NBA Trade, Free Agency Rumors Roundup: Chris Paul returns to LA or Phoenix? Bobby Portis staying in Milwaukee

Look around the rest of the NBC Sports NBA page and you can read all the big free agent stories of the day, like LeBron James and James Harden staying with their respective Los Angeles teams. Here is a roundup of other news worth noting, less than 24 hours from the start of free agency.

Chris Paul returns to LA or Phoenix?

The vibe for a while has been that Chris Paul would love to play another year in the NBA, his 21st season, and at age 40, but it has to be closer to his family in Los Angeles. Marc Stein summed it up well recently at The Stein Line:

“Chris Paul would be another Mavericks target at $5.7 million [the taxpayer mid-level exception], but there is a growing belief that Paul, after starting all 82 games last season in San Antonio as a 40-year-old newcomer to the Spurs, is determined to play closer to his home base in Los Angeles.”

It’s been no secret around the league that the Clippers have some interest in reuniting with CP3 as a backup guard, whether the sides are on the same page is another question. The Lakers have a lot of priorities that fall in line ahead of backup point guard, they are not a likely landing spot.

Phoenix is a team to watch if Tyus Jones leaves town in free agency, Stein added. The Suns are stacked with combo guards but not pure floor-general point guards.

Bobby Portis staying in Milwaukee

Bobby Portis isn’t the best player on the Bucks, but he is their heart and soul. The fan favorite. If he had wanted to leave in free agency there would have been interest, but that was never likely.

Portis is not going anywhere.

Rapid fire round (bullet points):

• Portland buying out DeAndre Ayton. Portland has decided to take the financial hit and just buy out the final year of DeAndre Ayton’s $35.6 million contract. That frees up more minutes for Donovan Clingan and first-round pick Yang Hansen of China.

Ayton is now an unrestricted free agent, and there will be interest in the big man, just for a lot less money than his last contract. Still, for teams that were thinking of Clint Capela as a fallback, Ayton looks like a much better option.

• Teams lining up for Santi Aldama. Among the big men expected to be on the move this summer is Santi Aldama of the Memphis Grizzlies. Here is what Zach Lowe said on his podcast:

“Santi Aldama has full mid-level deals, I think, waiting for him. At least that’s the scuttlebutt I’ve heard, that he is sought after enough by a team like Detroit, for instance, with the full mid-level. There’s a lot of teams with the full mid-level. He’s an interesting kind of combination of skills, and I think they’re going to have to pay to retain him. And when you have full mid-level deals, if you do in the open market, your incumbent team might have to pay a little bit more than that using your bird rights to do it, and then they’d have the salary cap room exception on top of that.”

• Don’t expect Austin Reaves to leave Lakers. The headline “Austin Reaves rejects Lakers max contract offer” is both accurate and wildly misleading. Reaves rejected the four-year, $89.2 million offer, which was the maximum the Lakers could offer this summer (140% of his current contract, way below market value), but did so only because the $22.3 million per year offer is well below what he will be offered next summer. Reaves is expected to earn over $ 30 million per season with his next contract, and teams will likely line up to pay it.

Reaves wants that deal to be with the Lakers, and the Lakers want it as well. However, Los Angeles just can’t offer it until next offseason. Whether that deal happens or not depends on several variables and how the next season plays out, but it’s clear that both sides want to make it work. There is no ill will, this is just business.

• Kelly Oubre picks up option with 76ers. Kelly Oubre will be back in Philadelphia next season after picking up his $8.4 million player option. This was both expected and welcomed by both sides.

• The Thunder lock up Ajay Mitchell with a new contract. Shams Charania of ESPN broke the news and explained this one.

• Orlando declines option on Mo Wagner. Franz Wagner is a cornerstone of what the Orlando Magic are building, but his brother, Mo Wagner, did not have his $11 million option picked up by the team for next season. The smart money is on the two sides working out a new, smaller contract going forward.

• Duncan Robinson declines $19.9 million option. Duncan Robinson did the Miami Heat a favor, declining his $19.9 million early termination option, making himself a free agent. This was a win for the Heat because it moved them about $5 million below the luxury tax line. The Heat and Robinson will work together on what’s next, whether that involves staying with the Heat or a sign-and-trade deal elsewhere.

• No trade market for Jordan Clarkson. The Utah Jazz already traded Collin Sexton to free up their backcourt, but they are also testing the market for Jordan Clarkson. And finding no interest, reports Andy Larson at the Salt Lake Tribune. Clarkson averaged 16.2 points a game last season, shot 36.2% from 3, and is on an expiring $14.3 million contract. There should be some interest around the league.