On Wednesday evening, NBA insider Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report unleashed a bombshell report claiming that the Phoenix Suns have notified star guard Chris Paul that he will be waived this offseason, making him a free agent. It would be a massive story. But other NBA insiders were quick to offer conflicting reports.
Haynes published his initial report via a tweet at 5:16 p.m. before sending a follow-up tweet a few minutes later detailing Paul’s plans during free agency.
No other prominent NBA insider was able to immediately confirm Haynes’ report, as is typically the case for big breaking stories. But just over an hour later, Shams Charania of The Athletic published a very different report.
According to Charania, the departure of Paul (seen above last November) from the Suns, is not a done deal as the two sides are still “exploring multiple options.”
“The Suns and Chris Paul are exploring multiple options, including a trade, stretching his contract, or waiving and re-signing him in free agency. Phoenix expected to discuss trades ahead of Paul’s June 28 contract date,” Charania said in a tweet.
Shortly after Charania’s report, NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN published his own report that was similar to Charania’s, but quite different than Haynes’. Like Charania, Wojnarowski pointed to multiple options – a potential trade, stretching his contract, or waiving and potentially re-signing him in free agency.
Wojnarowski also made it clear that Paul wants to stay in Phoenix.
“Paul continues to want to return to Suns and partner with Booker and Durant, sources said. Nevertheless, Paul and his reps want organization to make a decision well ahead of June 28th deadline to guarantee his deal so that Paul can proceed into marketplace if he’s indeed waived,” Wojnarowski said in a tweet.
Charania and Wojnarowski are widely regarded as the top NBA insiders in the field, so when their reports were similar, yet quite different from Haynes’ bombshell report, the NBA world was quick to call out Haynes.
Well, I’m obviously dumb and know nothing.
However, based off the below from Woj, feels like CP3 probably got a little upset this afternoon after the meeting with the Suns, reached out to Chris Haynes, Chris reported what CP3 had texted him, missing the full context. https://t.co/wuH1oKXWmw pic.twitter.com/GC8DDgxPRA
— Tayler Peterson (@Tayler_P15) June 7, 2023
This is why you nimrods shouldn't listen to "Chris Haynes" and instead listen to the 2 complete losers who waste all their time on nba reporting (shams and woj) https://t.co/rF4tVBYQMG
— ZACH EDEY TO UZBEKISTAN (@PenixtoBangkok) June 7, 2023
It feels like a good old-fashioned source-off between the NBA reporters. Time will tell who ultimately has the most complete information.
[Chris Haynes, Shams Charania, Adrian Wojnarowski]