Getty Images Is Chris Paul on the move?
There are a multitude of NBA teams that have interest in Oklahoma City Thunder point guard, Chris Paul.
Those teams include: New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns.
If the Knicks were to make a move to get CP3, a move could include, Kevin Knox, Frank Ntilikina and draft picks.
Will it happen?
“It depends on what OKC is going to ask for or will ask for as we get closer to when the trade has to happen,” SNY’s Ian Begley told me on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
“And so, there’s no real deadline here; we’re not dealing with a trade deadline, I would think that the Knicks would want a trade like that in place before the draft, but we still don’t know when trades can happen. So, it’s kind of you’re dealing with some uncertain timelines, but I think when you get closer to that date, whatever it may be… it depends on what OKC is asking for and I they can come down and get to where the Knicks are or where they would like to be, I think there’s a deal to be had; but just from what I’ve been hearing over the last few days and weeks, I don’t think there’s anything close to a deal in place at this point.”
Chris Paul averaged 17.6 points, 5 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.6 steals in the regular season for an Oklahoma City Thunder team that exceeded expectations this season.
CP3 helped guide the Thunder to a 44-28 record and fifth place finish in the NBA’s Western Conference standings.
“I think that they’re kind of kicking the tires on everything,” Ian Begley told the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
“And with the Chris Paul thing, one factor that I have to think will matter is and I don’t know if it’s the top factor or where it lands but, what I think is a factor is: Where does Chris want to go? What does he want to do? Does he want to compete for a title? Then you would think he would say, ‘Send me to Philly or Milwaukee or an L.A. team or whatever…’ Does he want to – I assume he’s in L.A.; does he want to uproot his family and bring them to New York with all this uncertainty with the pandemic? Then he would say, ‘Send me to the Knicks’ and if you look at the recent history of Sam Presti in OKC with the Russell Westbrook deal, he sent Westbrook where he wanted to go in Houston and you look at – there was another recent deal with Paul George; he sent Paul George to the Clippers which is where he wanted to go. So, I think if Chris says, ‘Hey. Let’s make this work. I would like to go here. Could you get me here?’ I would think that Oklahoma City finds a way to get that done. So I think that’s a factor too. Listen, if he says he wants to try to win a title, yes. You go there [to Milwaukee]. You go to Philly. You look at Miami or the L.A. teams even though it’s a tough route. The thing with Milwaukee is I think if I’m Oklahoma City, I want to take back expiring contracts or young players and picks in that deal. I don’t want to take back any money and I think Milwaukee could satisfy that to a degree, but you may have to get a third team involved to make it work. But if they’re committed to it and going all in and Chris Paul wants to go there; you know, it’s an expensive salary to pay for Chris’s salary for this year and next year… it would certainly improve what we saw from Milwaukee in the playoffs where I think that the lead guard spot hurt them, or a bit too much; so you put Chris Paul there and that’s a better team. And then you bring up Horford and some contracts that some fans may see as undesirable; I thought it was interesting the other day I started to hear about the Knicks being willing or telling teams that they would be willing to take on bad contracts in exchange for a young asset or pick and just using their cap space that way. I don’t know which route they would go or how many years of a contract they would be open to absorbing, but I think if they get another pick in that deal, that can strengthen their approach in trying to move up in the draft. So, there’s just so many moving parts – nobody even knows when free agency is going to start, nobody knows when you’re going to be able to do trades, so everything is kind of up in the air but, these are things that are kind of like, bouncing around among teams right now.”