Chris Paul has one year remaining on his four-year $120 million deal. However, that final year is non-guaranteed. Paul could enter the free agency market this season with the Golden State Warriors reportedly looking to duck under the luxury tax. However, for that to happen, the Warriors must waive the final year of his deal.
In a recent article for Spotrac, NBA cap expert Keith Smith shared his thoughts on why waiving Paul is the most prudent approach for the Warriors. He noted how that approach would have differed if they were still genuine championship contenders.
“The easiest of the Warriors hard decisions seems to be waiving Chris Paul. Paul has a $30 million contract for next season. If Golden State was still competing for titles, the prudent strategy would be to guarantee Paul’s deal and to use that $30 million as salary-matching in a trade,” Smith wrote. “Given that the Warriors are resetting, it’s best to waive Paul to begin cutting salary. Paul was by no means a bad player last season. He can still run an offense with the best of them. He can still knock down open shots. But the defense has slipped, and creating his own offense is almost non-existent now. That’s not something anyone is going to pay $30 million for.”
Paul will undoubtedly have multiple teams interested in his services. Despite being in the final stages of his career, he’s still a reliable veteran who can play at a high level, either as a starter or coming off the bench.
Nevertheless, the Warriors must make decisions to help ease their payroll crunch in the coming years. Unfortunately, Paul’s contract makes him a logical player to cut. Then, the front office must find a new backup ball-handler for next season.
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