For Los Angeles Clippers fans that got a little worried when Chris Paul did not sign his extension with the team, it is not time to panic just yet.
It seems Paul may have opted out of the three-year, $60 million extension so he could sign a five-year, $108 million one next summer. Of course there is no guarantee of that either but it makes sense. As Jimmy Fallon says in those Capital One commercials, “who doesn’t want more money?”
“I’ll wait until next summer to decide everything,” Paul said. “It’s funny, ESPN doesn’t put at the bottom of the ticker, like why you don’t do the three-year. But I opted in for this year or I would’ve had the opportunity to do that again this summer.”
Of course, if you want to take a more pessimistic view of things, Paul could just want to see how things go this year. The Clippers just signed Jamal Crawford and they are hoping Chauncey Billups returns strong from his injury. They look like they could be a much better team than they were last year.
If that is the case, CP3 may want to stick around for a long time to come. If things do not work out, then he will have the option of jumping ship. If Crawford is not a good fit, or Billups does not bounce back as well as the Clippers hope, or Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan do not mature enough to help the team win a title, then Paul could look for a new place to play.
I am sure he does not want to waste the rest of his career playing for a team that is going to keep exiting the playoffs in the second round. At this point, it looks like he is just keeping his options open, perhaps hiding behind the disguise of making a logical financial choice.
For now, Paul has the Olympics, then his next season with the Clippers. I am sure the speculation for other possible destinations next summer will start soon enough, but it looks like Chris Paul is just living in the moment.
