{"id":1907,"date":"2025-07-17T04:56:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T04:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/1907\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T04:56:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T04:56:11","slug":"bucks-need-chris-paul-for-playoff-push-after-waiving-damian-lillard-amid-nba-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/1907\/","title":{"rendered":"Bucks Need Chris Paul for Playoff Push After Waiving Damian Lillard amid NBA Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">The Milwaukee Bucks have had a busy off-season, adding top free agent center Myles Turner on a <a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong css-lu48cp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/bucks-myles-turner-free-agency#:~:text=The%20Bucks%20have%20landed%20one,%25%20trade%20kicker%2C%20per%20Charania.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">four-year, $107 million contract<\/a> and <a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong css-lu48cp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/45630759\/sources-free-agent-myles-turner-bucks-reach-4-year-107m-deal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">waiving Damian Lillard<\/a>. The team&#8217;s superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, was not pleased with the latter, and the decision left the team needing backcourt help in a top-heavy, ultra-competitive Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">Enter 12-time NBA All-Star, Chris Paul.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\"><a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong css-lu48cp\" href=\"https:\/\/marcstein.substack.com\/p\/fourth-of-july-fireworks-check-out?utm_campaign=email-post&amp;r=3shtjf&amp;utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Marc Stein<\/a> of The Stein Line reported that the 40-year-old point guard has had conversations about potentially joining the team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">On the surface, Paul is no longer the dominant, game-changing player he once was. Last season, he averaged just 8.8 points per game and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 42.7 percent from the paint and 37.7 percent from beyond the arc. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">His greatest asset remains his ability to spread the ball around, facilitating offense and setting up his teammates&#8217; scoring opportunities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">He has averaged 9.2 assists per year, a strength that would suit the Bucks well as he sets up Antetokounmpo to be the dynamic, game-changing force that he has historically been.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">The decision, though, may ultimately have more to do with Paul&#8217;s desire to be a father to his children, as he revealed on <a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong css-lu48cp\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PatMcAfeeShow\/status\/1930679620480708715\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">The Pat McAfee Show<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">If Paul decides to return to the court, and he signs with Milwaukee, he has the potential to be a playoff difference-maker for a team that has championship aspirations. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">He no longer has to be the guy but, rather, a complement to that player and in a wide-open Eastern Conference rocked by a rash of torn Achilles during the playoffs that will keep stars Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton out for the entirety of next season, a Paul-assisted Bucks team would have a real opportunity to climb back into the title hunt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">Considering the frustrations its star player has experienced over the last year, and questions about the organization&#8217;s championship window closing, it is a move that must be made in order to we preserve the possibility that Giannis and Co. can secure a second Larry O&#8217;Brien Trophy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Milwaukee Bucks have had a busy off-season, adding top free agent center Myles Turner on a four-year,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-1907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}