Los Angeles Clippers: Breaking Down Chris Paul’s Top Three Potential Free Agent Destinations

Where will Chris Paul end up when he hits the open market this summer? Photo Credit: Chrishmt0423 (Flickr.com)

Chris Paul will be the most coveted free agent this offseason. He is generally considered to be the best point guard in the league and his vision of the floor is unparalleled. After Paul’s Los Angeles Clippers were vanquished in the opening round of the playoffs by the Memphis Grizzlies, the question of whether Paul might leave the Clippers has been raised quite a bit. Will he stay and try to win a title with Blake Griffin or will he bolt and try to achieve glory elsewhere? Let’s take a look at three spots where Paul might head this offseason.

Los Angeles Lakers

CP3 was set to head to the Lakers in December 2011 until David Stern made one of the most controversial decisions of his tenure as commissioner, vetoing the trade that would have sent in him there. Paul went to the Clippers the very next day. At the time, it was considered an enormous victory for the Los Angeles basketball team has always been in the shadow of its far more successful big brother. But while Paul has been successful in his two seasons with the Clips, it’s quite likely that he’s spent some time thinking about what could have been. This July, he may find his answer and join the Lakers.

How they would pull this off would certainly be interesting. If Paul goes to the Lakers, Dwight Howard would likely want to stay on board. The problem is both players would be very expensive, meaning the question of the Lakers using their amnesty clause exemption on Kobe Bryant would be raised once again. Doing that would be extremely controversial, but with a chance to build a team around CP3 and Dwight, the Lakers may consider it.

The question of what would become of Steve Nash is also interesting. The Lakers may consider trading him, but if they were able to keep him as a backup point guard/sixth man, it would lend considerable depth to a team that was extremely lacking in that area this past season. It was easy to laugh at this year’s Lakers team, but this is a franchise that doesn’t spend too long in rebuilding mode. if they were to add CP3 to their repertoire, they would likely get really good again really fast.

Dallas Mavericks

Last year, the Mavericks were supposed to be frontrunners in the Deron Williams sweepstakes, but they lost out when Williams decided to stay with the Nets as they made their move to Brooklyn. As disappointing is this was (Mike James was their point guard at one point), it may have been a blessing in disguise, giving them a chance to recruit one of the few point guards who is even better than D-Will.

Adding CP3 to the Mavs roster would immediately make them a contender again. Let’s not forget; Dirk Nowitzki‘s play drastically improved this season once he returned to full health. He still has a lot left in the tank and he’d love to make another run at a title. With Chris Paul around, he wouldn’t have to carry the offense as much as he does now and he would likely thrive with the ability to work with such an excellent passer.

If the Mavericks do land Paul, the question of whether or O.J. Mayo returns would become quite interesting. Mayo isn’t quite an elite player, but he’s one of the better scorers in the game and alongside Paul, he would be part of a very frightening backcourt.

Landing Paul would immediately make the Mavericks a very scary team. If Mark Cuban has to film any more episodes of “Shark Tank,” he might want to avoid scheduling around the time he’s supposed to meet with CP3. Just a suggestion.

Los Angeles Clippers

Finally, we can’t rule out the possibility that Paul would simply decide to stay put. Yes, the way the Clippers’ season ended was disappointing, but it was still the best regular season in franchise history. There was clearly a lot of talent on this team, even if the defensive juggernaut of Memphis was able to eventually shut them down. They went the entire month of December without losing a game and at certain points in the year, they looked as talented as any team in the league.

Paul has struggled to develop chemistry with Blake Griffin, but great players tend to figure things like this out eventually. If Paul and Griffin are smart, they’ll realize how deadly they can be together and work on fixing their differences.

Winning a title isn’t easy and the Clippers are still figuring things out, but it’s not like the potential isn’t there. Keep in mind, Blake Griffin was injured throughout the Grizzlies series. Had he been healthy, the Clippers might have won, drawn the Russell Westbrook-less Oklahoma City Thunder and they’d be making a run at the Western Conference Finals. Losing to the Grizzlies didn’t mean the Clippers could never be contenders. If Chris Paul realizes that, he just might stay put.