The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired Chris Paul from the Houston Rockets this summer in a trade that saw Russell Westbrook going the other way. At the moment, it seems that Paul will begin the 2019-20 campaign with the Thunder, but there are a lot of speculations that Oklahoma City will trade the All-Star point guard sooner rather than later.
Should the Thunder trade Chris Paul for Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee? 🤔⚡️#ThunderUp #Thunder pic.twitter.com/LTEnobdIkZ
— Thunder Nation (@ThunderNationCP) August 19, 2019
However, it remains to be seen if Paul will stay with the Thunder for the entire 2019-20 season. Even though there are no trade talks right now, some NBA executives think that something is brewing and that the Thunder are using a different approach on how to deal with this satiation.
“Here’s what executives expect to happen: they expect the Thunder to put out a message that we’re not looking to trade Chris Paul. … We want him to work with our young guys. Because they don’t want anybody to think they’re panic-trying to trade him, and they want to hope that somebody has something happen where they need Chris Paul,” Brian Windhorst said on ESPN’s “The Jump.”
Although this makes sense, it is looking more like a reverse psychology approach from the Thunder. We shouldn’t forget about Paul’s hefty contract, and not every team is willing to take it. The nine-time NBA All-Star is in the second year of his $159.7 million contract and will earn $38.5 million for the 2019-20 campaign. According to Spotrac, Paul has a player option in the final year, and teams who may end up with him would need to face roughly $123 million until 2021.
