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Chris Paul declines Clippers' three-year, $60 million contract extension

Chris Paul declined an offer from the Los Angeles Clippers on July 1 to re-sign with the team for three years and a reported $60 million, according to Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com.

But it may be a strategic business move from Paul to negotiate a more lucrative deal with the Clippers than an indication the All-Star point guard is interested in going elsewhere:

If he plays out this season, becomes a free agent and then re-signs with the Clippers he can get a five-year, $105 million contract. It is one of the quirks of the new CBA that it is in the financial interest of players to become free agents and re-sign with the same team rather than to just sign an extension with their team.

But as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News tweeted on Sunday, it is believed by many NBA executives that Paul hasn't lost sight of playing in New York for the Knicks, a team currently pursuing Steve Nash as a mentor to rising star Jeremy Lin. Paul is set to make $17.7 million next season and then will become a free agent, if he doesn't sign an extension with the Clippers, on July 1 2013.