Eric Pincus, a reporter from the bleachers, Chris Paul could join the Lakers this summer 。
When talking about the Lakers' recruitment, Eric Pincus said: "If I don't mention the possibility of Chris Paul, it would be too careless. He is likely to be traded or fired by the Warriors. His relationship with James is obviously very close.
The Lakers' signing of Paul is a possibility... Will Paul get the base salary? I don't know. I don't want to say that he is cheap for the Lakers, but I think it can be foreseen without a better offer. "
Paul still has a one-year contract with an annual salary of up to 30 million yuan, which is only a team option, and there is no guarantee before June 29. As long as the Warriors do not implement this option, Paul will become free after the free market opens.
In terms of last season's situation and Warriors' salary, Paul's dismissal was almost certain.
Last season, Paul was traded to the Warriors by the Sun, and then played 58 games, 40 of which were substitutes. It should be said that this was the first time Paul accepted substitutes in his career, and his average playing time decreased from 32.0 minutes the previous year to 26.4 minutes.
With lower role positioning and less playing time, Paul's data also declined a lot, Only 9.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.2 steals per game For the first time in his career, Paul failed to score in double figures.
Paul has never been an offensive point guard. His highlight is passing and control errors. Paul has done a good job in this regard, Last season, there were only 1.3 errors per game, and the assist error ratio was as high as 5.2 This is also the highest value of Paul's career.
In addition, Paul's three-point shooting is not very bad. Last season, he averaged 3.6 shots with a 37.1% shooting rate. In the previous year's Suns, he averaged 4.4 shots with a 37.5% shooting rate.
However, because of his slow shooting speed, Paul can hardly be regarded as a space point. On the contrary, in the 2023 playoffs in the Suns, Paul is also regarded as an empty point. That year, his three-point shooting was very bad, with only 32.1% shooting rate. As a comparison, there were 38.8% and 44.6% shooting rate in the first two years.
Paul's current state is actually very good for a 39 year old veteran. If a team needs a point guard, the base salary can be considered, such as his old club, the Suns or the Spurs.
As for the Lakers, partners James and Shumei sound good, but what the Lakers urgently need now is not a veteran point guard. From the perspective of the playoffs, the Lakers need more to be able to defend the backcourt, and to be able to shoulder the team's offensive role when James and Shumei are physically exhausted. Obviously, Paul is not such a player.
Now that we are writing about Paul, let's just say a few more words. Chris Paul's state has declined sharply in recent years.
If you remember, in 2021, the first year of joining the Sun, Paul helped the Sun to return to the finals after 28 years, and Paul was the fourth MVP player that year.
By 2022, Paul will still be in good shape. At the beginning of the season, he will still be on the MVP list, and finally helped the Suns achieve the best record in the team's history, 64 wins and 18 losses.
From this year to the end of the first round, Paul's performance was still at the superstar level, The Pelican's G6 was eliminated. He hit 14 of 14 in a single game and gave 33 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists with 100% shooting rate ；
The next round of G2 against the lone ranger, Paul scored 28 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists in a single game After that game, Paul celebrated his 37th birthday.
Metaphysics is that after his birthday, Paul suddenly stopped playing. From G3 to G7, Paul only got 12 points, 5 points, 7 points, 13 points and 10 points respectively. No game scored more than 15 points. From the first round to the second round of G2, Paul had 5 games with more than 20 points.
Since then, Paul has been depressed. The previous year he was an All Star, the next year he became a premium contract, and then the 2023 playoffs were targeted, which led to his being sent to the Warriors by the Sun.
Why did Paul suddenly stop playing after his 37th birthday? So far, this is a difficult place to understand, but the reality is that Paul is not the same as Paul two or three years ago. He has declined like a normal veteran, and his state may continue to decline next season.
Back to Paul and the Lakers, I think, If Paul is willing to join the Lakers at a minimum salary, the Lakers can sign him After all, Paul, who played only 20 minutes in the regular season, is still a reliable player, and his partner with Zhanmei should have a beautiful picture.
However, Paul can only play in the regular season now, and he probably won't appear on the court at the critical moment. This can't be the biggest introduction of the Lakers during the off-season, and can only be used as minor repairs and supplements - it's not 2011 now. If there were no basketball reasons at the beginning, the story might be completely different.
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