Frank Vogel, the newly appointed head coach of the Phoenix Suns, confirmed on Saturday that the team didn't waive their starting point guard Chris Paul, dispelling the rumor that the 38-year-old veteran parted ways with the team.

"Obviously there was a misunderstanding yesterday – we did not waive Chris, as was reported. But there's ongoing conversations about all of the options to improve the roster," Vogel told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix.

In his third season in the Suns, Paul has averaged 13.9 points, 8.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game, but he only made 59 appearances in the regular season because of injuries.

Paul's performance further slipped in the playoffs. Having played only seven of the Suns' 11 games in the Western Conference first round and semifinals, he scored 12.4 points and 7.4 assists per game while shooting poorly 41.8 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from downtown. Aging has also made him a defensive weak link from the perimeter.

That's why there were a lot of rumors about the Suns releasing Paul after the team lost to the Denver Nuggets in the West semifinals. The team's owner Mat Ishbia seems to prefer acting immediately and resolutely judging by his decisions to trade for Kevin Durant in February and to fire coach Monty Williams, further feeding the rumors.

"I personally communicated with Chris and feel strongly about the opportunity to work with him. He's someone I've just had an immense respect for over the years, not only just his game, his toughness, IQ, he's one of the great winners our game has ever seen. He's done so much for this team the last few years, so I'm really hopeful to have an opportunity to work with him this next year, and I think he can really help us get over the top," Vogel added.

Paul still has two years left of his Suns contract and will earn $30.8 million and $30 million in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons respectively, but only $15.8 million of his next season's salary is guaranteed. His salary of the final season is not fully guaranteed. Therefore, trading him should not be too difficult.

However, sending Paul away won't solve the Suns' problems, not to mention that they will struggle to find his replacement. The salaries of Durant, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton will occupy over $116 million of cap space on the team's payroll for the 2023-24 season. Waiving Paul will create at least millions of dead space, further decreasing the money the Suns can spend to sign a new starting point guard.

The lost series against the Nuggets showed the Suns that, without a good floor general, they stand no chance against the top racers in the West, in spite of the individual offensive dominance of Booker and Durant. If the Suns cannot get an upgrade from Paul via either trading or free agent signing, keeping Paul for another season seems the wise choice.

Vogel's coaching experience in the Indian Pacers and the Los Angeles Lakers showed that he is a solid coach who builds his game on defense and he needs a trustworthy big man like Roy Hibbert or Anthony Davis to do so. He will have a lot of work to do trying to carve Ayton into that kind of defender, if that's even possible.