Where Chris Paul ultimately lands is anyone’s guess, but as of Thursday, there was another team to add to the list that seems to keep growing: the Philadelphia 76ers.
With the Thunder announcing the hire of new head coach Mark Daigneault, it now seems that general manager Sam Presti will focus his attention on trading Paul to a new team. That much seemed inevitable from the time Paul posted what many believed was a farewell video to the fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder shortly after the team was eliminated from the 2020 playoffs by the Houston Rockets.
Most recently, reports suggested that the Phoenix Suns emerged as the most likely destination, but it seems that the Sixers have at least some interest in attempting to pair Paul with Joel Embiid.
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The news was reported by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who delivered the following on The Hoop Collective podcast:
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.
Without question, Paul would help the Sixers, but he would help most NBA teams. The real question is whether the Sixers have an enticing enough package to get serious consideration from Presti. Unless an offer were to include Ben Simmons, it’s difficult to wonder whether that would be the case, especially since previous reports have indicated that Presti is unwilling to take back long money contracts. That would likely undercut the possibility of Tobias Harris being one of the pieces going back to Oklahoma City in any potential deal.
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At this point, according to the report from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the conversations were “cursory,” and truth be told, they were probably brief.
Still, newly installed team president Daryl Morey became renowned as “The Wizard” during his time in Houston because he had developed a habit of executing deals that nobody saw coming. One can only wonder whether he’s determined to make a splash in Philadelphia.