Why the Knicks should pursue Chris Paul
Last week, multiple reports emerged on Chris Paul’s potentially imminent departure from the Phoenix Suns, whether by trade or getting waived. The future Hall-of-Famer recently turned 38 and has had poor injury luck in consecutive postseason appearances, but is still a productive player and a veteran’s veteran, which teams recognize.
One of those teams is the Knicks, whose front office has long-standing ties to Paul and is constantly star-hunting. As expected, they’re rumored to have interest in him, but should they?
It will come down to a risk-reward calculation for the team’s decision makers, and Paul provides more reward than given credit.
When healthy, Paul remains a high-level guard in this league. This past season, he averaged 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists to just 1.9 turnovers and 1.5 steals on 48.2 percent shooting on twos and 37.5 percent shooting on threes.
That inside scoring clip is a near-career low, and combined with a career-low free throw rate, Paul’s scoring drop-off checks out. Otherwise, he’s remained an elite floor general and was reliable as a catch-and-shoot guy from deep.
Much is made of him being prone to injury, but Paul has suited up at around the 60-game mark for over a decade, including these recent campaigns. Those are 30+ minute-per-game seasons, so perhaps a smaller role helps Paul stay durable and maintain his burst.
That’s ultimately where he’d be of real value to the Knicks, as a third guard behind Jalen Brunson and Immanuel Quickley. New York could turn to more creation on the fly and add another Tom Thibodeau-type player that checks all the culture boxes.
Whether Paul would be up for a 10-minute decrease in minutes when other teams can offer him a starting role on a more established contender is unknown, and unlikely. It also wouldn’t be easy to actually acquire him, so if the stars aligned the Knicks would be silly to pass it up.
Unless the Suns decide to retain him, they’ll either trade or waive Paul. If it’s the former, the Knicks could theoretically outbid the competition through their draft capital, but how far would they go?
Salary matching is simple enough, if New York packages Evan Fournier and one or two interesting pieces like Obi Toppin, Isaiah Hartenstein and/or Miles McBride. They could use a variety of first- and second-round picks to bargain from there, if they wanted to.
Phoenix will ask for Quickley, which will have to be a hard no from New York’s end. They don’t want to part with many picks, given Paul’s age and whatever future trades are possible.
Even moving Fournier for Paul gives them less maneuverability in salary matching future deals. Despite the many times they’ve been featured in reports, this front office has yet to make the dramatic move, and this would be its riskiest yet.
If Paul enters free agency and is willing to sign for the mid-level exception, the Knicks should happily sign on. Again, other teams will offer him a bigger role with bigger stakes, so Paul will have to have a strong preference for New York.
Should he want beyond the mid-level exception, the Knicks should move on. They’d have to move a large deal off the roster to accommodate that, and it wouldn’t be worth the risk.
But in the case Paul is willing to take on a reduced role to join Thibs and the Knicks in their pursuit of a contender run in the East, New York should strongly consider it. At the right price, talent upgrades are welcome anywhere they can be found, and Paul would be a tremendous addition.
