The Golden State Warriors originally had a Friday deadline to decide whether to pick up the $30 million non-guaranteed option on Chris Paul’s contract for next season.
Paul was acquired in the Jordan Poole trade with the Washington Wizards last summer. The 12-time All-Star is not the player he used to be. But he also performed pretty well with the Warriors last season.
Despite that, Golden State is not going to pick up th option on a 39-year-old guard who is clearly in the back end of his career. The team’s luxury tax situation is one of the obvious reasons he won’t be back next season.
Reports earlier in the offseason indicated that CP3 was willing to push back the deadline on his contract option.
That’s now come to fruition. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, said deadline has been pushed back to the start of NBA free agency at 6:00 PM ET on Sunday. This gives the Warriors more time to work out a trade.
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Will the Golden State Warriors be able to trade Chris Paul?
That $30 million non-guaranteed contract is seemingly a valuable trade chip. Golden State should be able to find a trade partner.
Right now, things seem to be pointing in the direction of Paul’s contract heading to his former Los Angeles Clippers team in a broader trade that would land the Warriors Paul George.
If that doesn’t come to fruition, the Warriors would have to start anew in trade talks with other teams. That wouldn’t be an ideal scenario, potentially leading to Golden State having to waive Paul and wasting that valuable contract.
Paul averaged 9.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists on 37% shooting from distance for the Warriors last season.