NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 most overrated players

2. Chris Paul, PG, Los Angeles Clippers

Another past-his-prime point guard that’s likely going to get a max contract from a team in the NBA. Chris Paul is fantastic. He’s still one of the few point guards in the league that’s pass-first, rather than score-first. Paul is your prototypical point guard, not a “points” guard. But Paul has been over-valued in the past and finds himself significantly overrated heading into NBA free agency this season.

Let’s throw some facts that may show you why Paul’s on the downswing of his career. In his six seasons with the Clippers, Paul only played 75 games or more once. This past season with Los Angeles, Paul only played 61 times. The Clippers’ point guard only took 13 shots per game, his lowest since 2012-13. Paul only averaged 9.2 assists per game, his lowest since 2011-12. His days as a tenacious defender are behind him. Paul has never led a team past the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. This year, they got taken out in the first round against a Rudy Gobert-less Utah Jazz team.

Yet, teams are sitting here thinking about giving Chris Paul a max contract. All the numbers are showing that he’s on the decline and his athletic ability is starting to diminish. In today’s NBA, point guards need to be able to score or look for their shot consistently to put pressure on the opponent’s starting guards. Paul’s never been known to be a score-first guy, but a distributor instead.

This isn’t some bashing against Paul the player, but more of what his value is to a team. Giving him a max contract can really make it difficult to build a solid team around him. Look at the Clippers, with Paul, Griffin and Jordan, they weren’t even able to get past the second round in their six years together. CP3 is a starting point guard in the league, but to think he’s still a max player on a championship team is over the top.