Clippers send Chris Paul home in stunning move

Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank later confirmed in a statement to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk that the team has moved on from Paul.

“We are parting ways with Chris and he will no longer be with the team,” Frank said. “We will work with him on the next step of his career.

“Chris is a legendary Clipper who has had a historic career. I want to make one thing very clear. No one is blaming Chris for our underperformance. I accept responsibility for the record we have right now. There are a lot of reasons why we’ve struggled. We’re grateful for the impact Chris has made on the franchise.”

The Clippers have three options for severing ties with Paul — they can waive the 40-year-old and pay the remainder of his $3.6 million salary, negotiate a buyout or trade him. A trade would not be able to be completed until Dec. 15.

L.A. had not formally waived Paul as of Wednesday morning, so it is possible a buyout agreement is the goal. A trade seems unlikely at this stage in Paul’s career.

Paul returned to the Clippers on a one-year deal this past offseason. It appeared the 12-time All-Star was going to finish his career with the franchise that he played for during a large portion of his prime from 2011 to 2017, but the Clippers obviously had no interest in letting him continue his farewell tour.

Paul had played sparingly with the Clippers and was not a significant part of head coach Tyronn Lue’s rotation. CP3 appeared in 16 games and averaged 2.9 points and 3.3 assists while playing just 14.3 minutes per game.

There was speculation that Paul was unhappy with his situation in L.A. after he shared a cryptic social media post over the weekend, so he may have known the split was imminent.