Chris Paul‘s return to Los Angeles and the Clippers goes beyond sentimentality. Paul could be a piece to a championship puzzle as a key second-unit floor leader, according to president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank.
Paul signed a one-year contract for a second stint with the organization for which he played from 2011-17. He started for the Spurs all of last season but accepted a backup role offered by the Clippers.
“Chris takes care of the ball and runs an offense about as well as anyone who’s ever done it,” Frank said, per Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. “He’ll slot into our roster as a reserve point guard. There’ll be nights when Chris plays a lot, there’ll be nights he does not. Chris is excited to be here, to be part of the group, to help lead the group and to play when called on.”
Paul was looking to play closer to his family in Los Angeles. The 40-year-old had issues with James Harden when the two stars played in Houston but there’s no lingering bitterness. In fact, Harden felt Paul would be an ideal choice to back him up.
“When talking to James, talking to Kawhi (Leonard) … both guys said CP would be the best guy for this role,” Frank said. “I think James is all about winning. … He thought that Chris would be a great fit for the team.”
This could be Paul’s last season and last chance to win a championship, a goal which has eluded him in his career.
“Well, I think there’s the nostalgic aspect,” Frank said, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “But I think the No. 1 question that we always say, is how can he help impact winning? … And yeah, look, there’s the heartstrings part of it, of someone who was such a significant part of the Clippers’ rise to be able to bring it back. Whether this is his last year or not, that’s obviously Chris’ story in terms of what he feels and what he wants. But I think No. 1 is his ability to help impact winning.”
Frank also touched on a few other topics during his Zoom session:
- Amir Coffey remains a free agent after appearing in 72 games with the Clippers last season. Jordan Miller, who starred in the Summer League for the Clippers, was waived earlier this month. Frank isn’t sure that the team will be able to bring back either player due to first apron concerns, Law Murray of The Athletic tweets. “If there’s an opportunity here, we’d love to be able to create it. If there isn’t, then we wish those guys nothing but the best,” Frank said.
- Frank believes there’s more quality players than rotation spots on the current roster, according to Murray (Twitter link). “We’ll probably have a nine-man rotation… but you have 11 quality players,” he said.
- The frontcourt, ball-handling and shooting were areas Frank was looking to upgrade this summer. He feels those goals have been achieved, Murray tweets. “I think we feel really, really good and excited about where we’re at, but you never stop,” he said. The Clippers traded for forward John Collins, signed guard Bradley Beal after he was bought out by Phoenix and also added veteran center Brook Lopez in free agency.