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  • May 12, 2008 08:15 PM ET

Paul, James, or Howard? Which one would you chose if you were starting a team?

riceowls75 (6-20-0) vs thehemogoblin- Gone (81-25-7)
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My pick is LeBron James. Heres why:

1) Face of the NBA. Lebron is the most well-known players in the game right now. Picking him would bring in lots of revenue and would allow a team to pick up better players down the road.

2) His ability to be effective without a great supporting cast. lebron has already down great things with very little talent around dhim in Cleveland. James has made it to the Finals with minninmal talent around him, which is what he would have if he played for an expansion team. Would Chris Paul be as effective without All-Stars West and Peja around him? There is no way to be sure. James has already proved he can lead a team deep into the playoffs without star talent around him. If I were a GM I would take the sure bet in Lebron over the riskier pick of Chris Paul.

Dwight Howard is a great player, but he ihas not been as effective in the postseason as Lebron has. Howard has better talent around him than James does and has had less sucess. Lebron can also do more on the court. Howard is great for pts, and rebs, but is not nearly as good as James is in assists.
More to come about Dwight.


Chris Paul's the man I want to run my team.

Swingmen are easy to find in the NBA, elite point guards aren't. Especially ones who have the ability to lead the league in steals and assists. That steals lead landed Chris Paul on the NBA's Defensive Second team this past season.

You think that Peja Stojakovic is an elite talent? His back injuries have limited him to being a spot up shooter at this point in his career. David West has been good, but he is to Chris Paul what Zydrunas Ilgauskas is to LeBron.

Lebron plays a position where there are many other capable scorers. However, the list of 20-10 point guards in the NBA pretty much starts and stops with Paul. In fact, Paul's total of 927 assists this season is the 17th highest of all time in a single season.

In the last ten years, Chris Paul's the only person to average 20 and 10 assists over a season. Throwing in at least 2.5 steals per game, in the three-point era, only Paul and Isiah Thomas in 1983-84 have accomplished this trifecta of great individual offensive play, teamwork, and defensive play in any one season.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I want Chris Paul to be the star of my team.


Yes, Paul is the only one to average 20 pts, 10 asists per game. but Lebron is the first player in a long time to average 30 pts 7 rebs and 7 asists. Lebron is able to do more things on the court than Paul can. Paul is better defensively, but in everything else Lebron has the edge.

Look, Peja is not elite anymore, but who would you rather have, Peja or Wally? Peja is a better role player/spot up shooter by far.

David West is Pauls version of Ilgalskus??? NO, West was an All Star this year and is one of only a few players in the league that average at least 19 pts,and 9 rebs a game! Zydrunas is not up to that level. Comparing Zydrunas and West is not a fair comparison.

Paul also has the edge in centers. Tyson Chandler or Ben Wallace???? Or Anderson Varejo??? That position is uncomparable. Paul also gets several assists a game by throwing alley oops to Chandler. Cleveland does not throw as many alley oops as New Orleans does. Even when they do, they oops are usually to Lebron, not from Lebron. My point is that Lebron could possibly average even more assits per game if he had an athletic center like Paul does in Chandler.


... Chris Paul is markedly better defensively, and is just as talented offensively. He can dish the rock, penetrate, or shoot. He is always in position on defense, isn't afraid to lead his team, and is in arguably a worse situation than LeBron is.

West didn't come into his own until after Chris Paul came to New Orleans. Peja Stojakovic was written off when he signed with the Hornets. Everyone thought that the Hornets overpaid for a defense-only player in Tyson Chandler. Truth be told, Chris Paul has made them all better than expected. Can LeBron say that about any of his teammates besides Daniel Gibson? No, he can't.

Lastly, trying to use Paul's own assists against him is ridiculous. It still takes talent and timing to get the lob passes to where they need to get to.

I'm going to end this argument by reiterating:

Chris Paul is the only person to go 20-10 with 2.5 steals per in 24 the last 24 years, and his assist total this season was 17th best all-time.


Forfeited Turn


That is some just drop dead sexy red ink.

Interesting statistics from Paul against James:

Chris Paul's field goal percentage this year was actually higher than Lebron's (48.8 to 48.4).

