Chris Paul was sent to the Thunder this offseason and the move doesn’t seem to sit well with him. The point guard recently sat down with Kevin Hart and the comedian asked Paul if any trade he’s been involved in has felt like he was “stabbed in the back” — CP3’s response was noteworthy.
“Absolutely,” Paul said of having the feeling of being stabbed in the back (via Dan Feldman of NBC Sports). “This last situation was one of them. The GM there in Houston, he don’t owe me nothing. You know what I mean? He may tell me one thing but do another thing. But you just understand that that’s what it is.”
Back in June, GM Daryl Morey told the media that he would not trade Paul and ended up dealing him and a pair of first-rounders to OKC for Russell Westbrook this summer. Paul has been traded three times in his career (four if you include the Lakers veto).
Tough luck. For the money u are making u should be grateful. Suck it up!
He had his shot at a ring and blew it when Houston had a 3-2 lead over Golden State, and as usual he got hurt when his team needed him the most. Now he can finish his career playing for a lottery team.
CP3 didn’t blow it. The Rockets chuck up 3’s and play no defense strategy didn’t cut it in a 7 game series vs a good team.
Play no defense strategy? Golden State averaged 107 PPG during the series, how exactly was Houston playing no defense??
A 107 average in a confrence final is quite a lot lol.
You’ve heard of the Golden State Warriors right? 107 is good vs that squad.
You act like holding them to 107 ppg is good
CP3 had a bad shooting series overall. It’s a bit of both.
He also failed over and over with the clippers who had Griffin, Jordan, Crawford, Reddick and lots of decent supporting players.
They failed to bring in a SG/SF that could be a lockdown or elite defender to try stop Durant, Bron and other teams best wings.
Should’ve gone Reddick for Tony Allen, Clippers get a elite defender on the wing and keep Crawford for buckets off the bench.
After paying Chris Paul all that money there was no cap room left to sign a decent wing. Didn’t they even have to let Trevor Ariza go for that reason?
So Morey promises Paul he’s going to retire a Rocket, lies to his face about trade rumors, and he’s supposed to just shut up about all that because you think he makes too much money to complain?
Agreed. No reason to lie to him like that. Granted, a lot of GMs tend to say one thing and do another, but that’s to the media and not the players themselves.
For all the praise Morey has gotten with the China situation, he did not do right by CP3. Future free agents would do well to take note of that.
Yes.
Funny how people with no money think money makes everything better
@suejen suck it up? No amount of money can fix the stress it puts on 2 kids and a wife when you’re always moving. They just want a normal life. Funny how money is always the miracle drug to fix everything until you have it. You clearly have never had any.
He could have taken less money and taken a no-trade clause instead. He chose not to do that because he wanted the money.
Don’t ever let these whiny people convince you they are victims. They have plenty of control over their situations.
I don’t see Paul claiming he’s a victim. I see a guy who’s mad, and rightfully so.
I agree, CP can be mad, esp in-season… it works out fine.
As for Morey, business is business. CP wasn’t exactly a happy camper!
You know as a professional athlete you could be traded at any time. What is there to be mad about? You trade the grind of travel And Trades to obscure locales for a really good salary to play ball all day long. Pretty good deal and many try to catch on the gravy train. Just roll with it.
I’m with Reflect on this one.
CP plays with a frown. Gotta be someone to blame. Harden’s shadow is on the wall, but it’s a new team now!
Then just don’t lie to him and say, to his face, that he’s going to be a Rocket for life. That is unprofessional, even if being traded is a part of being a professional athlete.
Maybe say we don’t want to trade you,= but if the right offer comes along we may not have a choice, or something to that effect. There’s simply zero reason to lie, unprovoked, to an employee like that, especially when that could have an impact on future relationships.
Yes you’re right. No excuse for lying. But some people do it anyway. Even though it’s wrong and we hate it we have to live with it around us.
Of course. If CP3 was genuinely surprised at being traded, he’s gullible, especially given Houston’s situation at the time. Without much financial flexibility and a narrow window of opportunity, you figured someone was going to be traded at some point in order to shake things up.
And the Houston FO talked a lot about trading.
The draft picks went with Paul.
A totally one-sided trade:
Washed-up CP3 and two very late first rounders for Westbrook.
4 1st rounders and a washed-up Paul to get a washed-up Westbrook.
Let’s see if you’re still saying this come playoff time.
Being a Heat fan, I thought it was hilarious how Thunder writers kept talking about getting young Heat talent for this guy. Heat have a proposal to take him. Dion Waiters with his gummies, his buddy James Johnson and Kelly Olynik. That is how he gets out of purgatory and the Heat agree to that albatross of a contract.
I wouldn’t put Olynyk in the same league as Johnson and Waiters.
He’s not but you throw him in there as part of the trade to get Paul.
Dragic not Olynyk works better, plays CP3’s role and Thunder will want that expiring contract.
The whole Heat thing was simple. Sports writers need to come up with a place to trade him to so they narrow in on a couple of places that are possibilities. Then they start saying it over and over so much that they convince themselves that something the speculated about is now an absolute truth and it’s almost like the Heat not trading for him ruins their narrative. This is why facts should be valued over narrative or story.
Eh, I do think the Heat are still one of the most likely destinations for him since a) The Heat are dying to get rid of their own bad contracts, b) they are determined to surround Butler with better talent and c) there aren’t a lot of other great matchups on paper.
Of course, you’re generally spot-on with your comment. I just think in this particular case that the Heat are far and away still the most likely destination for CP3, even if it’s not a sure thing.
Tell me you’ll give me $250mil but I have to uproot myself and family every 4 years for 16 years to get it…. “Show me the money!”
Exactly. Sounds like a no-brainer to me.