The Suns “would like to find a way to financially keep Chris Paul” on their roster, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on NBA Countdown (Twitter video link).
That said, if Phoenix is unable to find a better alternative and winds up releasing Paul, the longtime veteran would be “very coveted” on the open market, Wojnarowski says. Woj names the Lakers and Clippers as two teams that would be interested in Paul’s services, noting that the veteran point guard lives in Los Angeles in the offseason.
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated speculates (via Twitter) that the Grizzlies, Celtics and Heat could be among the other teams calling Paul’s agents if he hits unrestricted free agency.
Here’s more from the Western Conference
- LeBron James hinted at retirement after the Lakers were swept by the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whom James passed this season to become the league’s all-time leading scorer, recently touched on the possibility of James retiring, as Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times writes. “At the end of the year, after all that, LeBron and most of the guys looked like they’d been through two seasons, you know? But they still gave it an awesome effort,” Abdul-Jabbar said Monday. “I think it’s up to him. Certainly doesn’t have to prove anything. And it’s just what he wants to do at this point.”
- Kyrie Irving reportedly wants the Mavericks to pursue James, but that’s certainly far-fetched. Even if they could pull it off, Tim Cato of The Athletic argues that adding James wouldn’t make the Mavs a title contender, as having three players on max (or near max) deals while trading away all their remaining assets would make it incredibly difficult to build out the rest of the roster. Cato also notes that James’ defensive effort comes and goes at this stage of his career and he isn’t a reliable spot-up shooter to complement Luka Doncic.
- Former NBA guard Pooh Jeter is retiring as a player, reports Marc J. Spears of Andscape (via Twitter). Jeter played for the G League Ignite this past season and mentored Scoot Henderson. The 39-year-old has already found a new gig, reaching an agreement in principle to become an assistant GM for the Trail Blazers‘ new G League affiliate. Jeter will also serve as a player development coach for the Blazers, according to Spears.
I think Suns screwed this up. Lakers should be claiming off waivers. Would make a Lot of sense.
Add a Speedster, defensive, minded PG to complement him (ala Davion Mitchell, bet he’s off límits, I would think), and they surprisingly fix the PG hole. They have no true PG now, as Schroder is very decent, but not precisely a table-setter, and DLo is inconsistent.
Lakers don’t have cap room to claim him off waivers
@Reno- They could BUT Lakers would have to renounce their rights on about 6 quality players to claim him. Not happening
He’ll find work under the MLE-12 mill
TPMLE- 5 mill or BAE-4.5 or vet min of his choosing if he leaves Phx.
If he’s a Laker it will be under one of those umbrellas (most likely)TPMLE or BAE
The Lakers have the best facilitator of all time. They don’t need a true PG, LeBron just needs shooters.
Best facilitator LOLZ!
3 & D role players to be specific
Lebron has played 21 years and still is only 4th. CP3 and Kidd have 2-3 more seasons worth of assists than he does. He’d literally have to play 10 more years to catch Stockton.
CP3, considered a better true PG than Lebron would need about 8 more years just to catch Stockton. Gives you perspective on what the real greatest facilitator accomplished.
Growing up Stockton was my favorite player. Accomplishments aside later in life he turned into a freakin’ weirdo.
Stockton, Kidd and CP3 never scored like LeBron. Sometimes the best person to score is your facilitator. As a wing and all his teams best scorer to be 4th all time in assists is a testament to his passing prowess.
I’ll change my statement though. Not only is LeBron the best facilitator and scorer of all time. He is the best simply the best player that ever stepped on a basketball court.
Best player to step on the court you crack me up.. Maybe top 5 discussion
John Stockton is not a weirdo!
Michael Jordan is the only player in NBA history to win the scoring title, MVP, NBA championship, Finals MVP, and be named to the All-Defensive first team in the same season. And he did it 4 times. There’s the greatest of all time.
You LeBron fanboys are a laugh.
Stockton is right lol
Suns are cooked until they do something with the salary space…
They are in a similar spot to Dallas…
Have a young star but are surrounding them with ageing ill fitting pieces…
At least the Suns have Ayton as well…
Although the lakers are linked with him and will continue to be linked with him a lot I don’t think it’s the best fit.
CP3 nowadays is a 12-8-3 kinda guy on a winning team with no defence. On a bad team he might get up to 16-10-4 or around that but he’s as quick and accurate now that’s he’s older. He’s a fantastic facilitator but has some obvious short comings. Returning back to the clippers and linking with PG and Kawhi would be a terrific spot for him. They need someone just to run the offence and get the role players good looks. Your not really asking him to score that much himself but just be the leader and run the offence when your on the floor. He would also be a great mentor for Bones Hyland who would slot in great in the sixth man role.
Phoenix on the other hand need defenders and role players around Booker and KD. Ayton will soon be gone too. In all honesty id replace Ayton with a guy like Andre Drummond in FA for the vets min. Drummond definitely has his flaws but he will get you 10 or so points and easy 15 rebounds. Your then probably going to want to add a PF with good rim protection to help Drummond but in any playoff series you’d likely have the 2 best scorers and the best rebounder. Around that defenders and good role players.
DeAndre Ayton for Terry Rozier, Cody Martin, Mark Williams, the 27th pick and 41st pick in this years draft.
Hornets add a third franchise piece to go with Ball and whoever they draft second overall. Alongside whoever that is they also have options on Washington, Oubre and Bridges plus Gordan Hayward has another year left on his deal.
Phoenix on the other hand add a good third choice scorer, sometimes defensively strong point guard that can play both on and off the ball. Martin you hope turns it around and is good depth, Mark Williams is a good young back up big and then two picks in the draft.
Another idea could be, Ayton and Shamet for Siakim and Otto Porter.
Pascal is in the final year of his deal now and Tornto is looking like they are about ready for a rebuild. Ayton could be a good young centre to pair with Scottie Barnes as the future of your franchise.
For Phoenix, Pascal would be a terrific third star to add and Otto Porter when fit would be a quality role player for them. Would make for a championship or bust season.
Pooh Jeter is a hell of a name!
The Kyrie Irving story is fake trash.
Shams Charania broke the story as a “sources claim” Kyrie Irving wants Lebron James to join the Mavericks.
Didn’t happen, this is a lie. The last live interview Irving gave he said explicitly if you don’t hear the words from his mouth they are not true because he has no representation, and nobody else to speak for him.
Kinda funny Shams Charania puts out a “sources claim” storyline maybe 10 days after Irvings’ statement to the lying lame-stream media.
Theres plenty of soccer to talk about why make up false stories about Kyrie Irving? Clowns..