The Phoenix Suns and Chris Paul: Exploring Options for the Offseason
The Phoenix Suns have reportedly informed veteran star Chris Paul that they are looking towards finding a solution that works for both parties this offseason, which could include parting ways, according to sources from The Athletic. Both the Suns and Chris Paul are reportedly looking at multiple options, including trade, waiving and stretching his contract over multiple years, or waiving and re-signing him in free agency.
Paul’s Career and Performance with the Suns
Chris Paul spent the last three years with the Phoenix Suns, where he helped to lead them to the 2021 NBA Finals. However, during the playoffs, he missed the final four games of the Suns’ Playoff run due to a groin injury. In the previous season, he also averaged a career-low of 13.9 points per game backed with 8.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game in 59 encounters. Nevertheless, throughout his career, Paul has been a 12-time All-Star, led the league in steals six times, and in assists five times. He is also third on the all-time NBA list of players with most assists and steals.
Exploring Available Options
The Suns’ guarantee deadline of June 28 on Paul’s contract valued at $30.8 million with roughly $15 million guaranteed is a key factor in exploring the available options. Several potential solutions are possible, such as waiving and subsequently re-signing, stretching the contract over multiple years, and trading. If the Suns cannot trade him, they could waive and re-sign him, as long as he agrees to take less money. After Paul suffered an injury in the semifinals, the Suns missed his leadership and presence, which would be hard to replace.
Impact of Waiving Chris Paul
Waiving Chris Paul would be an unwise decision for the Suns as they would have to pay him $15.8 million to play for another team and would have difficulty generating enough cap room to sign anyone better. Even if they use the stretch provision on him, the team would still remain above the salary cap and have only five players under contract for next season. The Suns could use their non-taxpayer midlevel exception and biannual exception to sign potential players, but this would be unlikely to find anyone as good as Chris Paul in those salary slots.
The Best Alternative
The best alternative for the Suns would be to waive Landry Shamet and use the stretch provision to spread his $10.2 million salary over seven years, which would cut $8.8 million from the team’s cap sheet. If the team wanted to clear room below the taxation level and could not put together deals for Chris Paul or Deandre Ayton, this would be the best option.
Conclusion
As the Suns and Chris Paul explore their available options for the offseason, the team must consider all factors before making any decisions. Re-signing Chris Paul would be the best option for the team, but they must be cautious with their decision making. The team must not forget the impact of Chris Paul’s invaluable presence on and off the court, especially during the playoffs.
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