Better Career: Chris Paul or Dwight Howard

[tranjSAIC]

Easily Dwight, but since his peak Orlando years he has regressed a ton in terms on his impact and image.

[PaulieWal]

But yeah, because of that one finals year and the awards, public perception is gonna side with Dwight for the most part.

Well yeah, that was my point. CP is the better player now and a case can be made for either player as the better player before Howard's surgery. As I said I am not sure I would slightly favor Howard but people saying CP was better wouldn't surprise me and I could be easily convinced either way as I see them both as close.

When we are talking about the better career accolades and playoff success have to be considered. Better player vs. career is a different argument. Your career depends on a lot of factors in the NBA: the franchise you are drafted by, the conference you play in, the players you play with, injuries you suffer or the teams in your conference, playoff match-ups, lucky breaks etc.

[QRich3]

But yeah, because of that one finals year and the awards, public perception is gonna side with Dwight for the most part.

Well yeah, that was my point. CP is the better player now and a case can be made for either player as the better player before Howard's surgery. As I said I am not sure I would slightly favor Howard but people saying CP was better wouldn't surprise me and I could be easily convinced either way as I see them both as close.

When we are talking about the better career accolades and playoff success has to be considered. Better player vs. career is a different argument. Your career depends on a lot of factors in the NBA: the franchise you are drafted by, the conference you play in, the players you play with, injuries you suffer or the teams in your conference, playoff match-ups, lucky breaks etc.

Yeah I can agree with that. It's still close though, it all could take several turns either way before their careers are over.

[tsherkin]

What year was Howard better(not healthier) than Paul? And I gave a definitive answer to who's had the better career

You talked about who was the better player (in your opinion), not who had the better career.

And I consider Howard the superior player from 2010-2012, with a reasonable argument in 09.

Paul was great, but while he was a better individual offensive player than Howard, despite him leading the league in SPG, the gap in defensive impact is a yawning chasm in Dwight's favor.

[jakeKCMO816]

Dwight. 3 DPOYs and a finals appearance as the best player on the team.

[MO12msu]

What year was Howard better(not healthier) than Paul? And I gave a definitive answer to who's had the better career

You talked about who was the better player (in your opinion), not who had the better career.

And I consider Howard the superior player from 2010-2012, with a reasonable argument in 09.

Paul was great, but while he was a better individual offensive player than Howard, despite him leading the league in SPG, the gap in defensive impact is a yawning chasm in Dwight's favor.

If you think Howard has a reasonable argument in 09 then Paul has just as reasonable an argument in 12. Paul's first couple years with the Clippers are probably the most underrated point of his career, especially defensively. Honestly, Howard is only clearly better in the season Paul got injured and the season Paul returned from injury(btw I'm not a Dwight Hater, I thought he was the best player in the league and deserved the MVP over Rose).

But literally, every other season besides '10 & '11, Paul was either clearly better or you could make a strong argument in Paul's case. I'd also like to add that Paul with the Clippers(not the Hornets) has been a top 5 defensive point guard in the league, so I'm not sure "yawning chasm" is in accurate statement.

[tsherkin]

If you think Howard has a reasonable argument in 09 then Paul has just as reasonable an argument in 12.

I don't disagree with the notion that it is debatable, that was my whole point. I don't think Paul was CLEARLY or EASILY better than Howard; I didn't say I believed the reverse to be true.

I'd also like to add that Paul with the Clippers(not the Hornets) has been a top 5 defensive point guard in the league, so I'm not sure "yawning chasm" is in accurate statement.

I generally think that between a good defensive big and a good defensive PG, the difference is considerably in favor of the big, who can affect far more possessions per game than a PG, between defensive rebounding and rim protection, dealing with PnRs, etc, etc.

[MO12msu]

If you think Howard has a reasonable argument in 09 then Paul has just as reasonable an argument in 12.

I don't disagree with the notion that it is debatable, that was my whole point. I don't think Paul was CLEARLY or EASILY better than Howard; I didn't say I believed the reverse to be true.

I'd also like to add that Paul with the Clippers(not the Hornets) has been a top 5 defensive point guard in the league, so I'm not sure "yawning chasm" is in accurate statement.

I generally think that between a good defensive big and a good defensive PG, the difference is considerably in favor of the big, who can affect far more possessions per game than a PG, between defensive rebounding and rim protection, dealing with PnRs, etc, etc.

Fair enough.

I agree for most part about the difference in defensive impact of a big vs a guard btw, I just think Paul has been a good enough defender throughout most of his career that "yawning chasm" wasn't necessarily the best phrase to use in my eyes. Just like I wouldn't say that the difference in offense between the two is that large either, even though Paul is clearly the superior offensive player. Was probably just taking that phrase a little too literally though, it's all good.

[NinjaSheppard]

My problem with Dwight is that for a while everyone said that he made a team full of mediocre to bad defenders elite by himself. This made his value seem enormous. However, the +/- numbers never truly reflected something like this. Still I could buy the argument.

Then Clifford who served under SVG took the same defensive principles to Charlotte and made a top 5 defense around McRoberts and Jefferson as his starting big men which to me suggests that the +/- numbers painted a truer story.