Bringing Back Chris Paul!? The Pros And Cons Of A Reunion

[Wammy Giveaway]

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Once upon a time, Chris Paul was the gift by David Stern in an infamous veto that set the Lakers back six years while pushing the laughingstock Clippers to newer heights. Then the Donald Sterling scandal, 3-1 collapse, and DJ to Dallas happened. He whined, complained, got in the face of referees. He resented Doc Rivers for trading for his son Austin. The Clippers, to him, were nothing more than a franchise desperately latching onto attention for fear of becoming irrelevant. Their failures to reach the conference finals convinced Paul that he had to go somewhere else, joining a franchise that had two Team USA pals (James Harden, Mike D'Antoni) and had won in the past (Rockets). On the first game he came back to face the Clippers, there was animosity and anger towards his ex-teammates and franchise. The secret tunnel incident was proof he hated the Clippers now, and wanted revenge for ruining his legacy. The following season, Rajon Rondo provoked Paul into a fight by spitting at him, and by getting him ejected and suspended for the first time in his career, resulted in his nice-guy image and reputation permanently ruined.

With this kind of baggage, in my opinion, Paul feels more suited to be a Laker than a Clipper, with his ties to LeBron James, the whole trade veto, and wanting vengeance on the Clippers. But when I saw this article by Clips Nation, I got fumed. Doc Rivers ruined the Lob City era with his shortsighted trades, mismanaging of assets, and his blind loyalties. He traded Paul as his last act as president of basketball operations before being demoted by Steve Ballmer, a gesture that symbolized taking responsibility for his own actions. Paul and Doc, they both have a past, and they don't see each other eye to eye now.

Under Jerry West, the Clippers have exchanged highlights for hustle, heart and humility. They're the new Spurs, a franchise that has committed to becoming Good Samaritans, playing for the good of basketball, and what better way to prove this culture shift than bringing in a former Spur in Kawhi Leonard. And they earned it: making the playoffs without an All-Star, facing Lob City's grave mistake in the Warriors and losing to them admirably (seriously, the 31-point comeback and win in Game 2 still shocks me). Getting Paul back is going backwards, trying to revive the Lob City era, a Doc Rivers move.

Would Paul operate better with Leonard and George, two superstar wings he never had his first time around? Will they be able to bury the hatchet, or will Clippers be forced to go after a different coach to appease Paul - for example, would they be willing to trade for a coach in Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich? More importantly, how would Jerry West react to this: would he do the same thing he did with Warriors, threaten to quit if they traded Klay Thompson for Kevin Love? Would Paul be willing to take a reduced role, coming off the bench and becoming a role player, or being a permanent DNP while letting Leonard and George save his legacy like how Tracy McGrady did so for the Spurs? Lots of variables here.

I'll always have a soft spot for what Paul did in turning the Clippers from perennial losers to hopeful winners. But the Clippers have to accept reality, what's done is done. In order to move on, they must let go of the past, even if it hurts them.

Would you want Paul back?

[Vae Victus]

The only way CP3 is coming back is if he gets bought out by the team holding his current contract. CP3 being a greedy bastard will want as much as of the guaranteed money as possible, making buying him out a pointless exercise, since itll still be on their cap.

But sure, if CP3 somehow gets bought out, signing him for the minimum is a no brainer. Hell it's more important to keep him away from the Lakers tbh, but yea, he's still useful enough on the court that he'll help win some games. However, can CP3 shut his mouth long enough before Kawhi and PG13 wants to boot his ass ala Harden in Houston?

[Method28]

I would absolutely love to have CP3 back, but wouldn't wanna give up much back. So if it took Harrell or Lou Will or something of that nature, I'd want them to pass

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[BenchOnaQUEST]

That's sweet, but... WHO said CP3 wants to be back with the Clippers? Exactly.

[esqtvd]

That's sweet, but... WHO said CP3 wants to be back with the Clippers? Exactly.

Hey Tony.


from the transactions thread, overlooked since Wammy started this new one, why CP might want to come back:

I'd say that at age 34, having failed as the leader of Lob City and being unceremoniously dumped by The Beard, CP will have a different head. I dunno if it's legal under the CBA, but I'd like to ask Chris to waive his player option for 2022-23. He's still headed for the HOF, but coming back and scoring a chip as the point guard for the Clippers would do a lot for his legacy. It was say that the problem--the failure--wasn't due to him.

I would DEFINITELY take Chris back for the next 2 years--IF Kawhi is good with how Chris would fit in. The next 3? Thorny. But we have Kawhi and PG signed only for the next 18 months. Trezz is only signed for the next 6 months. Lou is getting old.

It will kill me to have to trade Pat Bev in the package, but I see no alternative because of the salary trade numbers. Pat Bev or Chris Paul? I mean, let's get real. The rest of the trade will be garbage. Harkless, our 1st round pick in the late 20s? Jerome? 2nd-rounder Mann? Fi?

Garbage. Spare parts.


My only reservation is Chris's injury history, but now is the time. Chris is the only HOFer available in the NBA still playing at Hall of Fame Level. Oh, and we can get Presti to throw in Noel Noelle, the 3rd big we also so desperately need.

_______________

ADD: TVD's Lee Jenkins take--Steve Ballmer made his billions taking over as CEO of Microsoft and doing a competent job. But he was not Bill Gates. He didn't start it. And for all the billions it made, Microsoft finished 2nd to Apple. Steve Ballmer has never won a championship.

Maybe I'm wrong but I called Kawhi-to-the-Clippers all the way, despite all odds, while all others gave up. You could look it up.

