Storyline 1: Will Chris Paul play out the season with the Oklahoma City Thunder?
The catalyst for the Thunder’s future is Chris Paul, or rather what the team decides to do with him.
Oklahoma City acquired the veteran guard and future Hall of Famer in the infamous Russell Westbrook trade, although he was more for salary filling purposes than value. What the Thunder coveted were the draft picks included in the deal — protected first-rounders in 2024 and 2026 and the right to swap picks with the Rockets in 2021 and 2025.
It seemed clear to almost anyone who follows the NBA that Oklahoma City would immediately try to turn around and trade Paul once the trade became official. However, as the summer progressed, a Paul destination never materialized for two reasons: Paul has a massive contract for his age ($124 million over the next three seasons) and nearly 40 percent of players in the NBA are currently non-tradable until Dec 15 due to signing new free-agent deals this summer.
Because of that, Paul will start — and maybe even end — the season in Oklahoma City.
Story filed to ESPN: Oklahoma City’s discussions to move nine-time All-Star guard Chris Paul onto a new destination are parked and an increasing expectation exists that he will start the season with the Thunder.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 17, 2019
While the Thunder have a handful of quality veterans on the team, Paul is by far the most valuable on-court contributor. While he is playing for the team it’s fair to think that they will be competitive. Trading Paul — which is still Oklahoma City’s desire — will unofficially mark the beginning of their rebuild.
Presti will be picky, though. Over the past three months, he has collected 15 draft picks that will last him through 2026 (including four pick swaps), Paul, Danilo Gallinari and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Even with that haul, Presti has no intention of giving up assets to trade away the point guard. If the team still had a massive luxury tax bill then that may be the case, but currently, they are less than one million away from ducking the tax altogether.
Because of that, it’s safe to assume that the team will play the long game with Paul. Yes, they want to move on from the 34-year-old guard and start the youth movement, but with the pieces for a rebuild already in place, there is no need to rush.