Getty Image / Christian Petersen
Despite making the biggest move of the 2022-23 NNBA season, the Phoenix Suns saw their year end in disappointing fashion with a blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets in front of their home fans at the Footprint Center.
That loss came with Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton both missing for the Suns.
As the Suns look towards a better ending for next season, those two players entered the offseason as prime candidates to no longer be members of the Suns’ roster.
While there hasn’t been much talk of a move involving Ayton just yet, it seems the Suns have already made their decision on what to do with CP3.
While it was assumed that they would seek a trade for Paul, it turns out that they’ll be going in a different direction.
According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, the Suns have notified Paul that they’ll be waiving him.
BREAKING: Phoenix Suns have notified star Chris Paul that he will be waived, making the future Hall of Famer one of the top free agents this offseason, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 7, 2023
Given Paul’s injury history, declining play, and massive contract, the Suns absolutely needed to do something different at point guard, but it is surprising that they didn’t at least attempt to trade Paul somewhere.
Now that Paul is no longer on the roster, it frees the Suns up to get somebody younger and cheaper in the position that can complement Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and maybe leave some space for them to improve their 5th starter.
Despite no longer being the superstar he was in past years, Paul should still draw plenty of interest from teams looking to compete right now.
Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns are both still chasing their first ring and now it looks like they could end up in each other’s way next season.