The Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors went hard after Chris Paul back in 2011, but CP3 told both franchises that they were wasting their time.
“I will not re-sign with you,” Paul reportedly said.
Paul wanted to end up in L.A., and thought he had become a Laker, before eventually getting re-routed to the Clippers.
Per RealGM (via ESPN):
Paul preferred a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers but ended up being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.
“When Chris Paul was in New Orleans, there were two teams that wanted to be aggressive in trading for him and he said ‘I will not re-sign with you,'” said [Adrian] Wojnarowski about the Celtics and Warriors.
The Celtics attempted to acquire Paul by trading Rajon Rondo to the Pelicans. The advanced age of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce was a significant reason why Paul didn’t want to join the Celtics.
