The Phoenix Suns traded Chris Paul to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Bradley Beal on Sunday. It's safe to say CP3 did not know about the move in advance.
The general motto of the NBA transactional market is that "anything can happen." At least, that's how Chris Paul looks at it. And he would know.
Paul, who is 38 years old, has been around the block a few times. Aside from being an all-time basketball genius and one of the greatest point guards to ever handle the rock, Paul has been involved in his share of trades.
The Rockets sent him to OKC for Russell Westbrook. OKC flipped him to Phoenix to team up with Devin Booker and ultimately Kevin Durant, too. And now the Suns have flipped Paul to Washington to acquire Bradley Beal in the summer's first blockbuster trade, leaving the future Hall of Famer's future murkier than ever.
Paul knew he was liable to get traded — we've all been hearing the rumors. But what did not know is when he might get traded. Well, we all found out together on Sunday.
Chris Paul finds out he's involved in Suns' Bradley Beal trade while flying
Paul was on a prescheduled flight to promote his new book on Good Morning America in New York when he heard about the trade. Now he will either report to Washington or wait for the next domino to fall. The Wizards are not expected to keep Paul; either a trade or buyout feels inevitable.
The Clippers and Lakers have already emerged as strong candidates to acquire Paul. The Clippers have the most trade ammo if it comes to that, while the Lakers could appeal to Paul on the buyout market because of his friendship with LeBron James.
Paul is certainly not the first NBA player to hear about his impending move like everybody else. Spencer Dinwiddie found out about his involvement in the Kyrie Irving trade last February from Shams. Such is life in the NBA when the insiders are so thoroughly entrenched in the front office-agent information complex. It's 2023, we aren't waiting on the newspaper presses anymore — any news goes straight to Twitter and is proliferated to the masses.
The Suns now have their vaunted 'Big 3' of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. Meanwhile, Paul will await his future with potentially minimal input in where he ends up. It's a cutthroat business.
One thing's for sure, however: even at his advanced age, the Point Guard can still help a team win games.