NBA Offseason 2020: 5 potential landing spots for Chris Paul

1. Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns make sense as a trade suitor for CP3 on multiple levels. While they’re not the bona fide title contender Paul would probably prefer, they’re a very promising young team on the rise that could cement its playoff standing for 2021 by adding the Point God. They’re basically a more talented version of the Thunder team he just led to the 5-seed in the West last year.

Working in Phoenix’s favor? Paul’s relationship with head coach Monty Williams from their time together on the Hornets, CP3’s appreciation for Devin Booker’s game and the fact that the Suns could put together one of the more competitive offers on the market. It’s time for the Suns to end their 10-year playoff drought, and even with only a one- or two-year window, it’s worth it to give this rebuild its first taste of competitive playoff basketball.

Any deal starts with Ricky Rubio and Kelly Oubre Jr. — two losses that would be tough to swallow for Phoenix after they helped repair the franchise’s culture, but fully expendable ones if CP3 wants to come to the Valley. Rubio is a sorely underrated option to replace Paul at the 1, coming off a season in which he mentored this young Suns team, took pressure off Booker to do everything on offense and averaged an impressive 8.8 assists per game. He’s only on the books for two more seasons, at a much more team-friendly price than CP3’s deal.

Oubre, meanwhile, is an extremely likable wing coming off a career season in which he averaged 18.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He’ll be a free agent next summer, but that could be a blessing for OKC: If he excels with the Thunder, they’ll have the power to re-sign him without Paul’s contract weighing down the books, and if he doesn’t, that’s extra cap space for 2021.

After Rubio and Oubre is where things get tricky. Presti will want some kind of first-rounder or young prospect too, and if he draws the line at Mikal Bridges or Cameron Johnson, Phoenix should walk away and opt for continuity after such a successful 8-0 spurt in the NBA bubble. But if the Thunder pivot to draft picks, the Suns have their 10th overall pick or a future first-rounder to offer.

If OKC wants No. 10, GM James Jones could counter by asking for the Thunder’s 25th overall pick, and then use that pick to draft an understudy to Paul like Grant Riller or Desmond Bane. As talks gain traction, only time will tell if the Suns can keep their Johnson-Bridges wing tandem of the future off limits in a potential Chris Paul trade.