San Antonio Spurs: It’s time to get to know Brandon Paul

After seven games, let’s get to know San Antonio Spurs rookie Brandon Paul.

Going into this past off-season there was a fair amount of speculation surrounding the guard situation for the San Antonio Spurs. Tony Parker had just gone down in the playoffs, Dejounte Murray had only shown flashes of his potential, Manu Ginobili was mulling retirement, and Patty Mills and Johnathan Simmons were both free agents. (Side note: Johnathan Simmons has been tearing it up in Orlando and it’s awesome.)

With all that uncertainty and speculation, rumors began to grow that Chris Paul would give the Spurs serious consideration when he hit the free-agent market. Well, the Spurs did come out of the summer with a Paul on the roster, but it wasn’t the one that many Spurs fans envisioned in early June. Coming off a four-game stretch in which he averaged 9 PTS and 2.5 RBS on 66 FG% Spurs fans should get to know BP3, Brandon Paul.

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Paul is a former University of Illinois standout, he was twice named to the Third-Team All-Big Ten and left Illinois as the eighth leading scorer in school history with1,654 career points. After graduation, Paul went undrafted and then bounced back and forth between D-League teams and Europe, making stops in Spain, Russia, and Turkey along the way.  Paul played for both the Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers in Summer League in 2017 but ended up signing with San Antonio after averaging 15.6 PTS, 5.3 RBS, and 2.7 assists over the course of the summer.

The Spurs have been in a bit of slide recently, going 1-3 over their last 4, but Paul has been providing consistent play off the bench in around 20 minutes a night. Highlights from that 4 game stretch included a game in Indianapolis where Paul was able to come up with 3 steals. He followed that up the next night with a showing out in Boston, where he scored a team-high 18 points while going 3 for 3 from behind the arc. Paul looked comfortable in his highly-efficient performance, getting out on the fast break for easy transition buckets, and making all of his free throws.

.@BP3 says nope! pic.twitter.com/uWTrQ7lGfs

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) October 31, 2017

Look out, Jaylen Brown. Defense like that is a sure way for Paul to get Gregg Popovich’s attention and continue to make his case for consistent playing time.

One of the positives tonight and the last few games: Brandon Paul. Popovich on his play after #Spurs loss to #Celtics pic.twitter.com/uIz2QrJMrP

— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) October 31, 2017

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Message received. With Tony Parker coming back from injury and Manu being well, old, Paul’s emergence as a viable option at the guard position will hopefully continue to be something the Spurs can count on when they inevitably begin resting their older players. With upcoming games against the Warriors, Hornets, and Suns, look for Paul to try to build on his solid start to the season and continue to impress coaches and fans alike.