Chris Paul’s arrival at the Phoenix Suns has completely revamped the franchise in just one season. The Suns, who weren’t even a playoff contender last season, are now in a position to potentially head to the 2021 NBA Finals, even eliminating the Los Angeles Lakers along the way.
While life has been good for Suns fans, the same cannot be said for Lakers fans. After winning the 2020 NBA title, the defending champions were knocked out of the playoffs in the opening round.
The constant injury trouble was a huge reason for the disappointing season. But other than that, the lack of a pure point guard cannot be ignored. This leads to many sections of the crowd wondering, what if Chris Paul joined the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2011?
Yes, we are talking about the trade that was vetoed by then NBA Commissioner David Stern.
Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson talks about the Chris Paul saga
Magic is considered arguably as the best point guard to ever grace a basketball court. In fact, he was the one orchestrating the Lakers’ offense back in the showtime era.
Johnson joined ESPN for a podcast where he expressed his annoyance about 2011 when CP3’s trade to the purple and gold was vetoed.
“I love the way Chris Paul thinks the game,” said Magic. “See he has that Laker mentality. I am still mad at the NBA for not letting that trade go through. He should have been a Laker a long time ago.”
"[Chris Paul] should've been a Laker a long time ago."
— ESPN (@espn) June 22, 2021
Magic still isn't happy about the results of the Lakers' trade attempt for CP3 back in 2011.
(via @KeyJayandZ) pic.twitter.com/keOxImErZg
If Paul had joined the Lakers a decade ago, it would have been a scary sight for the NBA. Imagine the trio of Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, and Pau Gasol.
Additionally, the Lakers just won back-to-back championships, so if CP3 joined the team back then, there is a huge chance he would have won an NBA Championship by now.
Well, whatever be the case, the 36-year-old has a chance to potentially end his championship drought this year.
On the other hand, the Los Angeles Lakers will be looking forward to the offseason and potentially improve their squad.
LeBron James, who finished the season with 25.0 ppg, will no doubt be the leader of the squad. But the team needs a pure point guard so that James can focus on scoring more for the team.
What are your expectations from the LA Lakers next season? Do you think they can shrug off this underwhelming season? Feel free to share your opinion with us in the comments section below.