With the Warriors missing the playoffs, Chris Paul's record of 13 consecutive playoff appearances came to an end, and in the interview, Paul said: "I will talk to my wife, kids, family and the whole team to see what the future holds, but for sure, this is not the end of my career."
This season is the 19th year of Paul's career, and the 38-year-old has played a career-low 26.4 minutes this season, which is the first time in his career that he has played less than 30 minutes, and his average data has also dropped to 9.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game.
But it cannot be ignored that Paul has only 15.4% of the rounds this season, but his assist rate ranks tenth in the league (34.2%), third in assist ratio (41.1%), fifth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.2), and 11.6 in game contribution value (86th in the league).
Needless to say, Paul still has a strong game impact, but that doesn't mean he can match his $30 million annual salary, and the Warriors, who paid $172 million in luxury tax this season but missed the playoffs, will definitely not exercise Paul's team option for the 2024-25 season, after all, Paul's $30 million contract is completely unguaranteed.
As a result, Paul will enter the free agency market in the summer of 2024, and his next home has also become a major media concern, and they have counted the seven teams that Paul is most likely to join this summer:
01 Left-behind warriors
As soon as the season ended, Paul immediately made a gesture to the team, saying that he had established a good connection with Curry, Green, and Thompson, and thanked the team, his teammates, and everyone.
And the Warriors also responded:
Head coach Kerr said: Paul has made sacrifices this year and has no complaints, and hopes to continue coaching him next year.
Dunleavy, the team's general manager, said: "I'm really happy with Chris's performance in the team this year, he's contributed a lot to the team and we're interested in keeping him.
It seems that you and I are consensual, but in fact, they are all polite words.
The current situation of the Warriors is actually very bad, Curry, Green, Wiggins all have long-term contracts, and the three's contracts have reached $100 million, and the contract extension of Thompson and Kuminga will have to be considered this summer, leaving Paul with little money.
Judging from the performance of the Warriors this season, if they don't make a large-scale trade, they obviously don't have the ability to win the championship, but if they want to trade, they don't have particularly high-quality core assets, which is really a dilemma.
For Paul, it's either to win the championship or to get more money, but the Warriors don't seem to be able to give either of them.
02 Spurs
For Paul, there are four main benefits for Spurs:
First, you can play for Popovich.
Second, it can provide a decent salary.
Third, you can partner Wembanyama.
Fourth, it is possible to directly transform into a coach.
On April 22, the American media TA released a data, through an anonymous survey of 141 active players, it was found that 27 players said that Popovich was the head coach they most wanted to be coached, and it is unknown whether Paul was included.
Comrades who are familiar with Paul's career also know that this guy never cuts his salary, he just likes money, and the Spurs' current core squad is basically full of young players (Amway, a good place to watch football: "link"), and there will be no big deal with an annual salary of more than 30 million in the short term, and the salary space is relatively abundant.
What's more, the coaches who came out of the Spurs are all mixed well, isn't there an old saying: the rookies of the Thunder, the veterans of the Rockets, and the assistant coaches of the Spurs.
The only drawback for Spurs is that they won't be able to win the title in the short term.
However, with Paul's luck, it seems that he has no chance of winning the championship, and he was stopped teaming up with Kobe Bryant that year, and the Clippers were injured every year, the Rockets lost to the hamstring, and the Warriors, just like the 49-year-old national army.
For the Spurs, Paul's biggest role is to help young players grow, and everything else is secondary, anyway, according to reporter Stein, the Spurs are ready to sign a short-term contract with Paul.
03 Celtic
The biggest advantage of going to the Celtics is that it's like taking a crash course in the championship, and for the next few years, you'll be the favorites to win the championship.
The biggest disadvantage of going to the Celtics is that you can only get a base salary, and there will be no salary space in the next few years.
The Celtics have a 64-18 record in the regular season this season, and are the only team in the NBA to achieve more than 60 wins, and their offensive efficiency, three-point shots, shots, and shooting percentage are all first, but they are not simply three-point teams, their defensive efficiency is second in the league, rebounds per game are second in the league, blocks per game are first in the league, and both offensive and defensive ends are the top in the league.
Although the first round of the playoffs has just begun, it can be boldly said that as long as there are no injuries, the Celtics will enter the Finals, but the Finals are hard to say, the West is too deep to predict.
The only variable for the Celtics is whether they will renew Porzingis if they don't win the championship this year, after all, this guy's salary is not low.
Of course, if he renews his contract or not, it will not affect Paul's contract, anyway, he will only give a base salary, and he can only give a base salary, after all, there is never a shortage of defectors for the championship favorite.
04 Lakers
The only advantage of the Lakers is LeBron James, and at present, among the banana boat brothers (James, Wade, Anthony, Paul), only Paul has not worked with James, and it is also interesting to form a combination of the two old people at the end of his career.
James' $50.43 million contract for the 2024-25 season is a player option, and the initiative of where to go has always been in his own hands, and he will definitely make the best choice for himself.
But judging from the current situation, the Lakers have a second-round pick, and they will most likely use this pick to select James' son Bronny, so that the probability of James staying on the team will be greatly increased, so it is not uncommon for Paul to go to the Lakers.
Moreover, judging from the performance of the Lakers this season, their biggest weakness is on the guard line, the two main players, Russell and Rivers, are not very stable on the offensive end, and the defensive end is beaten into a colander, and their organizational skills and court control ability are not excellent.
If Paul joins, Anthony Davis and James will play more easily, and Bronny is so short, it is estimated that he can only play guard, let Uncle Paul teach him, and maybe he can fly on the branches.
05 76
After sending Harden away, the 76ers' combat effectiveness is obviously not as good as before, although Maxey has shown a posture of taking the lead, able to digest the ball left by Harden's departure, although there is a Lowry, but he only has the right to use it for half a season, and he is not efficient at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends this season, or even negative efficiency, and the possibility of staying with the 76ers is not too great.
This summer, the 76ers' first goal will definitely be to re-sign Maxey, but the secondary goal is to strengthen the point guard and forward.
However, the 76ers' starting point guard is Embiid, and Paul may not start.