Spurs are making a Chris Paul realization that Warriors fans know well

When it comes to the all-time point guard discussion, you won't find many better than Chris Paul. He may not be the undisputed greatest floor general of all-time due simply to the depth of talented point guards in the NBA's history, but CP3 has the longevity to back up what has been an extremely successful career in this league. That is why San Antonio Spurs fans were so excited to add him to the squad this past offseason.

Paul has done a massive service to this Spurs team, acting as a knowledgeable veteran in the locker room to a roster of many young players while bringing solid on-court production as well. His numbers may not blow you away on a nightly basis anymore, but those who have been watching the games see the kind of impact he still brings to the court.

With all that in mind, Spurs fans have been realizing something that fans of the Golden State Warriors became aware of last season: that in this stage of his career, Chris is not really a starting-caliber point guard anymore. Perhaps he can still give you spurts of starter-level play, but he does not bring that kind of impact to the floor for 35 to 40 minutes per night anymore.

CP3 is better off the bench at this stage of his career

And that is not a slight on Paul at all. Again, he can boast some of the most impressive longevity of any Hall of Fame caliber point guard in this league's history. His IQ is leaps and bounds better than the average NBA player, and he is still a more than meaningful contributor in San Antonio. But his impact has shown to be better when coming off the bench in these latter stages of his career.

Now, what complicates this is Paul's preference to start. He has not missed a start for the Spurs all season, being part of the first five on the floor in all 50 of the team's games. But we saw last season that CP3 had a more meaningful impact with the Warriors in the 40 games that he came off the bench than he did in the 18 that he started.

Perhaps this is the best way to utilize Chris down the stretch of the season. With De'Aaron Fox now in the mix, the Spurs have an offensive initiator that can obviously get his own shot much more easier than Paul can at this point in his career. But if the coaching staff does not ultimately bench CP, it will likely be because they feel he has earned the starting spot based on his professionalism.