Jamal Murray vs. Chris Paul

[Jim Naismith]

Who is better right now?

Vote above.

http://bkref.com/tiny/i00wu

[Jim Naismith]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/17/sports/denver-nuggets-jamal-murray.html

[GSP]

Cp3 while not the creator and onball threat he used to be is still vastly better at everything except shooting/scoring. And Jamal relies alot on Jokic too

Cp3 is still a top 5 defender at the position. Murray is one of if not the worst. Hes a horrible defense of player

[trex_8063]

Cp3 while not the creator and onball threat he used to be is still vastly better at everything except shooting/scoring. And Jamal relies alot on Jokic too

I'm not sure I agree Murray is a better shooter. Paul's struggled a little from beyond the arc this year (mostly just in the playoffs) and is shooting a lower % from trey; however, he's also getting a TREMENDOUSLY lower % of his 3PA assisted, so....

He's otherwise marginally better at the FT-line and money as always from the mid-range (even better than Murray, who is also fairly good in the mid-range).
Murray's a little bigger, and at this stage of CP3's career, Murray is a bit more athletic.....which might give him a little more scoring versatility. I otherwise agree that I think Murray benefits a fair bit from Jokic, and I think this thread is sort of reactionary to tiny handful of really good scoring games recently. Paul's still probably better at basically everything with the possible exception of scoring.

Murray is one of if not the worst. Hes a horrible defense of player

While I've already stated I think Paul is still better at nearly everything, I feel this might be a little bit of an overstatement.

I mean, the Nuggets' leader in total minutes played this year was Jokic, who's generally credited with being somewhere between "bad" to "fair/passable" defensively, depending on who you ask [I recall one, and only one, poster calling him "good"; and even that poster acknowledged "not All-D level 'good'"].
And let's not lose sight that he's the C, too: the position with the [likely] the most potential to influence team defensive performance. The close second in minutes played is Jamal Murray, whom you're labelling as potentially the worst defensive player in the league at his position.

I speculate that it would be unlikely for the Nuggets to have a -1.5 rDRTG (10th/30) with their two biggest-minute players being that level; not without multiple legit All-D level [if not DPOY-level] players filling out the rest of their roster.

I mean, Paul Millsap is a heckuva defender, though probably not quite as good as he's been in years past; further, he's into a limited minute role at this stage of his career, and was just 4th on the team in total minutes.

Gary Harris seems like an excellent perimeter defender, but he missed 25 games and was actually only 7th in total minutes played.

Torrey Craig is a good defender, but also a limited-minute role player who was only 8th in minutes played.

And while I'll admit I've not watched a ton of the Nuggets this year, I can't say that any of the other relevant-minute players (Morris [3rd in minutes], Beasley [5th], Plumlee [6th], Hernangomez [9th], Barton [10th], Lyles [11th]) have jumped off the screen as outstanding defenders (Plumlee's pretty good, I guess). Lyles always struck me as a marginally weak defender (saw more of him with the Jazz in prior seasons, fwiw).

[NY 567]

I'd take Paul but it's close

[Amare_1_Knicks]

I don’t think it’s particularly close, even with a decline from Paul. Also, there are a host of guards who I’d say are better than Murray right now — not convinced he’s top 10 at the position, let alone top 4-6(depending on where you have Paul).

[Jim Naismith]

bump

[MyUniBroDavis]

bump

Chill

[trex_8063]

A question asked 16 months ago is no longer the same question, especially when one of the players is gradually aging out while other is young and clearly still on the rise. Locking.