Chris Paul sat on the bench and watched as the Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns, 125-100, to earn a spot in the Western Conference Finals. Paul suffered a groin injury in Game 2 and was unable to take the floor again in the series, which ended up going six games before Denver ended things in Phoenix’s building on Thursday night.
It was a frustrating end to a frustrating year for Paul, as the 38-year-old point guard showed his age by putting up some of the worst numbers in his career during the regular season and the playoffs. His future with the team is now in question, as he’s only guaranteed about half of his $30.8 million deal before June 28 — Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported that “the Suns are expected to explore what they might get if they traded Paul before making a decision on his contract.”
If Dwight Howard has his way, a decision will be made that ends up with Paul heading to Taiwan. A fake quote went around social media a few weeks back that claimed Paul said “if I don’t win the ring with [Kevin Durant], I’m going to Taiwan with Dwight Howard.” After Denver won on Thursday, Howard decided to have some fun with this, as he posted efforts to recruit Paul to the place where he’s playing his professional ball on Instagram and Twitter.
Taiwan calling
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) May 12, 2023
Howard joined the Taoyuan Leopards this season, and while he’s made clear that he thinks he can still give an NBA team good minutes, it sure seems like he’d enjoy Paul’s company. Anyway, our bet is this is not going to happen.