The Oklahoma City Thunder Trade Chris Paul to the Phoenix Suns

At 1:08 p.m. today, Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a signature Woj Bomb as he tweeted that the Phoenix Suns were finalizing a deal for Oklahoma City point guard, Chris Paul.

There had been a rumor floating around on Twitter recently that the Phoenix Suns were interested in trading for the star point guard. Those rumors were proven to be true.

Wojnarowski followed his tweet with another tweet that included the full details of the trade.

This is an extremely interesting trade for both teams. I think both sides benefit from this deal and I like the direction each team is going in right now. Here's my breakdown of this trade from each team's perspective.

The Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns are trying to take advantage of the opportunity they have with Devin Booker on their roster. Booker is a star that's just waiting for the chance to show that he can perform in the playoffs. There have been rumors that he wants out of Phoenix which is likely due to the fact that they haven't made the playoffs since he arrived in 2015. To make sure that they keep their young star for as long as possible, the Suns are going all in this season and making a push for the playoffs.

The addition of Chris Paul to a talented young roster lead by Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton officially makes the Suns a playoff quality team. For the first time in his career, Devin Booker will be expected to make the playoffs. This will be a tough task since the western conference is deep, but it is very possible.

A huge part of this trade for the Suns is the fact that they get to keep the 10th pick in this year's draft. This isn't a great draft in terms of the top prospects, but it is deep and there are a lot of players that will be really effective even if they have a smaller role.

Let's say Devin Vassell falls to the 10th pick. Just imagine a five man lineup of Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Devin Vassell, Mikal Bridges, and Deandre Ayton. That would be a really good lineup and I could see it being one the more effective five man lineups in the league.

The Suns did take a risk by giving up a future first round pick. They put a good protection on it so this decision likely won't backfire, but it's still a little risky. Other than that, this trade is amazing for them and I love the direction they're going in.

Oklahoma City Thunder

It looks like the Thunder are beginning their rebuilding process. Over the last year or so, they've accumulated so many first round picks to the point that they have sixteen first round picks in the next six drafts. That's an unreal amount of draft capital to have in such a short amount of time.

Now that they've traded Chris Paul, rumors are starting that they want to trade Steven Adams as well. Getting rid of his contract is a smart move and one they should definitely consider. Although they're looking to blow everything up, they do have a good base to build up from. They have two first round picks this year that they can package to move up for an upside swing on a prospect like Aleksej Pokusevski or maybe even Killian Hayes if he falls. Leandro Bolmaro is also an option if they're willing to wait for his overseas contract to expire.

The point is, with the amount of draft capital they have stacked up for the next half decade, they have a a lot of flexibility and they'll have a lot of opportunities to get back to the top of the western conference. Deciding to trade your best players and rebuild is a tough decision, but I believe it's the best move for the future of their franchise.

This is a rare win-win trade. The Thunder get rid of Chris Paul's large contract to begin their rebuild and the Suns make a huge splash to become a competitive team. Both teams did a great job and I can't wait to see how it pans out for the two franchises.