With the February 6 trade deadline fast approaching, expect that amount of rumors and speculation swirling throughout the league to ramp up a notch.
So it’s no surprise that potential scenarios are being thrown out for the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that was defied expectations and has landed in the difficult position of asking should we be sellers or should we stay where we are?
Should Sam Presti decide to go full-on sell (as many people in the NBA expect him to do), one of biggest issues facing the Oklahoma City GM is whether or not to continue to try and trade Chris Paul?
So far, the Thunder haven’t had any luck in that department.
But Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report has an idea. He suggested that OKC could send Paul back to the Los Angeles Clippers.
His reasoning? The Clippers are probably the only team willing to take a chance on Paul given the fact that he’s already been adamant about not turning down his $44.2 million player option for the 2021-22 season.
Paul has been brilliant with the Thunder this season, leading them to a 28-19 record, only one game behind his old Houston Rockets squad. The 34-year old is averaging 17.2 points, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals while shooting 48.3 percent overall.
Despite all of their star power, the Clippers are 24th in assist percentage this year (56.6 percent) and 20th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.54). Paul would unlock the offense by finding open shooters and getting the ball to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in their preferred spots.
While the Thunder wouldn’t get a bundle of draft picks for Paul like they did for Paul George, Swartz believes the Clippers could make it work by sending Patrick Beverly, Maurice Harkless, Ivica Zubac and Rodney McGruder to Oklahoma City.
In this scenario, Swartz notes that Los Angeles could also ask for “additional draft compensation from the Thunder in exchange for the salary relief they would be providing while sending back some usable players.”
Paul has said recently that he’s happy in Oklahoma City and neither he nor his agent has asked for a trade.
But when asked about retirement, he said he wanted to retire in a place he felt appreciated and that was he was in L.A. he “wanted to end it there”.
The Clippers are currently second in the Western Conference while Oklahoma City is in seventh.
The Thunder are back in action Wednesday night in Sacramento.