The Phoenix Suns have emerged as a surprise suitor for the services of Chris Paul, and it was reportedly deemed serious enough by Sam Presti for him to give the Suns’ front office permission to speak with Paul about whether a move to the desert would be agreeable.
Since the speculation began as to whether Paul’s days in Oklahoma City were numbered, those who have predicted his landing elsewhere via trade have wondered aloud what kind of return a 35-year-old point guard due to earn $85 million over the next two seasons could net.
Well, it seems like we’ll have to continue guessing, because there hasn’t been any news of a potential package from Phoenix.
We do, however, have an idea of what the Suns wouldn’ be trading to Oklahoma City in the potential deal, and the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft might be on that listt.
Both Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton are precisely the kind of player that would benefit most from playing with Paul, and each are simply too good to trade for a player in the twilight of his career. That said, Arizona Sports 98.7 FM’s John Gambadoro reports on some other components that probably won’t be heading to Oklahoma City should the deal happen.
Neither Ricky Rubio nor Kelly Oubre, Jr. are reportedly desirable to the Thunder, while, according to Gambadoro, the Suns aren’t likely to be parting with the 10th pick in the draft.
I would not expect the 10th pick in the draft to be a part of any trade for Chris Paul. Can't say never but from what I am hearing Suns would be hard pressed to give that up in this trade. Suns would use up a lot of cap space & basically have to rely on exceptions to sign players
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) November 11, 2020
That naturally leads one to wonder what the Thunder would actually be getting in the trade. The most likely answer appears to be future first-round draft picks — Phoenix owns all of theirs. Presi managed to extract tons of future picks from both the Clippers and Rockets in his trades of Paul George and Russell Westbrook, so he may attempt to follow the same blueprint with Paul.
Little monkey wrench here – Just heard that OKC does not want any multi-year contracts back which if true would make this trade difficult. They have no real interest in either guy (Rubio/Oubre). Fluid situation I'll do my best to let you know what I am hearing.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) November 11, 2020
While the Suns do own the 10th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the franchise is understandably reluctant to part with it, so what exactly Oklahoma City would net in any such trade remains a mystery.
