What every GM should be asking themselves:
Young clubs no doubt will covet all of the above assets but every club has questions they should ask when evaluating the effect Chris Paul would offer their club.
- How much would you pay to immediately improve your team?
- How valuable is it to take your team from the lottery to the playoffs?
- For clubs with budding talents – how much value would you place on expediting the ascent of that young star(s)?
- For clubs in the mix but missing one player – how much would you pay to obtain that one player?
- For clubs who are on the threshold of moving up one spot whether it be from just outside the playoffs or a home court seed who wants to be a contender — With windows to compete shifting yearly – how valuable would it be to add one player to expedite that process?
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- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
There are clubs who look at the economics of their franchise having already established their window is down the road and won’t want to invest in having an on-court leader and mentor.
They are the exception rather than the rule, however.
The majority of clubs could not go through that list of questions and not consider adding Chris Paul’s contract if it achieved their objective.
With each passing season, his contract actually gains in value. That’s because teams will be more willing to take on big contracts for one or two seasons knowing that allotment of money comes off the books and opens their own salary options.
And because of that fact, a team that trades for him will have greater ease in trading Paul themself.