Best Option: Keep Him

Clearing salary cap space for the sake of having money to spend is not a reason for the Oklahoma City Thunder to move off Chris Paul’s contract. Unless there was a great offer they couldn’t refuse, they should look to keep the floor general.

The Thunder simply are not a free agent destination for upper-tier players that would take up major cap space. There are teams that are in attractive markets that have significant spending room but still can’t land those kinds of talents, as in the case of the New York Knicks.

There is no need to rush the rebuilding process for the Thunder considering Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is turning 22-years-old in mid-July. As he continues to develop, Paul will be able to help keep Oklahoma City competitive as a playoff contender.

There is a risk the Thunder will have a more difficult time to trade away Paul if he were to wind down during the duration of his contract. However, his deal would make it easy to match salary for a high-level player if they were to want to pursue that option in the future.