NBA Free Agency: Chris Paul will reportedly talk with Spurs, Clippers, Rockets, Nuggets
By John Buhler
Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul will reportedly talk to three other teams in free agency: the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets.
The Los Angeles Clippers could be ushering in a new era on the hardwood next fall. Though they have been a perennial 50-win team these last few years, that has not translated into winning multiple playoff series annually. Shooting guard J.J. Redick will be an unrestricted free agent. Los Angeles expects that point guard Chris Paul and power forward Blake Griffin will opt out of their deals to become free agent as well.
In his article about former Golden State Warriors front office executive Jerry West joining the Clippers organization for this upcoming season, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times gives us two other team names that Paul will speak with in his free agency cycle: the Houston Rockets and the Denver Nuggets.
Obviously, the Clippers will try to keep both Griffin and Paul if they can. Redick has probably priced his way out of town at the two-guard. Griffin’s two biggest suitors outside of the Clippers are his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder and the Boston Celtics. Turner would mention those in his post about West’s arrival.
However, he did bring light to two teams on Paul’s radar in Houston and Denver. San Antonio has been a logical fit for Paul outside of Los Angeles. That’s because the Spurs are championship caliber already and are in need of a new starting point guard.
Tony Parker was great, but is rapidly decaying for the Spurs. A new big three in San Antonio of Paul, small forward Kawhi Leonard and power forward LaMarcus Aldridge could be interesting.
The Rockets rumor seems a bit surprising, as Houston already has two strong backcourt players in point guard Patrick Beverley and shooting guard James Harden. Beverley is the ultimate glue guy for the Rockets as their emotional leader.
Houston general manager Daryl Morey tried to replace him two years ago with Ty Lawson and that went horribly wrong. Add in that Harden is especially ball-dominant at the two-guard and there won’t be enough air in the basketball for Paul and Harden to share.
Denver is a peculiar free agency destination. Last summer, shooting guard Dwyane Wade seriously considered going to the Nuggets before signing with his hometown Chicago Bulls. Denver has an emerging star in center Nikola Jokic.
The Nuggets have a need at point guard since Emmanuel Mudiay isn’t exactly crushing it. Overall, it seems that players seem to think Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly is putting the right pieces together to help make the Nuggets viable for the foreseeable future.
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While we should expect Paul to re-up with the Clippers for more money, adding the Nuggets and Rockets to the list of point guard poachers could make the Clippers brass sweat a little more in his upcoming free agency.