Chris Paul is traded… somewhere. Paul’s final destination for next season isn’t quite finalized, but we know he’s part of the trade that will bring Bradley Beal to Phoenix and send Landry Shamet to Washington with pick trades and second draft picks. round.
A third team, potentially the Clippers, would need to be added to the deal to reroute Paul to a contender, which means the veteran playmaker is a bit of a whirlwind right now. It’s a serendipitous moment as Paul is in New York to do a car wash interview for his new book, informing hello america‘s Michael Strahan that he found out about the swap while visiting New York on Sunday. The way he found out was through a text from his son, and he was surprised by the deal despite apparently speaking to James Jones earlier today, with no indication that he was about to be treated.
He provided those details to Sopan Deb of The New York Times in one of his other interviews on Monday, but the telling part of his answers was the question of fact with which he said Isiah Thomas was making personal decisions with the new owner Mat Ishbia. .
But when that happens and my son texts me, I realize that, you know, Mat and Isiah, I guess, just wanted to go in a different direction.
…
Like I say, it is. But as I said, Mat and Isiah must have wanted to go differently.
When Ishbia bought the Suns, there were immediate rumors that he wanted to bring Thomas to the front office, but he insisted that was not the case, even though Thomas sat next to him for the playoffs (Isiah was next to him during Ishbia’s kerfuffle with Nikola Jokic). Thomas failed as an executive and coach with the New York Knicks, which led to him being named in a sexual harassment lawsuit by Anucha Browne Sanders, before a move to FIU and back to the front office with the New York Liberty. Thomas has spent the past decade with NBA TV as an analyst, but is close to Ishbia given his Detroit ties.
Ishbia and the Suns were adamant. Jones is still in charge, but Chris Paul seems to want it recorded which is not the case and thinks Thomas played a role in Phoenix continuing Beal’s trade.