The Los Angeles Clippers are on the verge of a massive offseason. There are rumors circulating that Chris Paul, who has been with the team since 2011, could leave Los Angeles in free agency. San Antonio has been tossed around as a destination that reportedly interests Paul, but odds are every team in the league that’s in the market for a point guard will want to acquire the four-time All-NBA First Team selection.
If there’s good news for Los Angeles fans who feel nervous about Paul leaving town, it’s that Clippers head coach and president of basketball of operations Doc Rivers is optimistic that he’s not going anywhere. TMZ caught up with Rivers while he was getting in his car one evening and asked if he thought the team would be able to re-sign their star guard.
“Absolutely,” Rivers told the reporter. Rivers also got asked if he wanted Paul George to join the Clippers, but could not to comment.
Of course, Rivers isn’t going to stand there and go “yeah, we’re losing Chris, oh well,” but Los Angeles has some obvious advantages over teams. Namely, the Clippers can offer Paul a more appealing max contract in terms of money and years. That’s especially notable if it comes down to Los Angeles and San Antonio, as the Spurs do not have the cap space to offer Paul their own version of a max contract right now.
There’s still a lot of time before Paul will have to make a decision on whether he wants to stay in Los Angeles or go elsewhere. But for now, Rivers seems like he already knows what’s going to happen, and it’s good news for Clippers fans.
