Brian Windhorst has been more plugged into Chris Paul’s perilous status with the Phoenix Suns than most NBA insiders.
Before last week’s report from Chris Haynes that the front office was seriously considering waiving Paul, Windhorst cryptically revealed that something unexpected might be in the works.
Here is Brian Windhorst and Zach Lowe talking about the CP3 situation
Windy seems to hint at the Suns retaining CP3 pic.twitter.com/pSn9Qth4JS
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) June 7, 2023
This week, Windhorst returned to share two teams to keep an eye on if Paul’s time in Phoenix is truly coming to an end.
“I think his future is in one of two places,” Windhorst said on ‘Get Up’ this past Thursday.
.@WindhorstESPN says if Chris Paul doesn’t return to Phoenix, his future could be with the Lakers or Clippers pic.twitter.com/ACa7DaId5Z
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 8, 2023
“One is Los Angeles. It could be the Lakers or the Clippers. Both teams potentially need a point guard, the point guards on both teams are free agents.”
To Windhorst’s point, both D’Angelo Russell and Russell Westbrook are free agents his summer.
That said, Windhorst also sees a scenario where Paul simply returns to the Suns.
“And it’s not out of the realm of possibility, I think it’s worth pointing out, that the Suns could bring him back,” Windhorst continued.
“It would be an NFL-style restructuring where his contract is paid out of its partial guarantee, and they bring him back for a lesser salary. So, I would bet on L.A. or Phoenix once we get into July.”
Aside from the Lakers and Clippers, three other NBA teams have expressed serious interest in adding Paul. Whether any will actually be able to do so or not remains to be seen.
If the Lakers don’t ultimately opt to add Paul, they will need to fend off four other squads with serious interest in Russell. And given that there are two teams out there trying to steal Dennis Schroder as well, this could prove to be a dicey point guard summer for them.
The Clippers have a similar situation on their hands. There are three teams out there legitimately interested in getting Westbrook for next year. Whether the front office will be able to retain him remains to be seen.
Now that’s how you dress to the Stanley Cup Final. https://t.co/rx6rlqNYAG
— Game 7 (@game7__) June 10, 2023
One way or another, where Paul goes will have a domino effect across the NBA.
Regardless of what ends up happening there, Windhorst will likely know about it before a lot of other NBA insiders.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
