One NBA insider thinks the Los Angeles Lakers have the best chance at stealing Chris Paul away from the Phoenix Suns this offseason.
“Yet I still see the Lakers as the most realistic threat to derailing the Suns’ hopes of re-signing Paul, no matter how hard it is to pinpoint a pathway for them to acquire him because of the cap complexities,” wrote Marc Stein in a recent blog post. “The reasoning: We know Paul would want to play again in Los Angeles, where his family still resides during the season, and also that he would want to play alongside [LeBron] James. The fact that Magic Johnson was tweeting about Paul-to-the-Lakers scenarios minutes after the Finals were over certainly won’t dissuade conspiracy theorists from believing that the Lakers are, at a minimum, exploring the options here.”
It is widely believed that Paul is going to decline his massive player option for the 2021-22 season and seek a new deal. Whether that deal is with the Suns or a new team is the big question.
After a devastating defeat in the 2021 NBA Finals, it wouldn’t come as a huge surprise if Paul joined a team that seems to have a good chance at winning it all next season. After all, he is 36 years old. Even though Paul looks like he could play for years to come, he will eventually hit a wall. The 11-time All-Star is going to want to fulfill his dreams of winning a title before that happens.
Paul had a fantastic 2020-21 campaign in which he averaged 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game. He made 49.9 percent of his shots from the field and 39.5 percent of his shots from deep.
The 36-year-old looked fantastic in the 2021 postseason despite having a couple of difficult outings in the NBA Finals.
Paul would fill the Lakers’ need for a playmaker, and Los Angeles would boast a three-headed monster of Paul, James and Anthony Davis. That’s certainly an exciting thought for Lakers fans.
