Sacks confident Paul will re-sign with Clippers
Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, but Clippers vice president of basketball operations Gary Sacks said he was "very confident" Paul would eventually re-sign with the team, ESPNLosAngeles.com reported.
Sacks met with Paul on Saturday during the team's exit interview and believes Paul will return to the Clippers.
Sacks was reluctant to get into details because Paul cannot sign an extension until July 1.
"A lot of that information we'll keep private, because that's an internal thing, but I feel very confident," Sacks said, according to the report. "I think he's an integral part of this. We feel like we had a great partnership for the last couple of years and we want to continue it obviously. These are decisions that have to be made and some of them will be taken care of at the appropriate time. We can't talk to him until July 1, so we'll go ahead and do that. We'll move forward when it's appropriate."
Paul is eligible to sign a five-year, $108 million extension after July 1. He turned down a three-year, $60 million extension last summer.
"The No. 1 priority for us right now has to be re-signing our star player, Chris Paul," Sacks said.
The Clippers also have to make a decision on coach Vinny Del Negro, whose contract expires June 1. Del Negro told reporters on Monday he realizes his future with the Clippers may be tied to the wishes of Paul and Blake Griffin.
