3. We’re not even sure if Chris Paul will fit in well on the Los Angeles Lakers
This may be more of a minor risk, but it’s a risk nonetheless.
On every team he’s ever played for, Paul has dominated the ball. He tends to pound the ball for the majority of the shot clock before making something happen.
Yes, James needs another ball-handling, creating guard next to him to help lessen his workload at his advanced age. But it can’t be someone who needs the ball in his hands all the time, every time.
Yes, Paul made it work pretty successfully with Harden, the NBA’s ultimate poster-boy for dominating the ball and having a high usage rate. But James has a bigger ego and plays a different kind of game than Harden.
The good thing is that Paul and James are really tight, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the two will mesh like peanut butter and jelly.
The other thing is that the Lakers are a fast-break team that needs to move the ball around, whether it’s in transition, early offense, or in their set offense.
Paul has played on a running team before when he was with the “Lob City” Clippers, but he’s never been a blazingly fast player when it comes to pushing the ball in transition.
Can he adjust his M.O. on offense for this Lakers team? Is he willing to?