The Los Angeles Lakers want to sign point guard Chris Paul should he get waived by the Washington Wizards and become an unrestricted free agent, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
The Phoenix Suns traded Paul to the Wizards in the blockbuster Bradley Beal trade. CP3 is not expected to stay with Washington.
If the Wizards can’t trade Paul, they will likely waive him, paving the way for the Lakers to sign the future Hall of Famer.
“It is feasible to some unknown degree that the Lakers could elect to amend their plans and decide, in the end, that they do want to pursue Irving this summer,” Stein wrote. “But that would be a dramatic departure from the Lakers’ current Plan A, which calls for re-signing free agents Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura and trying to sign Chris Paul as a free agent should Paul make it to the open market in the wake of his inclusion in the Beal-to-Phoenix trade.”
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: LeBron James, Chris Paul & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
Paul averaged 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists for the Suns this past season while shooting 44.0% from the field, 37.5% from beyond the arc and 83.1% from the free-throw line. The 12-time All-Star has a partially guaranteed contract for next season.
Lakers superstar small forward LeBron James and Paul are best friends. An NBA general manager told Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports that it’s Paul’s “dream” to play for the Lakers and with James. Paul almost became a Laker in 2011 to play with Kobe Bryant before former commissioner David Stern vetoed the trade between the Lakers and New Orleans Hornets.
“Lakers first,” one Eastern Conference GM texted Deveney. “It’s not definite, a lot can happen. But you’d have to start there. He always had (the) dream of being a Laker (and) playing with LBJ (James).”
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: LeBron James, Chris Paul & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
If the Lakers sign Paul, they could still re-sign D’Angelo Russell to truly solidify their point guard position.
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