Chris Paul joining Lakers would be ironic next chapter of his NBA life

Toward the end of his conversation with the California Post on Wednesday, soon-to-be Lakers co-owner Bob Iger had a clear message after he and business partner Josh Kushner agreed to purchase the franchise from Mark Walter for a historic valuation of $12.5 billion. “It’s just premature to speculate at all about what we plan to do,” Iger told the Post.“Because frankly, we haven’t made any plans yet.”More than understandable considering the opportunity to buy the Lakers didn’t make itself available to Iger and Kushner until very recently.

The agreement came together within three days, according to Iger.But that hasn’t stopped speculation from happening anyway. Immediate questions swirled about Jeanie Buss and whether she would remain the franchise’s governor after having an agreement with Walter to remain in the role for at least five years.Iger told the Post he and Kushner intend to honor that agreement.But an ESPN story fueled more speculation, with the outlet reporting Thursday multiple people around the league suggested that the recently retired NBA legend Chris Paul could have a role in the Lakers’ front office if there are changes. Iger, who was a longtime season-ticket holder for the Clippers, and Paul built a strong relationship while CP3 played for the Clippers from 2011-17, and have remained close since. It’s too early to tell whether Paul would be interested in a front office role with the Lakers.It also isn’t certain whether the Lakers would be interested in adding Paul to their front office.But if Paul did join the Lakers in any capacity, it would be an ironic next chapter for his NBA life.It’s almost been 15 years since Paul was nearly traded to the Lakers in December 2011.At the time, the hope was that a then- 26-year-old Paul would help the Lakers contend for championships during the backend of Kobe Bryant’s prime, while also being the player they could build around in the 2010s.But the trade was infamously nixed...