FREE agent point guard Chris Paul, reportedly waived by the Golden State Warriors, is going to the San Antonio Spurs on a one-year contract worth $11 million-plus, according to ESPN.
Sunday (Monday in Manila) was the deadline for the Warriors to guarantee Paul’s $30 million contract for next year. The team and Paul reportedly agreed to push back the deadline from Friday to Sunday as the Warriors sought a trade partner, multiple outlets reported.
According to Bleacher Report, Golden State turned down an offer of guard Zach LaVine in return for Paul and Andrew Wiggins.
Paul, 39, is a 12-time All-Star who was traded last summer from the Phoenix Suns to Washington Wizards, then dealt again two weeks later to the Warriors.
Playing in 58 games for Golden State last season (18 starts), Paul averaged 9.2 points with 6.8 assists in a career-low 26.4 minutes per game.
Paul has averaged 17.5 points and 9.4 assists in 1,272 games (1,232 starts) over 19 seasons. He was named Rookie of the Year in 2006 and has finished in the top five of MVP voting five times, but his scoring average has dipped in each of the past four seasons.
Paul ranks third in NBA history in both steals (2,614) and assists (11,894).
The Sacramento Kings are reportedly in talks with the New Orleans Pelicans toward acquiring high-scoring forward Brandon Ingram.
Ingram, who averaged 20.8 points per game and a 49.2 percent field goal percentage, just off his career high, won’t be offered a full four-year maximum contract. The Pelicans were expected to seek a lower-cost extension or look into trading him, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Sacramento TV station KTXL noted Ingram’s links to then-Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry, who is the Kings’ vice president of basketball engagement.
In eight NBA seasons–the first three with the Los Angeles Lakers before he joined New Orleans in a three-team trade that brought Anthony Davis to the Lakers–Ingram is averaging 19.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 33 minutes per game.
One day after former Most Valuable Player Russell Westbrook reportedly exercised his $4 million option to stay with the Los Angeles Clippers, the team is said to be exploring trade options for the nine-time All-Star point guard.
The Athletic reported that Los Angeles is “actively working on trades to move Westbrook” and that he has interest in the Denver Nuggets, who were said to be interested in Westbrook had he gone to free agency.
The 16-year veteran and two-time scoring champion averaged a career-low 11.1 points per game in just over 22 minutes, also a career low, last season. His most recent All-Star season came in 2019-20, which was his only season with the Houston Rockets after he spent his first 11 years with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
