Getty Chris Paul, DeAndre Ayton and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns.
Ahead of NBA free agency, Chris B. Haynes of Bleacher Report revealed that the Phoenix Suns informed 11-time All-Star Chris Paul of their intentions to waive him.
Paul, a future Hall of Famer, is still looking to secure the first championship of his NBA career. And at 38 years old, the clock is ticking for him to achieve such a feat. If the Suns decide to cut ties with their starting point guard, Paul will likely sign with a team already primed to compete for a championship.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers are among the potential destinations for Paul next season.
“If Chris Paul is out there as a free agent this summer, look at the two teams in L.A., the Clippers and Lakers, the Knicks in New York, the Golden State Warriors,” Wojnarowski said on the June 9 episode of “NBA Countdown,” ahead of Game 4 of the NBA Finals. “Those would all be potential destinations for Chris Paul, who would then sign a deal at a much lower number than the $30 million he’s guaranteed in Phoenix if he stays there past that June 28 deadline.”
Paul is under contract through the 2024-25 season, with about half 2023-24 of his salary guaranteed if the Suns cut him by the June 28 deadline. A June 7 story in The Athletic suggested that the Suns’ options regarding Paul are trading him before June 28, waiving and stretching his guaranteed salary across multiple seasons, or waiving him and re-signing him as a free agent. Free agency starts on June 30.
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Taylor Wirth wrote that signing Paul wouldn’t come without financial sacrifices.
“The Warriors are projected to be around $49 million over the $162 million luxury tax threshold next season, which would make adding a player like Paul, even if he were to sign at a ‘much lower number,’ difficult without cutting salary elsewhere,” Wirth wrote in a June 9 story.
Warriors and Chris Paul Pairing Is Intriguing
The Warriors and Paul would be an intriguing pairing. Especially because Paul has been a noted rival of Stephen Curry dating back to Paul’s days with the Clippers, where he played from 2011 through 2017. But often, the oddest pairings happen during times of desperation. Who would have thought Rajon Rondo would be teammates with LeBron James? Or Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook?
The fact is that Paul and the Warriors are, ironically, in a situation where they need each other. Paul needs the Warriors because they have the noted championship experience with Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green (although he could elect to leave the Warriors and become a free agent). They also have a championship-winning coach in Steve Kerr, something Paul has not had since Doc Rivers was his head coach in Los Angeles.
On the Warriors’ side, it is clear that they need to make a move to add something to this roster. That was evident during their second-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Paul may not have the quick first step he used to, but he is still very effective in the half-court and is an above-average defender.
In addition, Warriors guard Jordan Poole followed up a breakout season with a disappointing 2023 campaign. Paul could be the veteran presence needed to get him back to playing at an elite level.
Could Chris Paul, Clippers Reunion Work the Second Time?
Another team that Wojnarowski mentioned that jumps off the page is the Clippers. For those who may be tardy to the party, Paul spent many of the prime years of his career as a Clipper during the “Lob City” era that also featured DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford.
Despite Paul and the Clippers always having one of the most talented rosters in the league, “Lob City” never even made it to the conference finals. Things ended on a sour note when Paul departed to join James Harden on the Houston Rockets in 2017. The bad feelings were all but confirmed when the star guard returned as a member of the Rockets for the first time and got into a locker room altercation with his former team.
Now, the Clippers have a totally different landscape. Their team is still talented with the All-Star tandem of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and solid role players in Terrance Mann and Ivica Zubac. And after coming so close to knocking off Paul and the Suns in the first round of this year’s playoffs after losing both Kawhi and George to injury, the Clippers could be on the verge of something special.