After co-authoring a Tuesday report revealing that the Suns and Thunder have discussed a potential Chris Paul trade, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst appeared on The Drive with Jody Oehler on FOX Sports 910 Phoenix on Wednesday morning to go into more detail on the possibility of a CP3 deal between the two Western clubs.
According to Windhorst, the Thunder have given Paul permission to talk to the Suns, which suggests that Oklahoma City is unlikely to complete a trade with Phoenix unless the veteran point guard is comfortable with it. And Windhorst does believe that CP3 has interest in becoming a Sun, pointing out that Phoenix’s proximity to Los Angeles – where Paul has a home – helps give the team a leg up.
Pressed to place odds on the two teams finalizing a trade, Windhorst told Oehler that he thinks the Suns and Thunder have better than a “50-50” chance to work something out.
Here’s more on the rumors connecting Paul to the Suns:
- John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) wouldn’t expect the Suns to include the No. 10 pick in any offer for Paul. He adds that Phoenix may have to take advantage of its cap flexibility to complete a deal, noting that Frank Kaminsky and Aron Baynes aren’t expected to return to the team, which will free up some space (Twitter link).
- Gambadoro has also heard that the Thunder don’t want to take back any multiyear contracts, which would make a trade difficult, since Ricky Rubio almost certainly has to be included for salary-matching purposes (Twitter link). Oklahoma City doesn’t have real interest in Rubio – who has two years and $34.8MM left on his deal – or Kelly Oubre, per Gambadoro. That doesn’t mean a deal is impossible, but it means the Thunder and Suns could be motivated to try to get a third team involved.
- Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic weighs the pros and cons of acquiring Paul from the Suns’ perspective.
Oubre + Rubio = zero value for Thunder
Oubre has zero value for quite a few teams
Oubre 3 point 34%
Not good
34% is good ya know! I mean fans make so much of the % of threes but margins are so minimal ain’t worthy the effort. Look 35% seems to be the average, right? Well if a dude throws 300 a season at average gets 105, if he does at “below” average of 34 gets 102, so we are talking about 3 treys in the course of a whole season, if you ask me it is absolutely irrelevant.
I rather focus in FT% which is much more important.
2020 Draft Value IMO
Porter Jr = 5th pick – 2 years contract left
Lu Dort = 15th pick
Kuzma = 25th pick
Oubre = 35th pick
Cp3 in phx means no clip return, clips should go after Kyle Lowry
A deal without Oubre or Rubio is not impossible, but it is not exactly promising either. They are not getting Booker or Ayton. The best I could come up with is Paul and the 25 for Kaminsky, Cam Johnson or Mikal Bridges, and the 10. It’s not really ideal for either side, but if the Thunder insist on no Rubio or Oubre, that’s pretty much their only option with the Suns unless it’s a multi team deal.
For what it’s worth, even if Gambadoro is right that the Thunder don’t have “real interest” in Oubre or Rubio, I don’t think that means they wouldn’t take either of them — just that they wouldn’t view them as much more than salary filler.
That’s a good point. Although I don’t particularly agree with them on that assessment, it’s not my team.
He’s never right.
I don’t know. I agree with Luke a lot more than his “brother” Steve on MLBTR.
Although one simple three team deal makes sense.
Suns get
Chris Paul
Thunder get
Kyle Lowry
Raptors get
Ricky Rubio
Kelly Oubre
It seems like a win-win-win to me.
Probably gonna take some pick swaps but I could see it.
Why would OKC want another PG? They have 2 other good ones. They will be finding a team that wants Rubio & Oubre; it should not be too hard to flip them.
Because Lowry is cheaper and only on contract for 1 year instead of 2. He could then be dealt at the deadline as an expiring deal to some team looking to get cap space for the loaded 2021 free agent market. As a $30MM expiring deal, they could easily add 1 or even more future 1st round picks.
If Super Saver Sarver cant make a deal to get this done… Booker should push to get gone from the “Dollar General” of the NBA.