Perhaps one of the biggest trades of the NBA offseason, aside from the Paul George deal, was the Chris Paul move which sent the point guard to Oklahoma City. There were rumors of some tension between Paul and his Houston Rockets teammate, James Harden, so it wasn't surprising that he was dealt so swiftly.
Now, Paul is playing on a Thunder team that doesn't have much of a chance at making it to the postseason. In a new interview with Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Paul spoke about the trade from the Rockets and how GM Daryl Morey told him OKC wasn't on the table. Of course, this turned out to be untrue.
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“My initial reaction?” Paul asked. “I was shocked. Truth be told, I just talked to Daryl a couple days before the trade and he said he wasn’t going to trade me [to Oklahoma City]. That’s funny because that is going to be the alert that pops up on everybody’s phone because nobody knows that. But what the hell, I just said it.”
Paul was ultimately traded for Russell Westbrook who is one of James Harden's favorite teammates from his Thunder days. For now, it seems like the trade has worked out for both teams, even if the results on the court have been an adjustment for Paul.