Oklahoma City Thunder point guard ā for now ā Chris Paul made an appearance on āThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallonā on Thursday, and he addressed the speculation that he could soon be dealt to the Phoenix Suns.
Fallon asked Paul what goes through his mind when he hears his name floated in rumors, but Paul chose to focus on his current team:
āMan, Iām going into year 16, right? So Iāve heard about every rumor that you could possibly hear,ā Chris Paul said. āSo you learn to control what you can control. Iām training getting ready for the season. If something happens, it will. If not, you know, I love being in Oklahoma with our team. We actually just got a new coach yesterday. So, you know, the league is always constantly changing.ā
You can watch Chris Paulās full appearance here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUR02pGSsxc&feature=youtu.be
The Thunder promoted assistant coach Mark Daigneault to head coach this week.
ESPNās Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps recently reported that the Suns āhave had discussions about acquiringā the 10-time All-Star. On āThe Driveā on Fox Sports 910 Phoenix, Windhorst added that Oklahoma City has given Paul permission to talk with Phoenix about a deal before the offseason formally begins next week.
After going 8-0 in the seeding games in the bubble, the Suns are hoping to make a leap into the playoffs in 2020-21 as they attempt to build around Devin Booker and persuade him to stay in The Valley long-term.
In his 15th season at age 35, Paul averaged 17.6 points, 6.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds while leading Oklahoma City to the playoffs in 2019-20 ā earning All-NBA Second-Team honors in the process. Perhaps more impressively, as head of the NBPA and one of the leagueās prominent voices, he played a major role organizing the bubble and spearheaded various initiatives to get players signed up to vote.
Chris Paul has two years and over $85 million remaining on his contract. He has also been linked to the New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, and Philadelphia 76ers, among other teams.