The Washington Wizards are finalizing a deal to send Chris Paul to the Golden State Warriors for a package that includes Jordan Poole and future draft assets

The Washington Wizards are finalizing a deal to send Chris Paul to the Golden State Warriors for a package that includes Jordan Poole and future draft assets.

According to the reports on Sunday, the Washington Wizards are trading Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns in a blockbuster deal that will also see Chris Paul head in the opposite direction. The news does come as somewhat of a shock with Beal having signed a five-year, $251 million max extension contract just last offseason. What’s interesting about the scenario, is that Beal’s contract actually had a no-trade clause in it, however, it appears he was willing to waive it in order to facilitate his move to Phoenix. Needless to say, the Suns who were already considered a contender in the West with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, just got a whole lot stronger.

Though nothing is official, the Phoenix Suns are finalizing framework of a deal that will send Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, a slew of second-round picks and future pick swaps to the Washington Wizards for Bradley Beal, Jordan Goodwin and Isaiah Todd. 

The Suns are pushing all of their chips to the middle of the table in hopes of capitalizing off a trio of Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker to extend their championship window – one that first began when Paul arrived in November of 2020. Paul helped Phoenix reach heights such as the 2021 NBA Finals and 64 wins in the following regular season (a franchise record), though the Suns were never able to fully bring home the Larry O’Brien trophy. 

The Suns ultimately felt as if it was time to move on from Paul, who is in the twilight of his career. Phoenix had until June 28 to waive or trade him before his $30.8 million salary for 2023-24 became fully guaranteed. Where the fine print is concerned, it’s worth noting that the Wizards will have to guarantee a further $9 million of Paul’s salary in order for the deal to stay under the cap limit. What that means is that Paul’s guaranteed salary will now jump to around $25 million. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that reports suggest that the Wizards are in fact searching for another contender to pass Paul off to – the Los Angeles Clippers have been mentioned.