The NBA world was shocked in the middle of the night when the Clippers announced that they are parting ways with Chris Paul, sending home the future Hall of Fame point guard. CP3 agreed to join the Clips in the offseason for a one-year stint, hoping to go back to the team where he’s arguably the greatest player in franchise history and help push them over the hump.
Instead, things have gone completely off the rails, LA is off to a 5-16 start, and the Point God has been buried off the bench. The vibes are completely off, and with an investigation around circumventing the salary cap, and their first-round pick owed to the Thunder, things are looking extremely grim in the Intuit Dome.
And now, things have gone from bad to worse. Just days after Paul announced his retirement at the end of the season, the franchise decided to part with one of their most iconic players of all time.
It’s a bizarre and jarring situation, but as bad as things have looked, Paul started all 82 games last season and played well. He can likely still help a team in the right role, and perhaps this parting of ways is a mutual agreement so CP3 can spend his final season playing with a contender.
Chris Paul would be perfect backup point guard for Nuggets
We’ve known since the second the offseason began that the Nuggets needed a backup point guard to replace Russell Westbrook, a steady hand off the bench who can run the offense without derailing things in short stints.
Paul immediately seemed like an ideal free agent option, but from day one, CP to the Clippers seemed like a done deal. He wanted to go back to LA, to the team where he had his most success, a team that ended the season looking like one of the best in the West.
Paul was set to join other veteran superstars in Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, and try to help push the team over the top and bring home the first title in franchise history. But that obviously didn’t happen at all, and now Paul has a mulligan in free agency.
Conveniently enough, the Nuggets still need a veteran backup point guard, and they still have an open roster spot. CP3 joining Denver to play 10-15 minutes a game would be a dream scenario, and he would be exactly the reliable, sure hand that the team so badly needs.