Paul's three-point percentage was 6 points higher (37 to 31).

Lebron's assist to turnover ratio was 2.12:1, whilst Paul's was 4.64:1.

Paul had more steals per game (2.7) than turnovers per game (2.5). Yes, you read that right, he actually gets the ball from the other team more times per game than he gives it away. THAT'S what a good point guard should do.

Chris Paul is a 14% better free throw shooter than LeBron is.

And hell, he even gets four rebounds per game at the point guard position.



That, ladies and gentlemen, is why I'm starting my team with Chris Paul.

Comments (15) Add A Comment

May 12, 2008  08:49 PM ET
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Good luck.

I'll argue... after dinner.

May 12, 2008  11:41 PM ET
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LeBron cannot win it period he is the next Kobe YAY! Another cocky whiney player. Chris Paul teamwork leadership and did he ever complain about the players he have? Nope I think we got ourselves the next MJ on Chris Paul

May 12, 2008  11:51 PM ET
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LeBron is much much much more than a Swingman. He is a PG, SG, SF, PF so on and so forth he can play pretty much everywhere.

He leads the league in triple doubles.

He is also top 20 in assists.

May 12, 2008  11:56 PM ET
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LeBron cannot win it period he is the next Kobe YAY! Another cocky whiney player. Chris Paul teamwork leadership and did he ever complain about the players he have? Nope I think we got ourselves the next MJ on Chris Paul

ThaDolphins | 05/12/08, 11:41 PM

haha the dudes been in the league 3 years at the end of this season....and for the 2 of them he wasn't even nearly as good as the player he is now....when he finds out that he cant win by himself, in due time the complaining will come...
you crown him 3 years in to the league and the guy has nothing to show for it except one good season as a player....

May 13, 2008  12:01 AM ET
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I know Chengy thats fine, Kobe won MVP award that doesnt mean that the team has great chemistry and the motive to win, thats important, If I want a stat fiend I can get Howard he will have 20 point 20 rebound games with 5 blocks and 5 tournovers those are stats right there my friend

Paul never complained about his team, and he had to play somewhere else because of Katrina, he has had a tougher career already then Lebron.

Lebron was handed the ROY when Carmelo should have won it (check the stats to see if im lying)

Lebron is more on TV then Paul

Paul is tied with the chamionship winning Spurs! Now thats hard because how that team plays in the post season (Celtics are the biggest flip-flop team of the playoffs look at the atlanta series)

Paul=Win

LeBron+Complaining=Losing

May 13, 2008  12:15 AM ET
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Paul was injured most of last season and the year before was a rookie year

May 13, 2008  11:12 AM ET
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LeBron has shown his ability to carry a team to the finals. Chris Paul and Dwight Howard have not. I got to go with Lebron.

May 13, 2008  05:01 PM ET
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good luck to you to hemo

May 13, 2008  05:13 PM ET
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LeBron cannot win it period.
-ThaDolphins

This is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Lebron has already led his team to the Finals and has won his conference one more time than Paul has.

May 14, 2008  06:22 PM ET
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Was on the fence but that forfeit said everything>>>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>
hemo congrats on the last tourney, I hope to see you in the finals.

May 14, 2008  06:53 PM ET
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Howard but Hemo gets vote

Better arguments

May 14, 2008  07:53 PM ET
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Was on the fence but that forfeit said everything>>>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>
hemo congrats on the last tourney, I hope to see you in the finals.

nickb23 | 05/14/08, 06:22 PM

I am... good.

May 14, 2008  08:13 PM ET
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I agree with hemo and his arguments. Vote to the right. By the way, what does being the face of the NBA have to do with it all? I want to WIN, first and foremost. Also, any of those three players will put people in the stands, especially CP3. Lastly, what superstar would want to come in and play alongside LeBron? They would just be playing second fiddle and would ultimately be dissatisfied. Plus your forfeited turn doesn't help your cause much. >_>

May 14, 2008  09:39 PM ET
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My bad on the forfiet guys. My apologies to everyone.

 
May 15, 2008  04:58 AM ET
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Of course it's 23 year old Lebron, but better argument (and no forfeit) to Hemo. Vote right.

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