After pushing back the guaranteed date, the Dubs are moving on from CP3’s contract.
Chris Paul is officially a free agent. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Golden State Warriors made the decision today to release the Hall of Fame-bound point guard. The Warriors had the option to release Paul and owe nothing, or to retain Paul for one more season at $30 million.
The initial due date for that decision was Friday, June 28. But the Warriors and Paul agreed to push the date back to Sunday — the start of true free agency — to give the team more time to figure out how to handle the situation. In hindsight, it certainly looks like the Warriors had no intention of keeping Paul, but wanted a few extra days to see if they could work out a trade. Paul likely would have been an outgoing piece in a trade for Paul George, which the Warriors reportedly believed they were close to pulling off, before George opted for free agency, thus ending the Warriors hopes of obtaining the nine-time All-Star.
Waiving Paul saves the Warriors a lot of money, but unless they also trade Andrew Wiggins (which is very much a possibility), they won’t have much cap space flexibility this offseason. And with the team expected to not re-sign Klay Thompson, they’re now facing an offseason that might start by losing two Hall of Famers, with no clear path to replace either of them (though it’s worth noting that they could re-sign Paul for a cheaper contract).
Good for the checkbooks, but certainly not very good for the product on the court, or the fans who have to watch it.