After the LA Clippers’ surprising move to send Chris Paul home during what was supposed to be his retirement tour, fans immediately speculated about possible landing spots, including the OKC Thunder, the team he guided to the postseason in 2019-20.On Friday, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault was asked about Paul’s retirement, and he said the biggest lesson he took from the veteran guard was how seriously Paul approaches every single game.“The thing I always think about is this: On the sleepy regular-season games, in the middle of the season, in a midweek road city, there are kind of like invisible games -- and he is ready to play,” Daigneault said.“The seriousness, the professionalism, and the level he gets himself to in order to prepare for an NBA game every single night are potent when you're around him. And I think it has an impact on the team; it has an impact on the other guys.”Paul arrived in OKC as part of the Russell Westbrook-to-Houston trade, and at age 34, he posted 17.6 points, 6.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game, pushing the Thunder into the playoffs despite modest expectations and serving as a veteran mentor for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.“Obviously, Shai and Lu (Dort) were here, and who knows the degree to which all the different things contribute to a player’s growth,” Daigneault continued. “But seeing somebody who had had his success pass through here and approach it like that -- it was hard not to notice when we were around him.”Can the Thunder realistically acquire Chris Paul?A trade that brings Chris Paul back to OKC is highly unlikely. The Thunder cannot send out a player making more than Paul’s $2.2 million minimum salary, as doing so would trigger a hard cap for the Clippers.The Clippers also can’t simply waive Paul, meaning the most plausible scenario would require him to be traded to another team, waived there, and then signed by OKC.Even in that case, the Thunder already have a full 15-man roster, and waiving a young contributor to add Paul may not make sense for a franchise committed to developing every piece of its rotation.One idea that has been floated is Chris Paul retiring and joining the Thunder as an assistant coach -- the simplest path for him to return to the organization and begin a transition from player to coach, similar to the journeys of Jason Kidd and JJ Redick.