One prominent NBA insider believes that current team finances and CBA rules make the Los Angeles Clippers a perfect fit for a reunion with Chris Paul this summer.
The Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns are both officially eliminated from the NBA playoffs. The Clippers’ run in the postseason was ended a couple of weeks ago by the aforementioned Suns in just five games after their top two players suffered injuries before and during the playoffs. Phoenix also was bumped from the playoffs after a pair of key players were sidelined during the series.
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The two organization’s postseason runs in 2023 were linked and they could continue to be connected into the summer. The Los Angeles Clippers believe they need a proven point guard for their offense to be at its best, and the Suns have a point guard in Chris Paul that they are likely to move in the offseason since he is no longer a good fit for their revised roster.
Los Angeles Clippers record (’22-’23): 44-38
That is part of why during a recent edition of “The Lowe Post” podcast, ESPN NBA insider Zach Lowe suggested the two teams might be a good fit for a Chris Paul trade. However, the main reason why he believes a deal is a “common sense” move for both is due to salary guidelines in the collective bargaining agreement the really makes it the best possible option.
“There are teams that could use Chris Paul. Lots of teams, for a short-term contract that you can get out of after one year. I mention the aggregation thing because of only one team I would look at, and this is through no reporting, I have no inside sources. The Clippers have telegraphed that they think they need a point guard to run their team. [Russell Westbrook] worked out much better than I expected. He’s a free agent [and] they’re going to have handicaps signing him that they don’t have in aggregating salaries to get up to $30 million. That’s just common sense.”
– Zach Lowe
Salary aggregation is used in a trade to legally match the cap hit of an incoming player. Aggregation is when the salary of multiple players is combined in order to reach the legal outgoing limit.
In multiple seasons for Phoenix, including in the 2023 playoffs, Chris Paul has missed playoff games due to injuries. Along with no longer being a good fit for the Suns’ roster, he just isn’t reliable to be available when the team most needs him.
The 12-time All-Star played six seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers where he made four All-Star teams and led the team to the playoff in every season.