Frank Vogel: 'We did not waive Chris Paul'

Phoenix has received a “flurry” of trade calls regarding Chris Paul after the rest of the NBA discovered that the Suns wouldn’t be waiving the future Hall of Famer, at least not yet, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on NBA Countdown (YouTube link). “There are teams that would like to see if they could stack up enough contracts to take on (Paul’s cap hit) for this season and keep him, perhaps even flip him at the trade deadline. “There are other teams who would trade for him and treat it like salary-cap savings,” Wojnarowski said. “They would not guarantee his contract before that June 28 deadline, and then he would become a free agent.” -via Hoops Rumors / June 9, 2023

The Heat also have had a veteran point guard, Kyle Lowry, playing important minutes in the postseason despite having a reduced role throughout the regular season. It’s a situation, NBA insiders say, the Lakers are watching as they wait to see if Chris Paul gets waived by the Phoenix Suns. Like any team with a need at the position, the Lakers will weigh factors like fit, role and cost before any meaningful pursuit, but Paul is a future Hall of Famer who, despite being 37, still averaged 13.9 points and 8.9 assists in 59 games last season while shooting 37.5% from three. If he’s indeed available, he’ll obviously get consideration. -via Los Angeles Times / June 9, 2023

Frank Vogel: “Yeah. I think he’s got a great opportunity to win a championship. I know he’s very motivated by that and I’m very motivated to be the guy that helps him get there. I’m very interested in coaching Chris and Chris being back with us. I’ve communicated that to him. There’s just that, an intangible piece that you cannot overlook when you’re talking about a guy like Chris Paul, right? Just the toughness, the I.Q., the intelligence of just dissecting it and understanding there’s certain guys in his league that they just have a feel of knowing whatever, you know, being able to dissect a game and understand what’s happening within that game and figure out what chess pieces to move to get that win. I mean, he’s an ultimate winner and I think he’s a vital part in what we do next year.” -via Twitter @SiriusXMNBA / June 9, 2023