The Oklahoma City Thunder did a terrific job this season, making the playoffs when nobody believed in them, taking the Houston Rockets to play seven games in the first round, getting close to beat the Texans to face the Lakers in the West semifinals. Last offseason was full of changes for the fans; they saw Paul George and Russell Westbrook -their biggest figure- leave so the team could enter their rebuilding process.
They got big pieces in exchange for their duo, including veteran point guard Chris Paul. CP3 played a key role in the Thunder’s success in this campaign, but they don’t fit the plans of the squad anymore. With CP3 drawing attention from several teams in the league, the Thunder can take advantage of that and use him to continue their rebuilding process next campaign. According to Royce Young, who covers the Thunder for ESPN, the team could move at least three pieces to start their full-scale rebuilding process.
“By all appearances, once the Thunder make the move to move on from Chris Paul, that’s kind of when they’re going to hit the reset button,” Young said on The Hoop Collective pod, via Real GM.
“That’s when I think they’ll start tearing down some of the pieces. Schroder will go. Adams might go. And they’ll start to sort of begin their first ever rebuild since they moved to Oklahoma City.”
Paul has been linked with a move to the New York Knicks, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers, but it’s unclear what assets these two could offer in exchange for Paul. The All-Star point guard is owed $41,358,814 in 2020-21 and has a player option worth $44,211,146 for the 2021-22 season. His hefty contract may be a headache to any team, but the Knicks have been known for making questionable managerial decisions.
This season, Paul averaged 17.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists, taking his team to the postseason, doing something that absolutely nobody believed they could do.