If we don't do CP to the Clippers, it'll be because Presti is asking for too much or Kawhi/PG don't want him.

Code: Select all

Harkless, Bev, our 2020 1st round pick. Jerome. Mann. Fi. Whatever.

Spare parts.

[QRich3]

Almost impossible to pull off, OKC would have to waive like 4 guys to be able to make this work, and it's illegal to drop below 13 players during the regular season. Which we would need to do as well, after the trade.

As a hypothetical, if the salary cap didn't exist, I'd have Chris back, no problem. I still root for him when he plays some other team. But I'd ask for one of our picks back from OKC, or at least the pick swaps back. Trading Bev could be a problem for the team, morale wise. Paul comes with his own locker room baggage as well, and that would have to be evaluated by the coaches before doing it, and I think they'd pull the plug on it.

Buy yeah, it's not gonna happen for so many reasons.

[esqtvd]

Well, there goes my idea, and obviously I wasn't the only one who had it. He's keeping the dough and that's that.




Frankly, I think OKC should keep him unless they get an offer they can't refuse. It's very dangerous to throw away your winning culture and expect to get it back just by throwing a bunch of first-round picks out on the court. The post-Kobe Lakers sucked and never learned how to win. If they don't get gifted with Bron, they're still garbage.

CP will keep them out of the dumpster and I'm sure is a big boost to Shai's continuing development. If Shai had to quarterback this Thunder team, his sophomore season could be looking a whole lot different.

[clipperlover]

NO ONE in the NBA is trading for Chris Paul (other than the Wizards in a deal for Wall) and the Thunder are not buying him out. He has the 2nd worst contract in the NBA behind John Wall. He is owed $41M next year and has a $44M option for the following year. Chris Paul isn't a buyout candidate until the 21/22 trade deadline when the vast majority of his deal is paid.

Would I want a a nearly 37 yr old Chris Paul back? No.

[madmaxmedia]

I feel like if you're OKC, you either keep everybody (since CP3 is a good player on the floor but has negative trade value), or try to trade all the vets now- CP3, Danilo, Adams, Schroeder.

It's a weird situation they're in. They are actually a pretty good team right now. They could dump everyone to try to get a better draft pick, but have bad luck in the lottery and only marginally improved their prospects.

I think the NBA 'treadmill' has become a little too demonized. The main thing is to avoid handing out bad contracts that hurt you in the long run, OKC has not done that. They traded for CP3 but acquired assets in doing so, and the 2 years left isn't THAT bad given that.

[50CalClips]

Lets do it.


Harkless and Walton

[Quake Griffin]

I love Chris and if I could get him back with this team some how some way....I'd do it.

The Thunder have turned into my second favorite team this year. Him and Shai are so likeable to me.

LOL at the Rockets thinking Westbrick was better.
I VALUE YOU CHRIS!!!!11

[Kelphus]

No.
Why buy a car that is expensive, temperamental, and prone to breakdowns?
I liked CP3 as a Clipper, although I was always amazed that Lob City never flourished (yes, multiple issues there).
Let's move on. Future, not past.

[og15]

Not realistic, but he would fit very well on this team, still a very high impact player.

The only way CP3 is coming back is if he gets bought out by the team holding his current contract. CP3 being a greedy bastard will want as much as of the guaranteed money as possible, making buying him out a pointless exercise, since itll still be on their cap.

But sure, if CP3 somehow gets bought out, signing him for the minimum is a no brainer. Hell it's more important to keep him away from the Lakers tbh, but yea, he's still useful enough on the court that he'll help win some games. However, can CP3 shut his mouth long enough before Kawhi and PG13 wants to boot his ass ala Harden in Houston?

Interestingly, Harden still needs someone to correct him, it works for them, but how they play and his proneness to take play off on defense (no longer a bad impact defender, but could be better) still needs to be addressed, and Mike D’Antoni won’t do it, and Westbrook is just as prone to those things that him doing it wouldn’t make sense.

Chris Paul is probably exactly what Harden needed, just not what he wanted, might have been different if he was younger and healthier though.

[50CalClips]

Pro: Leadership

[Akklaim1]

OKC is suddenly a playoff team

[esqtvd]

OKC is suddenly a playoff team

Chris Paul at one point was my favorite athlete ever, and I grew up in Philly with Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton and I wasn't even much of a basketball fan until later in life.

Hey, Chris Paul is a Clean Gene in his personal life, became president of the Players' Association, and plays the game right as rain.

But he's a prick. Now, I don't give a damn about that. Kobe was a much huger prick than Chris ever was, but Kobe put Odom, Gasol and Andrew Bynum [ffs] on his back and to the title.

Now, one mark of a Hall of Famer is that he can put a bunch of crap on his back and still make the playoffs. Barkley is a perfect example. So of course HOFer Chris can do the same. I never doubted it, or that he was the reason we won 50 games year after year. By contrast, Blake, DJ and Redick...no.


But when Chris finally asked for a trade to go join The Beard, it was Clipperdom that breathed the biggest sigh of relief.

[Dynamix]

CP going down against the Warriors is probably going to be one of the biggest what-ifs in league history. I was torn about rooting for him after he left, but in that particular series I wanted the Rockets to succeed like nothing else. But I wouldn't have been too torn up if they somehow ended up choking against the Cavs.

As for him returning, let's put the past behind us once and for all. Dude just can't stay healthy, it is what it is. Between him, Kawhi, and PG, I'd probably have a heart attack just by worrying about their availability.

Would love to have a symbolic retirement signing for Blake (if he ever comes around) or DJ, but that's about it.