Chris Paul is no stranger to the NBA trade market. During his 15-year stint in the league, Paul has been traded three times. The first trade occurred in 2011 when the New Orleans Hornets sent their highly-prized former fourth-overall pick to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Paul played with the Clippers for six seasons before finding himself re-locating for the second time in his pro career. In the summer of 2017, Paul was sent to the Houston Rockets, where he played alongside James Harden for two years.
After Harden, Paul, and the Rockets failed to make an NBA Finals appearance during those two seasons, the Rockets shook up their roster once again as they sent Paul packing to join the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2019-2020 NBA season.
Paul’s short time in OKC was impressive. Despite being on a young and inexperienced team, Paul helped the Thunder snag the fifth seed in a difficult Western Conference. Although they put up a good fight, the Thunder found themselves eliminated in round one. And Paul is once again reportedly on the trade block.
Although Chris Paul enjoyed his lone season with the Thunder — and wouldn’t even be opposed to playing for them again next year — the veteran guard understands OKC is headed towards a rebuild. So, Paul isn’t sweating the situation.
“I’ve heard about every rumor that you could possibly hear,” Paul told Jimmy Fallon on ‘The Tonight Show.’ “So you learn to control what you can control. I’m training getting ready for the season. If something happens, it will. If not, you know, I love being in Oklahoma with our team. We actually just got a new coach yesterday. So, you know, the league is always constantly changing.”
Multiple teams have an interest in Paul such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, and notably, the Phoenix Suns.
While there hasn’t been a lot of traction in trade discussions not involving the Suns, there’s a good chance that one of these teams ends up employing Paul by the time the 2020-2021 season tips off. If not, he’ll be content competing with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
