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Phoenix rising for PG Paul in Thunder trade
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Ten-time All-Star Chris Paul is joining Phoenix from the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a blockbuster deal that sends four players and a draft pick the other way, the Suns confirmed on Monday.
Under the deal, point guard Paul and teammate Abdel Nader will head to the Suns in exchange for Kelly Oubre, Ricky Rubio, Ty Jerome and Jalen Lecque.
Oklahoma City will also receive a 2022 first-round draft pick as part of the move, which signals the Suns’ determination to break into playoff contention next season.
“Chris’s leadership and competitive approach to the game will have an immeasurable impact on our team,” Suns general manager James Jones said.
Paul, 35, had two more seasons remaining on his Oklahoma City contract after joining the Thunder in 2019 following two seasons at the Houston Rockets. Prior to that, Paul spent six years with the Los Angeles Clippers.
The move will see Paul join up with Phoenix’s Devin Booker, one of the brightest talents in the National Basketball Association.
Last season, Paul played in 70 of the Thunder’s 72 games, averaging 17.6 points, 6.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds to lead the team to the fifth seed in the Western Conference.
Phoenix coach Monty Williams has long been an admirer of Paul, saying in January: “He is the kind of guy that changes organizations.”
“Everywhere he has gone, he has made everybody better,” Williams added. “That is just who Chris is.”
Phoenix has not made the postseason since 2010 but impressed during the NBA’s restart in Orlando, Florida, earlier this year, going 8-0 and just failing to clinch a place in the playoffs.
Elsewhere, coach Mike D’Antoni and general manager Daryl Morey departed the Rockets after last season. Star guard James Harden might be the next one out the door.
Harden declined Houston’s offer of a contract that would pay him an NBA-record US$50 million per season, and he instead is looking to engineer a trade that would send him to the Brooklyn Nets, ESPN reported on Monday.
Per the report, Harden turned down an extension for two years and US$103 million beyond the existing three years and US$133 million on his contract. He is reportedly in contact with Nets forward Kevin Durant and guard Kyrie Irving in hopes of forming a Big Three in Brooklyn. However, there has been no “meaningful dialogue” between the Nets and the Rockets about a Harden deal, ESPN reported.
D’Antoni parted ways with the Rockets in September after the team lost to the eventual champions Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.
Morey resigned as the Rockets’ GM on October 15, two weeks before the club hired Stephen Silas as its new head coach. The New York Times reported that Harden had wanted the team to hire either Tyronn Lue or John Lucas as D’Antoni’s replacement.
Harden, 31, is an eight-time All-Star and seven-time All-NBA performer who has led the NBA in scoring each of the past three season. In 2019-20, he averaged 34.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 68 games.
He has reached the NBA Finals once (playing alongside Durant with the 2011-12 Thunder) and the Western Conference finals three other times but has yet to win a championship.
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