Diving into Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes' stats from last season

What takeaways might be interpreted from Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes' stats from last season now that they're joining the San Antonio Spurs?

Over the last couple of years, I’ve monitored different stats for the San Antonio Spurs using metrics the NBA provides, as well as some of the public data available through Second Spectrum.

I already had different databases built with the Spurs’ data from last season. Now that we know the Spurs have added two new core players to their lineup in Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, I wanted to see if we might be able to interpret anything from Paul and Barnes’ stats, compared to Spurs players who will be on the roster this coming season.

Before going through this analysis, it’s important to remember that while we can see the numbers, context is also a factor, and that’s something we can’t always see in the data. Paul played with the Warriors last season, and Barnes played with the Kings. They both had different teammates and both teams they were on had different systems for both ends of the floor.

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Paul and Barnes On Defense

The defensive data comes from the NBA’s traditional stats and hustle stats. The metric called ‘Defensive Impact’ is one I created by tallying up all the per 36 minutes data, and then subtracting the fouls per 36 minutes.

What stands out from Barnes and Paul’s data on defense?

• The main positive where Barnes stands out most is in not fouling the opponent. One of the core foundational areas of a Spurs defense is not getting into foul trouble, and Barnes should be able to fit right in with his new teammates.

• The main negative that stands out in the data is Barnes’ defense rebounding. While Barnes could look to try to improve in this area with San Antonio, part of this stat also came from playing alongside Domantas Sabonis in lineups. Sabonis collected 10.1 defensive rebounds per game, and then from there, Keegan Murray rebounded 4.1 defensive boards, and De’Aaron Fox gathered up 3.7 defensive boards.

• Despite his age, two of the areas where Paul continues to stand out is in deflections and steals. Amongst his new teammates, that’s an area that would have been a highlight for him. Knowing he now has an elite rim protector (Victor Wembanyama) behind him in the paint, Paul can be even more aggressive this coming season with his deflection and steal attempts.

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Paul and Barnes on Drives

The drives data comes from Second Spectrum, publicly made available by the NBA. The metrics I’ve created with this data are the drives points per shot (Drives PPS) and the rates for each stat area.

What do Barnes and Paul tend to do when driving the ball?

• When Barnes does put the ball on the floor and drive in, he tends to put shots up 50.3% of the time. One area where he really stands out though is in drawing free throws on his drives. Had he been on the Spurs’ squad last season, he would have had the highest free throw attempt rate on drives. The good news too about Barnes’ drives, is that he made 54% of his attempts when putting up a shot on a drive. His turnover rate is also fairly low on his drives, so he’s not at risk to turn the ball over frequently on his drives. His assist and pass rate are lower, so don’t expect him to create as much for others on his drives.

• Being a pass first point guard, Paul is going to pass the ball when driving and he’ll put his teammates in positions so that they might make shots off his passes. While he doesn’t shoot as much on drives, when he did, he was making 52% of his attempts last season. At his age, Paul doesn’t get to the foul line much anymore on his drives. One area where he would have been number one on the Spurs last season, would have been in taking care of the ball on drives.

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Barnes on Post-Ups

The post-ups data comes from Second Spectrum metrics, made public by the NBA. I’ve created the Post-Ups points per shot (PU PPS) and rates for stats using the data.

• Last season, the Spurs’ three main players who would create from the post were Wemby, Zach Collins, and Jeremy Sochan. By adding Barnes, the Spurs now have a fourth post-up option they can go to, in the event Barnes has a mismatch in the post, or the team is in post-up position late in the shot clock. Barnes will usually shoot when he’s in the post, but at least his turnover percentage was low last season, and he made half of his post-up attempts.

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Paul and Barnes in Crunch time

The crunch time data comes from the NBA’s clutch stats.