Getty Image / Matthew Stockman
Right now, who Chris Paul will play basketball for next season is a pretty big mystery.
The Phoenix Suns are reportedly ready to move on and told him as much after their disappointing playoff exit.
However, other reports have said that Paul doesn’t want to leave the Suns after 3 seasons with the franchise.
Fans will have to wait and see what the Suns will actually decide to do with Paul as he remains on their roster and they still have a couple of weeks to figure it out.
Whatever the Suns end up doing, it’s starting to seem like it’s safe to say that Paul will be playing for a team with title aspirations next season.
The Suns are obviously built to win right now after making a massive deal for Kevin Durant last season that included their best young player.
If they don’t hold on to him there is already another team that has been chasing a ring, and actually got closer than the Suns this year, who is reportedly showing strong interest in Paul if he is released.
According to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, the Los Angeles Lakers have strong interest in Chris Paul.
The Lakers would have strong interest in signing Chris Paul if the guard is waived or stretched by the Suns, multiple team sources told @jovanbuha.
Full story ⤵️https://t.co/D5HaVqu91N pic.twitter.com/7HcifsxAKu
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 16, 2023
The Lakers could have a need at point guard this offseason with D’Angelo Russell about to become a free agent, but Paul might not be the answer.
Last season, the Lakers were one of the NBA’s oldest teams and seemed to take exception to the belief that would be an issue. They missed the playoffs that year.
This season, they only began to become an actual contender after they made moves around the trade deadline to get younger.
Chris Paul would make their team a whole lot older and would give them another star who is an injury risk.
It was perfectly clear during the Western Conference Finals that the Los Angeles Lakers are still pretty far from competing with the Nuggets and need to make some improvements this offseason, but Chris Paul may not exactly be the improvement they are looking for.