Lakers News: LA Betting Favorites To Land Chris Paul If Suns Trade Him

Should the Lakers take a gamble on another aging Hall of Fame point guard?

The morning after the Phoenix Suns fell in their six-game second round playoff matchup to the Denver Nuggets in spectacular fashion, a toothless 125-100 home blowout, speculation is already rampant that new owner Mat Ishbia could make even more roster shakeups this summer to support All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

Part of the reason Phoenix was so brutally massacred in its postseason finale (the Nuggets led 81-51 at the half!) was that the club was missing two starters, ex-All-NBA point guard Chris Paul and center Deandre Ayton. Fielding an injured Chris Paul come playoff time has become par for the course with the Suns, as he has never finished a postseason with his newest club fully healthy.

The further the Point Guard goes in the playoffs, historically, the more likely he is to be significantly banged up by the time he is eliminated.

Now, NBA Central (via Bet Online) has revealed that none other than your Los Angeles Lakers are 3/1 betting favorites to finally, very belatedly land CP3 should he kick off the 2023-24 NBA season elsewhere.

The Lakers are the favorites to land Chris Paul 👀

(Via @betonline_ag ) pic.twitter.com/847b5nKuEN

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 12, 2023

Chris Paul, of course, has already been traded to the Lakers before: in a three-team exchange in 2011, though David Stern eventually vetoed the deal. He wound up being moved to LA's then-Staples Center neighbors, the Clippers, later that offseason. The 12-time All-Star has yet to win an NBA title, and has come closest with these Suns in 2021, when they lost a six-game NBA Finals series against Giannis Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks.

Paul is signed to a $30.8 million partially guaranteed deal with Phoenix for next season ($15.8 million of that total is guaranteed). Would LA, a team already saddled with two 30+ year-old, injury-prone future Hall of Famers, really be the best landing spot for the 38-year-old Paul? On paper, he's a better fit than incumbent point guard D'Angelo Russell, as an otherworldly passer who can still defend and knock down the occasional three. But his age and health should give Los Angeles pause. This team might be better off keeping its roster beyond Anthony Davis and LeBron James on the right side of 30.

Paul clearly regressed this season, missing out an All-Star team for the first time in four years. He averaged a still-solid 13.9 points on .440/.375/.831 shooting splits, 8.9 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals across just 59 healthy games this season as the fourth option for the 45-37 Suns.

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