Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers is left to pick up the pieces after the Chris Paul trade.
Paul wanted out and the organization gave him what he wanted, agreeing to a sign-and-trade blockbuster with the Houston Rockets. With Blake Griffin also a free agent, it could be serious rebuilding time for the Clippers.
In the face of countless speculation, Rivers tried to come up with the No. 1 reason Paul wanted out, according to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times:
Doc on CP “He left because he wanted to be with James Harden. Let’s not get that twisted. I wish him well. I have no problem with that.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) June 29, 2017
Doc cont: "He left because of DJ, he left because of Blake and now he left because of Austin. We know he didn’t leave because of that."
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) June 29, 2017
At the least, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical echoed the comments about playing alongside James Harden:
Paul had a strong desire to play with Rockets All-Star guard James Harden, which led to the Clippers working out a trade with Houston, league sources said. Los Angeles was able to secure several tradable assets and a draft pick in the deal. The Clippers risked losing Paul for nothing in free agency.
That won’t be good enough for fans, especially not after rumors surfaced that Paul grew apart from Doc after the coach refused to trade his son for Carmelo Anthony.
Austin Rivers himself took to Twitter to fight the rumors:
These false rumors are comedy…so fictional it's actually amusing! People will say or do anything to get attention. A lot 🤡🤡 out there
— Austin Rivers (@AustinRivers25) June 28, 2017
At the end of the day, all that should matter to fans now is how the team approaches a potential rebuild. The haul in return for CP3 wasn’t terrible, so now the focus can fully turn to Griffin.
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