The Los Angeles Clippers may still be the favorite to keep Chris Paul if and when the star point guard opts out of his contract this summer, but the rumors about the San Antonio Spurs getting involved continue to heat up.
Marc Stein of ESPN reports that Paul is giving “serious consideration” to signing with the Spurs if he ends up leaving the Clippers. Having recently turned 32, Paul is said to be “intrigued” by the possibility of playing alongside Kawhi Leonard under five-time NBA champion coach Gregg Popovich.
Stein adds that the Clippers have already begun thinking about changes they might need to make to their roster and within the organization in order to convince Paul to stay. It’s no coincidence that ESPN recently reported that the Clippers want to hire Hall of Famer Jerry West in an executive role. The veteran reporter went on to say that the Spurs are a “lock” to secure a face-to-face meeting with CP3 when free agency begins, even though signing Paul would mean parting with other players to free up enough salary cap space.
The Clippers can offer Paul a max contract worth $205 million over five years. Any other team — like the Spurs — can “only” offer a four-year deal for about $153 million. Even if Paul feels he would have a better chance to win a title in San Antonio, that’s an awful lot of money to turn down.
The Spurs obviously have a huge question mark in their backcourt in the wake of Tony Parker’s recent injury, and there has been speculation that Parker could retire. However, some recent comments he made indicated that is unlikely. If San Antonio really wants CP3, they may have to make the tough decision to part ways with Parker.
