The Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder have had some “cursory” trade conversations centered on Chris Paul, but those talks haven’t gained any traction, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
Paul was linked to the Phoenix Suns in a report earlier this week.
“The Thunder are going to let Chris Paul be involved in his own trade,” Windhorst said on his podcast.
In other words, Paul will likely need to give the green light before a deal is reached. So any trade will be between more than just the Thunder and an opposing team or teams. It will be between Paul, the Thunder and whoever wants to trade for him.
The Suns are undoubtedly exploring a deal. But the 76ers’ interest may have already passed.
“It is my understanding that Chris has interest in Phoenix,” Windhorst said. “One, it’s close to his family in Los Angeles. There are some East teams that are interested. I think New York has interest. Philadelphia has interest. I believe there’s been some cursory conversation between Philadelphia and Oklahoma City, but I don’t get the impression there’s any traction there.
“I do get the impression that Chris Paul is interested. If he can’t play for a championship contender, which the Suns are not, I think he’s interested in playing closer to home in LA.”
The difficulty in acquiring Paul is the fact he has two years and more than $88 million left on his contract. But as ESPN noted, the Suns could have more than $120 million in available cap space, meaning they could trade for Paul and still have plenty of money left over for free agency.
The NBA is expected to lift the moratorium on trades by the start of next week, with free agency negotiations set to begin Nov. 20. While trades can’t be completed yet, they can be agreed on and then made official once the moratorium is lifted.
