NBA
Chris Paul Next Team Odds: Will CP3 Join LeBron on the Lakers?
Growing up, James was fascinated with watching sports. This led to an interest in research and stats and writing betting analysis for a variety of sports. James has graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business.
All posts by James BoutrosUpdated2 hours ago on April 27, 2024
Chris Paul will go down as one of the greatest point guards in NBA history.
Despite a tremendous NBA career, Paul has never won an NBA Championship.
He does have one NBA Finals appearance but did not win.
The 2022-2023 NBA season was one of his best chances to win a title when the Phoenix Suns traded for superstar Kevin Durant.
If Paul remained on Phoenix, he would have had a great chance next season to win a title, playing alongside Devin Booker and Durant.
However, Paul is now a free agent and will not return to the Suns.
Find out which teams are favored to land the future Hall of Fame point guard.
Which NBA Teams Are Favored To Sign Chris Paul?
Chris Paul will be on a new team when the 2023-24 NBA season begins.
The team favored to land Paul is a bit of a surprise but it makes a lot of sense.
Here are the sixth to tenth favorite teams to land Paul, according to BetOnline.
- 6. Miami Heat (+800)
- 7. New Orleans Pelicans (+900)
- 8. Philadelphia 76ers (+1000)
- 9. Minnesota Timberwolves (+1200)
- 10. Golden State Warriors (+1400)
Out of these teams, the Miami Heat would make the most sense to sign Paul.
They have enough guard depth to reduce Paul’s minutes to the mid 20’s during the season and keep him healthy,
Miami just made it to the NBA Finals and lost in five games, so another veteran presence would be a big help.
The New Orleans Pelicans make sense to sign Paul with Lonzo Ball’s injury concern.
New Orleans could use a veteran point guard like Paul.
The Philadelphia 76ers do not make sense to sign Paul unless James Harden leaves.
If Harden remains with the 76ers, they would have Harden and Maxey at the guard position and Harden demands the ball.
Paul would not fit with the 76ers with Maxey and Harden.
The Minnesota Timberwolves would be a good fit for Paul if Conley would be fine coming off the bench.
Minnesota has Anthony Edwards, Karl Anthony-Towns, and Rudy Gobert.
Paul would fit in very nicely with those three players and he will help Edwards and Towns get even better.
The Warriors do not make much sense as Paul would likely come off the bench and he may not like that.
Also, Golden State has a lot of cap issues, and it would not make financial sense to sign Paul.
Below are the top five teams favored to sign Chris Paul, according to BetOnline.
5. Dallas Mavericks (+700)
The fifth favorite to land Chris Paul is the Dallas Mavericks at +700 odds.
Dallas failed to make the playoffs despite having superstar Luka Doncic and trading for star Kyrie Irving.
Irving is also a free agent and he may not return to Dallas.
Paul would not really fit in with Doncic as they are both playmakers and both need the ball in their hands.
Irving is a better fit with Luka than Paul would be as Irving is a scorer and can play without the ball in his hands.
In reality, both Paul and Irving do not fit well with the Mavericks.
Paul is a defensive liability and the Mavericks have one of the worst defenses in the NBA.
Dallas should be targeting shooters and defenders to help Luka and not another player that demands the ball, like Paul.
Dallas would be better off not bringing in Paul or Irving and trying to build a team around their star in Luka.
It would not make a lot of sense for the Mavs to sign Chris Paul.
4. Los Angeles Clippers (+600)
The Los Angeles Clippers are the fourth favorites at +600 odds to sign Chris Paul.
The Clippers have been very unlucky with injuries since signing Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
Both are star players and would make the Clippers instantly one of the favorites to win the NBA Title but they both can not stay healthy.
Russell Westbrook will factor into the decision of whether the Clippers will entertain the idea of signing Chris Paul or not.
Westbrook may be out and the Clippers will look to sign another point guard.
However, if Westbrook stays, the Clippers will not look to sign Paul.
Both Westbrook and Paul are good fits with George and Leonard but Westbrook hurts the Clippers offensively with his poor shooting.
Paul would be a better fit with the Clippers than Westbrook.
While Paul is a liability on defense, George, Leonard, and the rest of the Clippers can make up for his lack of defense.
Unlike the Mavericks who are terrible defensively, the Clippers are stout on defense.
Having Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Chris Paul looks great on paper.
However, the three of them have a lot of injury risk and can not stay healthy come playoff time.
Paul would be a good fit with the Clippers and the three stars would make the Clippers legitimate NBA Championship contenders, but all three are major injury risks.
3. Boston Celtics (+500)
The Boston Celtics at +500 odds are fairly surprising to be the third favorite to land Chris Paul.
With their current team, Boston does not need to bring in Paul.
At the guard position, Boston has Marcus Smart, Derek White, and Malcolm Brogdon.
While the three of them are not nearly as good of a distributor as Paul is, they are much better defensively.
Boston needs a third scorer to go alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Paul would fit in great with Tatum, Brown, and the rest of the Celtics players but the need is simply not there to spend that kind of money.
Boston also needs to decide on offering Brown a max contract.
In all likelihood, Boston will pay both Brown and Tatum for the long term.
Financially speaking and thinking long term, it would not make sense for Boston to try and sign Chris Paul.
2. Los Angeles Lakers (+275)
If you have not noticed, the Los Angeles Lakers are always the talk of making a big free agent signing.
The Lakers are the second favorites at +275 odds to sign Chris Paul.
Paul would fit in with the Lakers, playing alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
While James likes the ball in his hands, he is also up there in age, and it would be beneficial to not overuse him during the season.
How the Lakers play, James sits earlier in the first quarter and comes in late in the first.
Paul would be the ball handler for the majority of the first quarter and then James would take over as Paul sits later in the first quarter.
Both veterans would share ball-handling duties and the Lakers would not struggle with James on the bench.
Paul would fit in tremendously with Anthony Davis and the Lakers got much better defensively after the trade deadline.
Austin Reaves would take another step forward next year and having Reaves, Paul, Davis, and James would make the Lakers one of the favorites to win the title next year.
Los Angeles made it to the Western Conference Finals this season.
Bringing in Paul makes sense for the Lakers to make a title push next year.
1. San Antonio Spurs (+200)
The San Antonio Spurs are the favorites at +200 odds to sign Chris Paul.
While this may be a bit surprising, it also makes a lot of sense.
The Spurs have the number one overall pick in the NBA Draft.
With the first overall pick, the Spurs will draft center Victor Wembanyama.
Adding a veteran point guard like Paul would be very helpful for Wembanyama.
Paul does a great job improving the play of big men and a rookie like Wembanyama would play very well with Paul.
The question will be if Paul would want to sign with the Spurs or if he would rather go to a team that has a legit chance of winning the NBA title.
Paul would fit in very nicely with the Spurs but at this point in his career, Paul may decide he wants to chase a title.
If Paul wants to chase a title, the Lakers make a lot more sense than the Spurs.
However, if Paul chooses to instead help a younger team improve, the Spurs are a great fit for him.
At +200 odds, the San Antonio Spurs are the favorites to land Chris Paul, according to BetOnline.
