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In the last several days, there has been a growing sense that Chris Paul could entertain the thought of leaving the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency for the San Antonio Spurs.
This has centered rumored mutual interest between both sides to get a potential deal done this upcoming offseason. However, it's something that Adrian Wojnarowski has chopped up to being an unrealistic destination for the All-Star guard.
“Not that I see,” Wojnarowski said of Paul's chances of ending up with the Spurs. “I don't know where that came from. I've spent a lot of time around the Spurs this spring. They would have to just tear up that entire payroll. It's almost unlike anything the Spurs would've done or would do to even have a chance at him. I mean, they'd have to really gut the roster. And to do that for a 30-plus year old point guard, who has a couple great years left, there's no question — I think there's more pressure on the Clippers to have to re-sign him than for the Spurs to turn their whole franchise over to make a run at him.
“Listen, Chris Paul, financially, the difference with him staying in L.A. and to get paid, I'd have a hard time imaging him leaving there,” continued Wojnarowski. “There's so much money for him to be made and at that Los Angeles market, just in terms of his marketing endorsements, I still think they're a pretty overwhelming favorite to re-sign him.”
There is simply too many moves on the roster that would have to be done in order to create enough financial flexibility to work out a significant deal. It would require the Spurs to adjust their roster in a similar fashion to what the Golden State Warriors did last summer for Kevin Durant.
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At this current juncture, San Antonio has just above $98 million on the books next year, which is just shy of the approximate $101 million league salary cap for the 2017-18 season. This is assuming that Pau Gasol picks up his $16.2 million player option, which he has previously indicated he would do. Dewayne Dedmon and David Lee also possess player options for next season that are worth $3 million and $2.3 million, respectively.
On top of that, there is also the possibility of Manu Ginobili returning for at least one more season as he stated following the Spurs' playoff exit that he would take about three to four weeks to decide whether he would continue his NBA career.
All of this is just concerning the Spurs' side of things as Paul would have a much more lucrative deal if he stayed with the Clippers as they can offer him a deal north of $200 million over the next five years. There may be no state tax in Texas, but Los Angeles also has much more to offer outside of basketball with marketing opportunities that he has taken full advantage of since being traded to the organization several years ago.
There is just too much for Paul to pass on in Los Angeles along with the Spurs having to gut their roster in order to have enough salary cap space in order to land him that make it an unrealistic landing spot.
