Getty Image / Ronald Martinez
The futures of the Phoenix Suns and Chris Paul are very unsettled right now.
The Suns made a coaching change this offseason and it seems like it is far from their last change.
There have been rumors swirling about the team trading Deandre Ayton as part of an effort to reshape the roster around Devin Booker and Kevin Durant into one that can finally bring the franchise a ring.
That reshaping has also seemed like it will include the Suns moving on from Chris Paul.
The expectation after their playoff elimination was that the Suns would be looking for a new point guard this offseason after Paul missed most of the series against the Nuggets. The Suns reportedly even told him they are planning to release him.
That has led to plenty of speculation about where he’ll play next with both teams in LA being thrown around as options for his future.
However, it turns out that Paul has something very different in mind for his future.
Paul told the Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin that he wants to stay with the Phoenix Suns.
'Absolutely': Chris Paul wants to stay with Phoenix Suns as team continues exploring options #Suns https://t.co/UoIr0zRiI0 via @azcentral
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) June 15, 2023
While that may be what Paul wants, it’s hard to see how that would actually work for the Suns.
He’s just too expensive for the Suns given his age and injury history.
The team had little depth last season after adding Durant and that’s not something they can fix with Paul still on the roster.
Paul has had a good run with the Suns and was an integral part of them going from one of the league’s worst organizations to one of its best and for that reason maybe the Suns would try to find a way to be able to keep him.
For right now, it just doesn’t seem like the Phoenix Suns can keep Chris Paul and find a way to get by the Nuggets next season.