NBA transfer: Let Chris Paul come to Warriors, Phoenix Suns immediately find a replacement
With the explosion of a blockbuster deal with the Washington Wizards, the Phoenix Suns Club brought in scorer Bradley Beal, completing a trio of attacking superstars including Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
To achieve that, the Suns had to give up some important pieces, including Chris Paul, the defender who was once considered an indispensable name in the squad.
After being traded to the Wizards, Chris Paul once again switched teams and is now a teammate of Stephen Curry, playing for the Golden State Warriors Club.
Dubbed “Point God”, Chris Paul is a classic dribbling defender, possessing the perfect combination of efficiency and playing experience.
Paul used to be the leader of the entire Phoenix Suns collective with many names, although very active, but still young in real combat. Thanks to that, the team from a brief success in the NBA "bubble" in 2020 has reached the NBA Finals 2021.
As time goes by, Chris Paul still plays so effectively. However, age began to have a bad effect on his physical condition and gradually made Paul unable to play as much as before.
CP3's number of matches has steadily decreased from the 2020-21 season until now because of a series of injuries, appearing in various places on the defender's body in 1985.
In the end, the Phoenix Suns decided to make a drastic overhaul this summer. They fired coach Monty Williams and recruited Frank Vogel, a former coach who won the championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
After blowing up blockbuster Kevin Durant in the middle of last season, the Suns continued to activate the blockbuster to bring back Bradley Beal, ready to sacrifice a Chris Paul who has entered the last years of his career with championship ambitions.
It is hard to blame the Phoenix Suns for making this series of decisions, especially when the team has just been sold to a new owner who is desperate to touch the gold cup.
Now they enter the next phase of the plan, which is to find someone to fill the hole left by Chris Paul.
Determining that the current pieces of the puzzle could not help the coaching staff achieve their goal of high-level competition, the Phoenix Suns stepped into the transfer market to find an experienced PG.
To do this, they are ready to put on the negotiating table Cameron Payne, the 28-year-old defender averaged 10.3 points and 4.5 assists in 20 minutes per game last season.
The name that the Suns targeted is T.J. McConnell, who is wearing the Indiana Pacers shirt.
Now 31 years old, McConnell also plays in the PG position with the same number of minutes as Payne. However, he is considered a calmer and more careful player in the management stage, which can become a suitable piece next to the Suns stars.
It cannot be ignored that TJ McConnell threw 3 points with a success rate of up to 44% last season. Although he didn't throw much, each shot was quite effective.
It is reported that negotiations between the two sides have begun. Since Cameron Payne's salary ($6 million) is lower than TJ McConnell's ($8.7 million), the Phoenix Suns will need an additional piece of the puzzle.
With the Indiana Pacers, the team is waiting for an offer attractive enough to nod in agreement, accepting the farewell of an extremely important piece in their squad.
