Is CP3 eligible for the supermax?

DVPE is intended for this type of player:
"for any player who has completed at least seven (7) but fewer than ten (10) Years of Service [...] provided, however, that a player who (A) has one Season, or two Seasons (including any Option Year), remaining on his Contract, and (B) has seven (7) or eight (8) Years of Service at the time the Extension is executed (i.e., a player entering their 8th or 9th year in the NBA), and (C) rendered such Years of Service for the Team with which he first executed a Player Contract (or, if he was under a Player Contract for more than one Team during such period, changed Teams only by trade during the first four (4) Salary Cap Years"

Chris Paul is a 12-year veteran so DVPE does not apply to him; there's your difference. Cousins was traded in his 7th year of service; only the original team that drafted him (Sacramento) could offer DPVE beyond the first 4 years of service.

 

They say he is losing out on 11 mil over 5 seasons.

That's it.

 

His agent must have it figure out unless his name is BJ Amstrong

Party on.

 

Being a '10+' years of service veteran is what qualifies Paul and other similar free agents for Tier 3 max (35% of salary cap, with 8% annual increases from 1st year contract salary).

DVPE is meant for players with 7 to 10 years of service and could fluctuate between 30% to 35% of salary cap. ← Paul never fit this category based on years of service.