Chris Paul Returns to LA Clippers for Final NBA Season

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00:00How about a last dance back in Los Angeles for Chris Paul, the point god at the age of 40

00:07is set to spend his 21st and more than likely final NBA season back with the Clippers. He spent

00:15six years in LA, 2011 to 2017, reigniting this franchise and really starting what was known as

00:23a glorious era in Los Angeles, I am told, as Lob City, the 40-year-old back in Los Angeles,

00:31a one-year vet minimum deal worth $3.6 million. Speaking of vets, oh boy, the Clippers have a

00:38ton, but Chris Paul more than likely going to end his career with the LA Clippers. He is 40,

00:44year 21 on the horizon. Yeah, I still remember when he got signed by the Golden State Warriors

00:50and like during like a summer league in a hallway at a hotel, they threw him like a practice jersey

00:54and had to talk about how he wanted to start and the Golden State Warriors were like, you're not

00:57starting here, so just have this quick little press conference and we'll see when the season begins.

01:01Now he winds up back in Los Angeles and he's not starting here either. This is James Harden as a

01:06veteran point guard who's going to have all the shots. So is he coming off the bench like that

01:10aging Russell Westbrook? I'll give you some energy and see what happens at this point. It's a cheap

01:14contract and you can't fault these guys for still wanting to continue the career. That's all they know.

01:18They play basketball their entire lives. Somebody wants to pay them in a big city. They're going

01:22to go and play that, but also you get Brooke Lopez in the offseason. Like you're just adding like

01:27social security type age groups here for the Los Angeles Clippers. It's not going to equate it to

01:32a championship. Do you say like, are they better for adding Chris Paul for 3 million bucks? Yes,

01:36they are, but what are we actually building? I have no idea for the Clippers. It's not a championship

01:40team to me. It's a very old team is what it is, DRS, but we have seen nostalgia be almost

01:48first and foremost for players this offseason. Last week, Damian Lillard returns to Portland.

01:55Yesterday, Chris Paul returns to LA. Again, this will be his 21st NBA season. He is 40 years old and he

02:05has one of the greatest career resumes for a point guard ever in the NBA. A 12-time All-Star. An

02:11All-Star nod in each of his first five years in Los Angeles. 11-time All-NBA. He has the

02:18second most assists in NBA history. The second most steals in NBA history. Well behind John

02:25Stockton in both of those categories. More than likely in his final season. Not going to catch

02:30either of those records. Are you laughing because he's wearing a San Antonio Spurs throwback alternate

02:37uniform? No. Why are you laughing? Looks like he's about, looks like he's Charles Barkley right

02:42now in that uniform right now. I mean, where did he eat before the game? Am I, was he just eating

02:46churros down there for the entire way? I mean, come on, San Antonio. Get that guy on a treadmill once

02:51in a while for Chris Paul. Goodness. That's messed up. He was a first round pick fourth overall for the

02:57New Orleans Hornets back in the day in 2005. I remember as a young man growing up in Los Angeles,

03:05but with allegiance to the purple and gold, not the Clippers. How devastated I was when David Stern,

03:11RIP, canceled the trade that would have set the point guard to the Lakers. And instead he finds

03:18his way to the other LA team inside Staples Center at the time. And they started to become the buzz

03:24around Los Angeles. Lob City with DeAndre Ayton and Blake Griffin. Well, Chris Paul is now back

03:30with the Clips. DRS in his six years, 2011 through 2017. LA made it to the postseason.

03:37Each of those six seasons, the final five, they won at least 51 games. So did they make it to the

03:42NBA finals? Did they make it to the Western Conference finals? Three Western Conference

03:48semifinals appearances and three first round exits as well. What about this version of the LA Clippers

03:56in 2025-26? Did the move to sign Chris Paul, much to Donnie's point, really move the market or change

04:03the odds? No, still 49.5. The win total for LA. The conference price remains at 10-1. That got better

04:12by a buck after the acquisition of Bradley Beal last week. Chris Paul, although he deserves his time back

04:19in Los Angeles and the nostalgia and somewhat of a farewell tour, in my estimation, does not really

04:26move the needle entering year 21. No, it doesn't. I wouldn't want to bet that division price of plus

04:31135. I wouldn't want to bet that win total 49.5. If you were going to throw a flyer, maybe on the

04:36conference and the championship, you say, Donnie, you just told me you didn't like this team. Well,

04:40the goal for this team would be to get to the playoffs healthy. That doesn't mean playing this aging,

04:44ancient roster, 82 games to drag them across the finish line. So I don't think they care about the

04:50division or the win total as long as they can make it into the playoffs and that veteran core

04:54is not spent from that season. That's the way I would attack the Clippers. Now, I'm saying that as

04:58well. I don't think they win anything, but if you're asking me a betting prowess on which way to try to

05:03attack it, it would take in the biggest number on the board because if they get to the playoffs,

05:07they do have veteran presence. It's a longer playoff, particularly in the first round. You can rest your

05:12starters just a little bit more, play them a little bit more minutes, but the regular season

05:16basically meaningless for the Clippers because they're so old. They can't care about the regular

05:20season. They got to just care about the playoffs. I mean, what are divisions anyway in the association?

05:26That's neither here nor there. Tyron Lou enters his sixth season as the head coach in Los Angeles.

05:33They have made the postseason four of the first five years that Lou has been there in LA. The first

05:39year they made it to the conference finals. The Clippers as an organization, even dating back to

05:45the days of the Buffalo Braves, I am pretty sure, never made it, never have made it to an NBA finals.

05:52Is this the team to change that? Kawhi Leonard is 34. James Harden is 36. Chris Paul is 40.

05:59Brooke Lopez is 37. Nicholas Batum, is he still even on the team? He's 37. Bradley Beal is the

06:07youngster. He is 32. And maybe the bright young spot is Evita Zubac, who has been really good for LA,

06:15solidifying that position in the front court as a center. The rest to all those prices,

06:21I say no, I'm not buying in on the Clippers. If this was 2017, oh boy, they'd be the favorites to

06:27win an NBA championship. In 2025, not so much. No. And by the way, see that the Clippers new logo

06:34right there looks like a Carnival cruise ship. I'd say we change it back to the Clippers as in

06:38hair Clippers. Like just put a hair Clipper in there. We'd have more respect for the Clippers

06:42franchise and be more brandable at this point. How about that? No, no doubt. I think that was one

06:47of your best suggestions ever. And I'm sure that Steve Ballmer is listening.

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