As the start of NBA free agency approaches, the Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of tough decisions to make to put together a championship-caliber roster in 2023-24.
A number of their players from last season are free agents, including D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Lonnie Walker IV and others.
While they would like to retain most of those players after making a run to the Western Conference Finals this past season, they will also look for upgrades elsewhere if possible.
One option could be veteran point guard Chris Paul as it was recently reported that he may be waived by the Phoenix Suns. If that happens, the Lakers unsurprisingly would have interest in signing Paul, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic:
The Lakers would have strong interest in signing Chris Paul if the guard is waived or stretched by the Suns, multiple team sources told The Athletic.
Paul has a $30 million contract for the 2023-24 season although only half of it is guaranteed, which is why the Suns are considering waiving him before the June 29 deadline.
If they do so then the Lakers would be able to sign him for the minimum, which they have interest in as it would also allow them to potentially keep Russell:
Another option the Lakers have discussed is signing Paul and retaining D’Angelo Russell to truly solidify their point guard position, according to those sources.
Paul makes a lot of sense for the Lakers as it’s not often you can get a player of his caliber at the minimum, even if he is 38 years of age. If the Lakers are also able to keep Russell then they would have one of the better guard rotations in the league presuming they also re-sign Reaves, which is expected to be the case.
It’s no secret that Paul makes his home in Los Angeles and also is very close with LeBron James, so this will be something to monitor leading up to the start of free agency if the Suns do indeed waive him.
Paul ‘absolutely’ wants to stay with Suns
While the decision is ultimately not up to him, Paul recently made it clear that his preference would ‘absolutely’ be to stay with the Suns. If that is not an option though then the Lakers would likely be at the top of his list in free agency.
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