PHOENIX — The impact that Chris Paul has on winning is real.
Billy Donovan knows it firsthand, having coached the now-Phoenix Suns guard during the 2019-20 season with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And while that season marked the only time in four instances where Paul changed teams and the team’s record didn’t improve, that season still marked success. Few picked that Thunder team, which went 44-28, to make the playoffs after trading away Paul George and Russell Westbrook.
Otherwise, the 2011-12 Clippers finished the lockout-shortened season on pace for 50 wins over a normal season after winning 32 the season before acquiring Paul from New Orleans. The 2017-18 Rockets jumped to 65-17 from 55-27 after Paul arrived.
And the 2020-21 Suns marched to the NBA Finals after acquiring Paul and winning 17 more games than the previous season.
“Chris Paul is a complete savant, basketball-wise, and studies the game,” Donovan said.
Which brings us to DeMar DeRozan.
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While the Chicago Bulls advancing to the NBA Finals would be even more of a surprise than Paul’s Suns last season, DeRozan’s impact on helping transform the franchise is undeniable.
Not only is DeRozan averaging a career-high 27.9 points in his 13th season, his understated lead-by-example style and humble, workmanlike nature have resonated throughout the organization.
“They're two totally different players, two totally different people,” Donovan said. “But the impact that Chris made that I saw in Oklahoma and now seeing the impact that DeMar made, you can just see how they've kind of galvanized the group and they've got everybody together. It’s because of how humble they are, how team-oriented they are, how competitive they are and how much they both want to win.”
Paul, who has been durable throughout his 17 seasons, won’t play Friday night when the Bulls visit Phoenix because of a fractured right thumb. DeRozan will play in his 66th game of the Bulls’ 70.
And speaking of durability: No NBA player has appeared in more games since the 2009-10 season than DeRozan. It’s yet another example of his leadership.
DeRozan only has played for three franchises. The Raptors drafted him and the Spurs traded for him. So the Bulls represent the first franchise DeRozan chose, although he, unlike some, embraced being a part of the Raptors and re-signed there off his rookie deal.
How does DeRozan approach connecting with people throughout a new organization?
"Just using your experience, more than anything. Being around long enough, you meet a lot of great people. You learn from a lot of great people. And you understand the business, you understand teammates, you understand the process players go through. The knowledge that you gain from knowing the inside and outs of the NBA, you use that in a positive light as you move through your career,” he said in an interview with NBC Sports Chicago. “I’ve always been big on respect. So I try to give it just as much as I want it back. With those morals that you carry, that’s what you see.
“It comes with experience. Just learning, always trying to figure out how to be better. Never once did I feel like I was at a place where I’m thinking that I know it all. I’m always the opposite. I understand that I don’t know it all and I continue to want to learn how to be a better teammate and player. That just carries over and becomes contagious around the group that I’m around.”
A similarity that Donovan noted in both Paul and DeRozan is their generosity with time. No matter the question, no matter the player’s status or experience, the veterans are there for their teammates.
Donovan recalled a time Paul reserved a suite for the entire Thunder team to watch an Eagles-Seahawks NFL playoff game on an off day.
“He understands the importance of keeping the group together,” Donovan said. “I look at what DeMar did, going down to Champaign, Illinois to go support Ayo (Dosunmu). And I watch DeMar and the investment he makes. They go about it differently, but they're very, very similar.
“I think both guys are students of the game. I think both guys love the game. I think both guys take time with younger players, to invest in younger players, to help them. I think they both have really really great dispositions about themselves.”
DeRozan downplayed his impact, saying he’s focused on what matters, focused on the grind.
“I try to be the same person every day and carry that over to my teammates and to my work,” DeRozan said. “That’s how I lead.”
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