Chris Paul vs. Trae Young: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Trae Young and Chris Paul to determine who has the better numbers. Here you can compare their career totals, points per game, games of 40+ points, 50+, etc. and their year-by-year scoring averages side by side, both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.

Chris Paul is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points while Trae Young has one of the highest career averages in league history, and here we compare all their scoring stats.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Trae Young has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs while Chris Paul scored more total points in both stages. However, we won't stop there and we'll go into detail to analyze what these statistics are made up of, from how many games they had in each threshold (30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc.) to their season-by-season scoring averages.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 8 NBA regular seasons played, Trae Young averages 8.4 points more than Chris Paul in his 21 seasons (25.2 points against 16.8). On the other hand Chris Paul scored a total of 10,749 points more than Trae Young (23,058 vs. 12,309).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Chris Paul 16.8
21
Trae Young 25.2
+8.4
8

Total Points

Seasons
Chris Paul 23,058
+10,749
21
Trae Young 12,309
8

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Trae Young has a better career point average than Chris Paul (+6.4 points per game) while Chris Paul scored more points (+2,268).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Chris Paul 20.0
15
Trae Young 26.4
+6.4
3

Total Points

Playoffs
Chris Paul 2,981
+2,268
15
Trae Young 713
3

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

50+ Point Games

Chris Paul 0
Trae Young 2
+2

40+ Point Games

Chris Paul 8
Trae Young 34
+26

30+ Point Games

Chris Paul 77
Trae Young 164
+87

20+ Point Games

Chris Paul 472
+127
Trae Young 345

10+ Point Games

Chris Paul 1,133
+666
Trae Young 467

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Chris Paul 1,362
+874
Trae Young 488

0 Point Games (games without points)

Chris Paul 8
+8
Trae Young 0

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Chris Paul 2
+1
Trae Young 1

30+ Point Games

Chris Paul 18
+6
Trae Young 12

20+ Point Games

Chris Paul 74
+53
Trae Young 21

10+ Point Games

Chris Paul 134
+109
Trae Young 25

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Chris Paul 149
+122
Trae Young 27

0 Point Games (games without points)

Chris Paul 0
Trae Young 0

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

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Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Chris Paul 16.8 6.0 12.7 46.9 1.4 3.7 37.0 3.5 4.1 87.0 21 1,370
difference:+8.4+2.0+5.8+3.7+1.2+3.8+1.9+3.1+3.5+0.3+13+882
Trae Young 25.2 8.0 18.5 43.2 2.6 7.5 35.1 6.6 7.6 87.3 8 488

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Chris Paul 23,058 8,165 17,408 46.9 1,870 5,059 37.0 4,858 5,581 87.0 21 1,370
difference:+10,749+4,274+8,403+3.7+588+1,405+1.9+1,613+1,863+0.3+13+882
Trae Young 12,309 3,891 9,005 43.2 1,282 3,654 35.1 3,245 3,718 87.3 8 488

Playoffs

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Chris Paul 20.0 7.4 15.3 48.4 1.6 4.4 37.3 3.5 4.1 85.4 15 149
difference:+6.4+1.2+6.1+8.2+1.0+4.3+7.6+3.1+3.7+0.2+12+122
Trae Young 26.4 8.6 21.4 40.2 2.6 8.7 29.7 6.6 7.8 85.2 3 27

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Chris Paul 2,981 1,106 2,287 48.4 244 654 37.3 525 615 85.4 15 149
difference:+2,268+874+1,710+8.2+174+418+7.6+346+405+0.2+12+122
Trae Young 713 232 577 40.2 70 236 29.7 179 210 85.2 3 27

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 16.1
200678
Trae Young 19.1
+3.0
201981

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 17.3
200764
Trae Young 29.6
+12.3
202060

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 21.1
200880
Trae Young 25.3
+4.2
202163

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 22.8
200978
Trae Young 28.4
+5.6
202276

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 18.7
201045
Trae Young 26.2
+7.5
202373

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 15.9
201180
Trae Young 25.7
+9.8
202454

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 19.8
201260
Trae Young 24.2
+4.4
202576

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 16.9
201370
Trae Young 17.8
+0.9
20265

Chris Paul's additional seasons:

* Chris Paul played 13 seasons more than Trae Young in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 9 to 21, from 2014 to 2026—he averaged 15.6 points in a total of 815 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 19.5 ppg and his lowest 2.9.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul -
DNP
20060
Trae Young -
DNP
20190

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul -
DNP
20070
Trae Young -
DNP
20200

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 24.1
200812
Trae Young 28.8
+4.7
202116

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 16.6
+1.2
20095
Trae Young 15.4
20225

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul -
DNP
20100
Trae Young 29.2
+29.2
20236

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 22.0
+22.0
20116
Trae Young -
DNP
20240

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 17.6
+17.6
201211
Trae Young -
DNP
20250

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 22.8
+22.8
20136
Trae Young -
DNP *
20260
* season in progress

Chris Paul's additional Playoffs:

* During his 13 additional NBA seasons, Chris Paul played in 10 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 19.7 points in a total of 109 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 25.3 ppg and his lowest 12.4.