Oklahoma City may make Chris Paul available during the trade period, but that doesn’t mean he’s necessarily going anywhere.
It’s no secret that Paul’s contract makes him tough to trade. The Thunder ran into that issue over the summer when they were unable to make a deal to send the 14-year veteran to Miami.
At 34-years-old, age isn’t helping CP3 any either.
But the hope in Oklahoma City has been that Paul would get off to a great start, that potential playoff teams would need some help and, ultimately, that a deal would be able to get done. However, it appears league executives don’t believe that is going to be the case.
According to Tim Haberstroh of NBC Sports, the consensus around the NBA is that Paul will end this season exactly where he started – in Oklahoma City, due in part to his “enormous contract”:
After polling executives, the league-wide sense is that Paul will remain with the Thunder this season simply because of his enormous contract. While it’s theoretically possible that Paul could agree to turn down his $44 million player option for 2021-22 to grease the wheels on a potential trade, right now, that is the longest of long shots.
Thanks to Paul being the president of the players’ union, Haberstroh also notes, the optics of turning down such a sizable option wouldn’t look particularly good:
Besides overcoming the idea of giving up 44 million buckaroos, Paul is also the president of the players’ union and it would be a bad look to set that precedent of turning down that amount of money to make it more palatable to a team.
As pointed out by Bleacher Report, Paul is set to make just under $80 million over the next two seasons ($79.7 million, to be exact), and “holds a $44.2 million option for 2021-22.”
Currently, Paul is averaging 15.7 points and 6.1 assists for the Thunder, shooting right around 45% from the field.
Oklahoma City, though not expected to contend for the playoffs, is currently in seventh place in the Western Conference standings with the Kings and the Suns.
