates better and is known league-wide as one of the better leaders. He’s got the statistics to back up his case for a top player in history but one important thing has eluded him up to this point: a championship ring.
His early career saw him improving each year with the New Orleans Hornets before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. He brought the Clippers to newfound heights and transformed them into a respectable organization after years of laughable dysfunction. After a six-year stint with the organization, he has now been traded to the Houston Rockets to play alongside James Harden with the hopes of competing for a championship, or at least making it to his first conference finals.
Chris Paul Net Worth as of 2017: $75 Million
Along with his basketball career, Paul has also been successful off the court. He has a slew of endorsement deals and it feels like he’s on almost every other commercial no matter what time of the year. Whether or not he ends up winning a ring at some point, Paul will still be regarded as one of the greats at his position and he won’t have to worry much financially either. Lets take a look at how he got to this point.
2005-2007
After getting selected fourth overall in the 2005 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Hornets, Chris Paul actually became fairly familiar with the city of Oklahoma. New Orleans had just suffered from Hurricane Katrina and the team had to play the majority of their games in Oklahoma.
Paul dominated as a rookie coming just one vote shy of winning the Rookie of the Year award unanimously.
The next year he showed off at All-Star Weekend by setting new Rookie Challenge records with 9 steals and 17 assists. Paul had an impressive Sophomore season by averaging 17.3 ppg and 8.9 apg but only played 64 games due to injury.
2007-2011
By his third season, Paul was becoming a star by being selected to the All-Star game for the first time and leading the Hornets to a franchise best 56-win season and second seed in the playoffs. After having a phenomenal first & second round, Paul received a $68 million contract extension in the off season. The 2008-09 season however seemed to be a downgrade from the last as they got eliminated in the first round.
2009-10 proved to be tough as well with Paul being disappointed in the team firing Byron Scott after a rocky start, along with him getting injured and the team ultimately missing the playoffs.
The 2010-11 season was one of his best with the team getting back to the playoffs and playing extraordinarily well against the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. The team got eliminated once again and Paul wanted a change of scenery.
2011-2016
Paul finally got to switch jerseys when he got sent to the Los Angeles Clippers in December of 2011. He would get teamed up with Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan and form what would be known as “Lob City” for years to come.
This situation wasn’t much different for Paul as results were similar to his time in New Orleans. At the end of his first season as a Clipper, he would lose in the second round to San Antonio. The next season he added another award to his resume with an All-Star game MVP but lose to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round.
The 2013-14 off-season saw Paul sign another lucrative deal for $107 million for five years. That was about the only good news for that upcoming season as he would suffer another injury and get knocked out in the second round again to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The following season was the closest he ever came to the Conference Finals when his Clippers held a 3-1 lead over the Houston Rockets. They then blew that series lead in devastating fashion leaving the team point fingers and with questions they didn’t have answers for.
In 2015-16 the trend of disappointment continued. He would have to carry the load for a while during the regular season as Griffin and Jordan nursed injuries. He played well but you could see exhaustion in the miniature guard. When the playoffs finally rolled around, both him and Griffin suffered season ending injuries the same day it was announced that MVP Stephen Curry would be out for a few weeks. They could have matched-up with Golden State that following round and have what could have been their best chance to overtake the Warriors. That obviously never materialized and they would lose in six games to the Portland Trailblazers.
2016-Present
This past season seemed to be like their last run with this group and the injury bug would still haunt the organization. They lost Griffin yet again and suffered defeat at the hands of the up and coming Utah Jazz.
The off season is starting to pick up and both Blake Griffin and Chris Paul decided to opt out of their contracts to become free agents. Paul then reportedly told Los Angeles that he would be heading to Houston so they convinced him to opt into the last year of his contract, so they could trade him and receive some assets from Houston in return.
Chris Paul will now play for his third franchise and this looks to be a better chance than any for him to get through to the Conference Finals and possibly further.
