Chris Paul reportedly telling teams he is staying with Clippers

Note to NBA teams not named the Los Angeles Clippers: don’t bother pursuing Chris Paul, because the point guard plans to remain with the Clips. At least that’s what ESPN is reporting.

ESPN the Magazine’s Chris Broussard reports that CP3’s representatives have told inquiring teams not to bother pursuing him because the All-Star point guard plans to remain with the Clippers despite being a free agent.

Paul was traded to the Clippers from the New Orleans Hornets prior to the 2011-2012 NBA season and took an immediate liking to LA. He even bought a house in the Bel Air Crest gated community. There were some concerns that Paul was unhappy with the team over the implication that his dissatisfaction with Vinny Del Negro cost the coach his job, but the team’s ability to acquire Doc Rivers may have changed his attitude toward the team; Paul badly wanted Rivers as the team’s coach.

[Related: Chris Paul Buying Avril Lavigne’s Bel Air Crest Mansion in LA]

Broussard says there were only slim chances of CP3 leaving the Clippers before Rivers was hired and that the point guard did entertain the thought of teaming with Dwight Howard and joining the Atlanta Hawks. That must have only been briefly entertained, because it sounds like Paul is staying in LA, while Howard may be headed to Houston.