If veteran point guard Chris Paul is waived by the Suns, as many suspect, he would “be coveted” in free agency and draw interest from the Lakers and Clippers, among others, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Paul, 38, is expected to either be traded or enter free agency — with a return to the Suns reportedly a possibility.
Paul’s $30.8 million salary for next season becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived by June 28. He will be due half if he’s let go before that date.
Along with determining what to do with Paul, the Suns very well could explore trades centered on Deandre Ayton, Wojnarowski noted. In fact, forward Kevin Durant and shooting guard Devin Booker are highly likely the lone “untouchables” as the Suns enter another transactional phase under new coach Frank Vogel.
Meanwhile, Paul owns a home in Los Angeles, is close to Lakers star LeBron James, and has a history with the Clippers from back in the Lob City days.
“Can they move money around that can allow them to keep Chris Paul on that roster?” Wojnarowski asked on NBA Countdown. “Or find a trade so they can build out their depth. But I’m told Chris Paul and his reps want an answer sooner than that June 28 deadline. They want to know if they’re headed into free agency, where he would be certainly very coveted, especially (by) the two Los Angeles teams.”
It will be interesting to see where Paul ends up, but for now, it remains a mystery. All we really know is if it’s in Phoenix, it will be at a much lower rate.
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If CP decides he’d like to take that lesser minutes role to stay healthy and play three more years, he could be a bench piece to help Cleveland get over the top. He would get a lot out of Mobley and Allen. Right now it seems only Garland has been doing that some, LaVert maybe, and Mitchell a bit less. Its a gap for the Cavs right now, playmakers for our bigs, guys who can get them the ball in the smart and easy places close to the basket. And tempo control, would have been the difference against the Knicks.
Too soon for him probably. Nice pipe dream though.