Chris Paul will play his 21st and likely final NBA season with the Los Angeles Clippers, but his role with the team could be the smallest of his career. Paul is headed back to L.A. on a one-year, $3.6 million deal, and according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the future Hall of Famer is set to take on a reserve role that may put him on the bench for entire games. With James Harden and Kris Dunn already in the point guard mix, Paul will cede playing time to that tandem.
Save for the 2023-24 season with the Golden State Warriors, Paul started every single game in which he played across the first 20 years of his pro career. He played and started all 82 games last season with the San Antonio Spurs, marking the second time he was in the lineup in every contest of a campaign.
“From what I understand, he’s not going to have guaranteed playing time,” Windhorst said. “There are going to be nights where James Harden and their backup, Kris Dunn, get the minutes at point guard and Chris Paul might not play at all, which is something you’ve never seen from him before. He has understood that. He understands that he is going to be in that spot that he hasn’t. He wants to be on a competitive team in the market he wants to play in near his family.”
This is not the first time Paul teamed up with Harden, and when the two teamed up with the Houston Rockets from 2017-19, their play clashed and led to two of the least productive years of Paul’s stellar career. Harden signed off on the Clippers’ move to bring his former teammate in with the understanding that Paul will back him up.
“He and James Harden didn’t have the greatest relationship when they were in Houston a few years ago, but Harden is on board with this signing,” Windhorst said. “They went to him with it first. He understands that he played the fifth-most minutes in the league last year, and anything the Clippers can do to support and protect him is welcomed, and that’s what this move is.”
Paul remained effective at age 39 with the Spurs, but he is not the same player he was during his prime years with the Clippers from 2011-17, in which he contended for the MVP award on a perennial basis and regularly averaged a double-double in points and assists. At this point, his services are undoubtedly best suited for a bench role, wherein he can facilitate the offense as a strong outside shooter and still-prolific distributor.
The Clippers and Lakers emerged as candidates to sign Paul when he made it clear he wished to play the final stages of his career close to his family, which still resides in Los Angeles. He now has the opportunity to do so, even if it comes with a playing time cut.
