“And during that timeout, Chris Paul went to Kawhi Leonard and said, ‘Hey man, are you fresh enough—do you feel like you can stick with Klay Thompson?’ And he [Paul] asked his teammates, he said ‘Hey, y’all might want to switch this. Wait until he gets warm until he goes and guards Klay.’ ... And so they ended up switching the matchup.”

He has been sent away from the Clippers (something handled sloppily), but what comes next? NBA insider Chris Haynes texted with Paul and got this response: “I’m just staying ready. I’m hooping right now. I don’t know what’s next. I’m still scarred by it all. Still processing everything. But I’m staying ready.”

Three days after the Clippers unceremoniously released the future Hall of Famer in the middle of a road trip, former All-Star Blake Griffin provided some perspective on the divorce during an appearance on Prime Video 's NBA pregame show. Consider him fully on Paul's side.

How will the Clippers handle the fallout of Paul's departure? "I think you own it," Clippers president Lawrence Frank said.

The Clippers made a somewhat stunning move, severing ties with franchise great Chris Paul early Wednesday morning. Why did it end like this?

It matters that the Wizards' other key veterans, CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton, still have hope of playing meaningful ball elsewhere. They're chiefly interested in their own shots, while the end-of-the-road point guard can dip back into his half-player/half-coaching role one more time.

It’s the type of storybook ending worthy of legendary sports stars: a retirement tour around the league where you say farewell to all of the cities and fanbases you played for or against. That surely was the hope for one of basketball’s greatest ever point guards,

Breakups are hard. How do you tell someone that what you two have isn't working for you anymore? How do you close a chapter of your life, inevitably hurt a long

This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/mavericks/onsi as Dallas Mavericks named top landing spot for Clippers' Chris Paul.