Veteran Chris Paul was traded away from the Suns but before that, the franchise was in talks with the Warriors about a possible deal.
Golden State could still have a plan to try and land Paul, NBA Insider Shams Charania reports.
“The Wizards are gonna try to see if they can flip [Paul] to a third team,” Charania reported on FanDuel TV. “I think a couple of teams to keep an eye on [are] the Clippers, the Warriors – Those are two teams that did discuss potential deals with the Suns prior to this trade going down…And now the Wizards are going to see ‘Can we go get a second-round pick from somewhere? Can we get an asset? Can we get a young player that we like?’ So I would expect that process to continue over the process of this week.”
Based on Beal’s price, the Warriors probably wouldn’t have to give up many players to get Paul but his $30.8 million salary would be a problem.
Golden State already have the biggest payroll in the league by far and if they did run it back this season, they already have around $214 million in salaries for 12 players.
It is being reported the team are going to sort out a new deal with Draymond Green, who opted out of his 2023-24 player option on Monday.
There is also a lot of chatter about Paul to the Lakers but ESPN’s Brian Windhorst believes the second LA is a more realistic option for the 12-time All Star.
“I think a lot of people I’ve noticed have leapt to the conclusion that it’s gonna be the Lakers, a team that he was denied playing for a decade ago to play alongside LeBron James, his longtime friend,” Windhorst said on First Take. “But from conversations I’ve had, I don’t think that should be assumed. I think that the L.A. Clippers are a strong candidate, and I would go so far as to say that they may have the edge here in trying to get Chris Paul if he becomes a free agent.”
NBA Insider Chris Haynes also reported Sunday that the Clippers would try to trade for Paul before the end of the month to avoid him reaching unrestricted free agency, or joining the Beal to Phoenix trade as the third team.
If a three-team trade can’t be negotiated, Washington will look to keep Paul and use him as their point guard because although they are in a rebuild phase, they are not looking to tank and would benefit from Paul’s services, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
More to come.
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