Money.
The Clippers are in the same boat this summer that they were in the last; they have no real cap space. The Clippers have the ability to re-sign J.J. Redick via his bird rights, which means they can go over the cap to re-sign him since he has been with their team for at least three seasons. Same goes for both Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, should they opt-out as expected.
Blake is young still, 27 to be exact, so a long term contract is a no-brainer. Even at 32, J.J. is an incredible shooter. Plus, he won’t be as expensive as Chris Paul would be. If Chris Paul re-signed, it would be on a max contract. That’s a lot of money to put into a player who will be making 20+ million a year when he is 37. That’s crazy.
REPORT: J.J. Redick has committed to re-signing with Clippers
While re-signing Paul may not hurt the Clippers right away, it will be catastrophic in a few years. If I were the Clippers, I would cut my losses so I could have financial freedom in the years to come.
If the Clippers re-signed just J.J. and Blake they would have virtually no cap room to sign a legit starting point guard, or any real difference maker for matter. That’s where my third point comes in.