Report: ‘No appetite’ among teams to take on final year of Chris Paul deal
The Oklahoma City Thunder are having a very hard time finding anyone to take Chris Paul’s contract off their hands.
According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, based on conversations with NBA general manager, there is “almost no appetite” around the league to touch Paul’s contract, particularly the $44 million player option in 2021-22. Paul will be 37 years old by the time that deal expires.
Having talked with a few GMs, there is almost no appetite for the final year of CP3's deal. My understanding is the Thunder may have to shovel over several picks to get a team to look at that cap hit. Today, I think he starts the season in OKC. https://t.co/CmxE04TKaa
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) July 15, 2019
The Thunder are running into the same problem the Houston Rockets had: Paul’s contract is nearly untradeable unless the pot is sweetened with extra picks. That runs counter to what Oklahoma City is trying to do, which is stockpile future first-round selections in order to strengthen their rebuild. Ultimately, they’re reportedly open to keeping the point guard, largely because, at this point, they may have no other choice.
