It’s official: Chris Paul will retire from the NBA after the 2025-26 season. After more than two decades in the league, the veteran point guard — widely regarded as one of the greatest at his position — will conclude his career. While his retirement tour will be celebrated, it remains a disappointment that, barring a dramatic turnaround by the Clippers this season, Paul will finish as one of the most accomplished players never to win an NBA championship.
The reality is made more difficult by the sense that his career trajectory might have been different had certain circumstances unfolded in his favor.
What Could Have Changed Chris Paul’s Career?
ESPN’s Shams Charania confirmed Chris Paul’s plans to retire following the Clippers guard’s social media announcement on Saturday.
Paul’s ability to perform at an All-Star level well into his mid-30s, when many believed he was past his prime, underscores the exceptional longevity of his career. Yet it remains a disappointment that he reached the NBA Finals only once, falling just two wins short of securing a championship.
With his retirement now confirmed, attention turns to two pivotal hypotheticals that might have altered the course of his career. The first is the most apparent.
What if Chris Paul’s Trade to the Lakers Was Not Vetoed?
This remains one of the greatest NBA “what-ifs” of the 21st century. Younger fans may not be as familiar with it, given the time that has passed, but Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers just before the start of the 2011-12 season.
The deal was a three-team trade involving the Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, and Houston Rockets. It would have sent Paul to Los Angeles, Pau Gasol to Houston, and Lamar Odom, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, and Goran Dragić to New Orleans, along with a first-round pick the Rockets had acquired from the New York Knicks.
That was until the league vetoed the trade. Then-commissioner David Stern, who was also serving as interim owner of the Hornets, vetoed the trade within an hour of its completion following pressure from other owners, sparking widespread controversy.
At that point, Paul had already established himself as one of the NBA’s premier players in his mid-20s, making the prospect of pairing him with Kobe Bryant especially enticing. Would they have won a championship together? The answer is uncertain, particularly since the Lakers were parting with their second-best player and one of the league’s most reliable glue guys in Odom to acquire Paul.
However, it was clear the Lakers were planning to acquire another star, as they also had the ascending Andrew Bynum on the team to use as a bargaining chip. Even if a Bryant-Paul duo had not delivered a title, Paul alone could have reshaped the Lakers’ future for the next decade in the same way Luka Dončić is doing now.
Instead, Paul was dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers sent Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, a 2012 first-round pick via Minnesota, and two future second-round selections to New Orleans. The move transformed the Clippers into a perennial playoff contender and cemented Paul’s status as the franchise leader during his six seasons with the team from 2011 to 2017.
Another Paul hypothetical stretches even further back and, though less discussed, could have dramatically altered the NBA landscape of the 2000s and 2010s.
What if Chris Paul Had Started His Career in Boston?
Paul was a hot prospect when he entered the 2005 NBA Draft. While not the consensus No. 1 pick, many believed he had the makings of a star. Among the teams that believed in him was the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics didn’t have a lottery pick in 2005, but they had Paul Pierce, a star whose immaturity was starting to wear thin in Boston.
Danny Ainge confirmed years later, while speaking with Bill Simmons in 2013, that the Celtics had discussed trading Pierce for Paul at the 2005 draft. Veteran Boston sportswriter Jackie MacMullan later corroborated the story in an interview with Zach Lowe, noting that while working for The Boston Globe, the paper had prepared headlines centered on either Pierce or Paul, depending on whether the deal was finalized.
Had the Celtics acquired Paul in exchange for Pierce, the trajectory of the franchise would have shifted dramatically. Such a move would have signaled the start of a rebuild, eliminating the subsequent acquisitions of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett two years later. It also likely would have prevented the eventual arrivals of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, whose draft rights were secured through trades involving Pierce and Garnett.
Paul quickly validated his reputation, proving Ainge’s belief in him was justified. Yet whether Boston would have successfully built a championship-caliber roster around him remains uncertain, as much would have depended on future draft selections and personnel decisions.
While Paul ultimately enjoyed a stellar career under the circumstances that unfolded, the question lingers: might he have captured one or more championships had his NBA journey begun in Boston — or had he later joined the Lakers?
