The Spurs have officially signed 11-time All-NBA guard Chris Paul, according to a team press release relayed by ESPN’s Andrew Lopez (Twitter link).
Paul’s intention to sign with San Antonio was made public a week ago. The contract will reportedly be a one-year deal worth more than $11MM.
Paul was waived by the Warriors at the start of free agency. The 12-time All-Star figures to be a natural, if short-term, pick-and-roll partner for Victor Wembanyama.
Paul came off the bench a majority of the season for Golden State but will likely start for the Spurs. San Antonio used a variety of players to initiate the offense in Wembanyama’s rookie season with Tre Jones getting a majority of the starts at that position. Still, given that the Spurs seemed reluctant to make Jones their starter and didn’t do so until January, it seems unlikely that he would get the nod in next year’s starting five over the veteran Paul.
San Antonio’s cap space gave it an advantage over some other potential suitors for Paul. Golden State had to make a decision prior to free agency whether to guarantee Paul’s $30MM salary for the 2024/25 season. The Warriors were unsuccessful in their attempts to include Paul’s contract in a blockbuster deal, including a potential swap with the Clippers for Paul George.
Paul, who turned 39 in May, remained productive in 2023/24, averaging 9.2 points, 6.8 assists, and 3.9 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game in 58 appearances (18 starts) for the Warriors. He posted a shooting line of .441/.371/.827.
Trading for Markkanen or na?
looks like Ainge is going to keep him for now.
Ainge is going to keep Lauri, until he can fleece some team for him.
Over the hill coach and over the hill pg. They can share their AARP discounts to get cheaper hotel rooms.
How is Pop over the hill exactly?
Chris Paul is interning before his coaching career
Given the other rumours I’m glad the Spurs went this route…
They don’t need wins they need growth more than anything… And a table setter like CP3 is a good addition to help the others…
Exactly. It’s taking small steps, steady growth.
It’ll be great seeing, not just the Wemby PnR/PnP, but how the others play with an elite, albeit aged PG.
It’s Pops and the Spurs, they won’t hurry this thing up. They’ll let it grow organically, build assets and only strike when the good deal comes along e.g. Garland
It’s a good combination of old school management with analytics on the side …. this ain’t Morey-land where it’s all moneyball.
It’s typical Spurs slow growth… But it’s what they need… Can’t rush it until they know what Wemby will be, if he fills out more or stays slim physically and how his game grows in the NBA…
Can see CP3 slipping into a coaching role once he hangs it up, so whomever the Spurs get as their long time PG for Wemby will have CP3 to help them see the passing lanes…
Exactly, we know how the Spurs roll , you don’t rush something special tryna cut corners. You want it to develop organically. This is a phenomenal move. I think they also just picked up Harrison Barnes. This gives them 2 vet players who can get their bread & butter from midrange just giving them consistency on offense until the young core pieces can gain experience & ease into those roles. The pick n roll with Wemby is ingenious, & it’s relatively cheap for the point God. Very smart.
Castle surely gonna eat up a lot of pg mins while Paul is on his annual extended all star break, healing from whichever minor injury he may or may not have picked up in November.. State Farm ad shootin time
Hopefully Sochan learned some stuff about pace setting last year that will help him somehow