It’s not quite the Lakers trading for Luka Doncic in the middle of the night; this is the Clippers‘ version of creating national NBA headlines at midnight. News broke late Tuesday night-early Wednesday morning that the franchise Chris Paul planned on spending the last season of his career with reportedly “sent home” the future Hall of Fame point guard, essentially kicking him off the team.
Paul took to social media to write, “just found out I’m being sent home.”
The Clippers have been bad this season… really bad. They are 6-16, third from the bottom in the Western Conference, and 7.5 games back from a playoff spot just over a fourth of the way into the season. It feels like an unideal time for an organization to send a player packing who some fans thought might have his jersey hanging in the rafters one day.
“These are very, very hard decisions, and ultimately it is my job to do what is best for the organization and the team, even if it is not popular. Right now, we are playing bad basketball. On both ends, we are a bad basketball team, and we are capable of being a whole lot better,” said president of basketball operations, Lawrence Frank.
Paul is a legend, still lacing it up at 40, who had already announced his plan to retire after this year. Not only is he an all-time NBA player, one of the greatest point guards to play the game, but he is also one of the greatest Clippers in franchise history. Sending that player home proves once again why the Clippers feel cursed.
“Some moves you make, you have great intentions, and some work and some don’t, and I own that. It just didn’t work at this time,” said Frank.
What kind of message does that send to players who might want to play in Los Angeles?
The Lakers got some grief and suffered through losing seasons after showing loyalty by signing an aging Kobe Bryant to an above-market contract. It hurt the team at the time, but the move showed star players what the organization was all about, leading to them landing LeBron James in free agency in 2018 and signing Luka Doncic to a contract extension this past offseason.
If a future superstar hits the open market, they would probably prefer the team that honored one of their franchise players at the end of his career over the one that told their former franchise player he is no longer welcome.
This is not a move a professional basketball team can make without paying the consequences. At this point, the Clippers’ curse is almost self-inflicted.
They botched the end of several other stars’ tenures as well, starting with when they unexpectedly sent Blake Griffin to Detroit. Then, Paul George, who LA paid a king’s ransom for (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and five first-round picks), left disgruntled this past offseason, guaranteeing the Gilgeous-Alexander trade would go down as one of the worst in NBA history.
Word on the street is that head coach Tyronn Lue and Chris Paul had not been on speaking terms for weeks. You would have to be on the team to really know how bad it had gotten, but regardless, it is not a good look.
“I just think that it wasn’t a good fit for what he was looking for, and it is what it is. Do I want to see CP go out like this? No. I have a lot of respect for him. He has been a friend of mine over the years, and you never want to see a great player go out like this, but I am pretty sure he will find something because he is a great player,” said Lue.
The entire Clippers organization, Frank, owner Steve Ballmer, general manager Trent Redden, and, without a doubt, Ty Lue, knew what kind of player and personality Paul is when they brought him on board. He can be hard to work with at times, and he is going to speak his mind, rightfully so, as one of the brightest basketball minds of his era.
Cutting bait this early into the season, drama aside, is a shocking move. It could slightly help them get back on track, but championship hopes appear dim. They already lost key addition Bradley Beal to a season-ending injury, and Kawhi Leonard has once again missed some time.
While LA can not officially release or trade Paul yet due to roster rules that prevent that from happening for another couple of weeks, it appears his time as a member of the Clippers is certainly over, and it will be interesting to see if someone decides to pick him up for one last shot at a championship.
Benjamin Verbrugge is a reporter for News4usonline who studied journalism at CSU Dominguez Hills. “Sports have brought me much joy throughout my life, and I want to give a little back to something that has meant so much to me.” Email Benjamin at benverbrugge8@gmail.com.
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