Los Angeles Clippers general manager Lawrence Frank said Saturday his franchise is “strongly, strongly considering” the signing of free agent guard Chris Paul, who hinted last month that he wanted to return to Los Angeles. Paul has played for five different teams since leaving the Clippers in 2017, but his family still resides on the West Coast.
Despite playing in his 20th season for the San Antonio Spurs, Paul started all 82 games at point guard, contributing 8.8 points and 7.4 assists per game. Previously, two of his best seasons in the NBA from a passing standpoint came during his six-year stint with the Clippers.
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Unrestricted free agent Ben Simmons is still looking for a new home with the New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings emerging as potential landing spots for the three-time All-Star. According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, the Kings have a backcourt need while the Knicks are still adding personnel pieces around first-year coach Mike Brown.
“For Ben Simmons, the two teams we’re hearing for him still are Sacramento and New York,” Fischer said Thursday on livestream. “We are still anticipating the Kings to be bringing in another veteran guard, and Ben Simmons is on that list of potential targets in addition to Russell Westbrook, to Malcolm Brogdon.”
Simmons signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in February on a buyout after a disappointing, injury-interrupted stint with the Brooklyn Nets. Simmons has hit a rough patch in his career over the last few seasons that began with the multi-player blockbuster trade from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Nets in February 2022.
Injury issues centered around back problems disrupted his availability in Brooklyn; he played just 90 games over three seasons with the Nets. A microscopic partial discectomy last March seemed to alleviate the back issues this season and allowed him to play in 33 games, averaging 6.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists, while shooting 54.7% from the field.Â
Sacramento signed Dennis Schroder to a three-year deal earlier this month and hopes he can handle point guard duties after the Kings traded away star guard De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs at last season’s trade deadline.Â
Simmons was previously linked to the Knicks by insider Ian Begley of SNY, who reported the team still has a spot for a player at the veteran minimum signing. The Knicks could avoid the salary cap’s second apron by signing Simmons and adding one rookie deal, according to Begley.
Simmons is a two-time All-Defensive selection and earned NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 2016, but his production has dwindled due to availability since the end of the 2020-21 campaign with the 76ers.
With few notables left unsigned in free agency, one can assume Simmons will be primarily viewed as a cost-effective depth option wherever he lands. Given injury concerns, a new suitor for Simmons would essentially be taking a flyer, hoping that a healthy version of the talent distributor can provide quality minutes off the bench.