The Philadelphia 76ers are in need of a floor spacer and a point guard.
When they signed a contract to make Doc Rivers the new head coach, there was one star point guard, one who used to play under Rivers, who seemed to be an obvious candidate.
Then, reports surfaced that Daryl Morey was set to become the new 76ers president of operations.
Morey comes from the Houston Rockets. He traded for and then traded away that same point guard who played under Rivers for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Are the 76ers gearing up to make a deal for Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul?
Let’s back up a little. Obviously, this trade is not the reason Philadelphia hired these two men. Both have made contributions to their respective former teams that will put them under Hall of Fame consideration. The 76ers hired them because they are good at their jobs and can help Philly grow.
They just both happen to have quite a bit of experience with Paul.
The point guard played for the Clippers for six seasons, four of which were with Rivers as head coach. Over those four years, Paul made four all-star games and averaged 19 points and 10 assists per outing.
Los Angeles won more than 50 games in all four seasons, posting a record of 217-111.
Their relationship got dicey at the end of that tenure, but Rivers said in September that the two had moved passed it.
“We put that behind us a year ago, at least. We golfed a bunch this summer before the season started,” he said in a video tweeted by Clutch Points reporter Tomer Azarly.
“We cleaned the air long ago. That happens from coach (to) player a lot. Usually when a guy leaves a company in business, most of the time it’s not on great terms, even if they’re just going to another opportunity, but usually you come back to that company and say Thank you,’ and ‘Appreciate all the things you’ve done.’ I think that was CP in our case. That’s old news.”
Doc Rivers on his relationship with Chris Paul – “It’s great. We put that behind us a year ago. We golfed a bunch. Usually when a guy leaves a company, it might not be on great terms, but you come back, say thank you, and appreciate what they’ve done. That’s CP in our case.” pic.twitter.com/X4IP8bG3Hj
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) September 4, 2020
The Clippers traded Paul to Morey and the Rockets, where Paul averaged 17.1 points and eight assists over two seasons. While there were reports about a fractured relationship between Paul and co-star James Harden, there wasn’t public noise about him and Morey.
So now, two of the more powerful members of the Philly team have connections to Paul.
The Thunder are likely open to trading the guard with his value as high as it’ll ever be.
The Sixers need to add a player who can facilitate the offense, spread the court and play defense.
This is all speculation, but it sounds like there’s a match there.
