Bradley Beal is headed to the Phoenix Suns in the first blockbuster trade of the summer, but the exact framework of the trade that sees him exit the Wizards is still being sorted out.
We know Chris Paul and Landry Shamet are the players Phoenix is dealing away, but it’s possible that Paul will not be headed to Washington. Shortly after word of the initial deal being agreed to was reported, a number of reporters broke word that the Wizards will be willing to work with Paul on adding a third team to the deal to get him to a contender.
A league source has told @TheAthleticNBA that Wizards officials would like to have Chris Paul on their team. But if Paul decides in the next few days he would like to be on a contender, the Wizards would work w/ the Suns to find a 3rd team in the trade to send CP3 to a contender.
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) June 18, 2023
Part of the reason for holding up full completion on the Wizards-Suns trade will be to allow Washington to field offers from third teams that would give Chris Paul a chance to land with a contender, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 18, 2023
That led to plenty wondering what contender would be willing to add Paul on his current salary, rather than hoping to end up with him on the buyout market. According to Chris Haynes, one of the teams interested in just such a deal is one of his former squads, the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Washington Wizards are likely to reroute Chris Paul in a trade and the Los Angeles Clippers are expected to pursue a reunion with the future Hall of Famer, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 18, 2023
The Clippers never have any problems shoveling money at their team, as Steve Ballmer is seemingly happy to pay the tax to keep L.A. in the conversation. While the expectation has been the Clippers would look to bring Russell Westbrook back this summer as a free agent, they may see Paul as an upgrade over Westbrook and a chance to add a steadier hand to the mix. We’ll see if they can make that happen, but they certainly have more than a few big contracts on the wing that they’d be happy to move on from to sort out their logjam and create some better roster balance.
