Chris Paul Deserves a Better End
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I awoke to the news that the Clippers and Chris Paul have parted ways. This is wild. Just last week I wrote about Paul after his decision to retire at the end of the season. In that piece I wrote about my personal feelings on where I have Paul in the pantheon of all time point guards. then I was just kind of waiting to see how his final season was going to play out. It seems we have an answer, albeit not the one that I thought it would be.
I truly don't know what is going on with the Clippers. They have been an absolute mess this year. They cannot stay healthy, they cannot win many games, they are atrocious on defense, which should be their calling card, and they are very boring offensively. They have reverted to James Harden dribbling for 20 seconds and then trying to create. He has had a solid year, probably the best of any player on the Clippers, but him dribbling the ball for far too long was boring six years ago. It is even more boring now with his advanced NBA age. Kawhi Leonard came back the other night and looked okay, but it is just a matter of time before he is injured and out. Ivica Zubac hasn't played like he did last season, Derrick Jones' three ball isn't falling and Brook Lopez looks washed. And now we have this whole ordeal with CP3.
Since it was announced that the Clippers have cut ties there have been a ton of stories from both camps refuting the other. CP3 was apparently not even talking to head coach Ty Lue. CP3 used Instagram to make an announcement that he was "sent home" by the team. The Clippers immediately sent out a statement saying that was not the case, but that he had been cut from the team. Recently I saw that Ty Lue refused to meet with him to possibly mend some bridges. Then, Clippers team president Lawrence Frank said that the release of Paul was not made to make him the "scapegoat" for how poorly the team has played this year.
Who knows how weird it is going to get from here, but we all know one thing, it will only get wilder. I already laid out all the reasons why I think CP3 will be a hall of fame player and why he is one of the best to ever play point guard, but if this is the end for him, what a thud. This is not how someone like CP3 should go out. He has earned so much better than this. I get that he wasn't playing much this season, but just last year he was doing some solid things with the Spurs. He was an important player for a young team with a budding superstar. I think he still has something in the tank for a playoff team. He could go to almost any team in the East and be an upgrade for their bench. The Hawks could use him with Trae Young still out, just as a bridge. I believe the Magic would welcome him with open arms since they don't have a real point guard at the moment. I think Giannis would like to try and play with CP3. And if I look to the West, the Thunder could bring him back as a deep, deep bench player, just so he could go out with a ring, possibly. The Kings, while not in the playoffs, could take a flyer on him and let him and Russell Westbrook play together again. I'd take him on the Grizzlies just so he could knock some sense into Ja Morant. I guess what I'm saying is, there are plenty of teams that could use CP3's services. I don't think he's fully done, but he is fully done with the Clippers. And I bet he is okay with that.
The Clippers are an absolute mess and cutting CP3 will not do them many favors. He's old and barely played. It's not like he was a key piece to their awful season. I expected the Clippers to be good this year, but ever since the season started, they have been abysmal. And none of that is CP3's fault. All in all I think this will only benefit Chris Paul and further hamper the Clippers. This is just going to add to the weird offseason they have had and even worse regular season they are having. Bringing CP3 back was a good idea, but cutting him twenty games in is a bad, bad look for a team that has nothing going for them. We will see, but I think Chris Paul will catch on somewhere, and he will be the one we remember fondly from this whole ordeal.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.