Though I do agree with most posters here about getting Chris Paul... I still keep some reservations because: 1. Getting Chris Paul and Howard in Rockets will make everyone's expectations with the team sky rocket... anything below a championship run is a failure... anything below WCF is an embarrassment... 2.It might affect the quality of backups you get... 3.Might stunt the growth of our rooks... so kinda 50/50 on acquiring Chris Paul... on the otherside, Not Acquiring him when you have the chance is also idiotic... sooooooo..... I'm confused!!!!
We're very unlikely to get even Dwight Howard, let alone both Howard and Paul. I get the excitement but everyone is really building castles in the sky here. Plus getting both would mean gutting the whole roster in terms of not having the money for good role players. Look at how well San Antonio is going because of Green, Neal and Diaw etc. That's not possible here if both DH and CP are here. I hope it's just Dwight. Plus I like Lin and think he should be given one more year before being traded out. He can become a very good player. Not Chris Paul level obviously, but will never demand max money either.
I don't think there would be a clash in chemistry between Paul and Harden. Paul has a big enough rep to have him the primary ball handler where Harden will have to start playing off the ball. I think Harden could play off the ball just fine. It's like how Melo played efficiently and still got his shots with Team USA. He didn't try to hold the ball as much as he would with the Knicks considering the reputations of the talent around him. (OT: I've always thought it's odd how much Harden is the ball handler with Lin considering if you let Lin handle the ball, I don't think Harden would have a problem playing off Lin either, thus making them more effective backcourt. Harden will still get his touches and will still get his looks).
Never said he is not clutch. But in my book a big shot in the finals > a big shot in the 2nd round. So I stand by what I said, Chris Paul has never hit such a huge shot. I don't like the Tim Duncan argument. You can't penalize players for being drafted by well run organizations. No one ever asks how many rings MJ won without Pippen, Magic without James or Bird without McHale (0 total I believe). It's understood that 1 man can't do it alone. If we were comparing Matt Bonner to Chris Paul, it's one thing, but it's not like Parker was dead weight. Parker has 1 Finals MVP trophy and will probably get a second if they win (should be Green though). Chris Paul is an ELITE player and I used to think he was the best PG. But you can't keep on getting bumped out of the first and second rounds of the playoffs and expect to considered the best anything. Maybe if Paul were dragging a team of stiffs (a la Iverson) it would be one thing. But looking at that Clippers team, you can't say that. They had another all-star (thought he may not have deserved it), a 6th man of the year candidate, size, depth and experience at every position and yet they couldn't even make it out of the first round. They lost to a team that Tony Parker and the Spurs swept later. Yeah Del Negro is a bad coach, but he can't be the only one culpable. Chris Paul is the best player on the team, most of the blame should fall on him. And yet people here still say he's the best PG in the league. He's the 3rd best player in the NBA. In my book, if you are either of those, you are getting out of the first round AT THE VERY LEAST.
Remember when Deron Williams was better than CP3 and then he stopped playing under Jerry Sloan? Paul is by far the best point guard in the league and the best point guard we've seen since Magic.
Let us assume that you are correct, and Chris Paul is inferior to Tony Parker. Are you suggesting that there's a chance of us getting Parker? If not, what's your point?
You are right. I apologized in my first post and I apologize again. I wasn't trying to start anything, I was just killing time at work. And I am honestly mystified as to how so many people still think Chris Paul is the best PG, and I wanted to start an exchange with those people and try and understand their perspective. I was done and then I saw that Magic Johnson comment. I wasn't sure if the poster was serious or not. A guy who got bounced in the first round by a Grizzlies team, whose best player is Zach Randolph, was better than Zeke, Stockton, Kidd, Payton, Nash and Parker? I was just completely stunned. But you're right. And let's be real, we all know there is as much chance of us getting Chris Paul as there is of us getting Parker.
True (the second quote). I don't think people give enough credit to the Spurs talent evaluators and coaching staff. It's more than having good role players, it's picking the good role players and developing them. Every team strives to do this but the Spurs do it so well, it's almost not even replicable. You can't look to the Spurs as a model of how you should put your team together because your system for developing role players will never be that good, the same way you can't decide to build your team around a do-everything all star forward unless you have Lebron James. The Rockets need to play to their strengths, and at this point I think their strength is very clearly identifying talent in the 2nd round and d-league and locking them in contracts for cheap. Because they can do that, their majority of their money is best spent on max contracts because they know they can fill out the other roster spots with cheap productive players better than most teams. If Chris Paul doesn't fit next to Harden, then trade him for someone who does. He's still Chris Paul. I don't think Morey would be shy about trading superstars.
We are not getting Chris Paul. Dwight, maybe, and it's a big MAYBE. Just focus on him. I rather we have Dwight than Paul, not that I like Dwight that much, but he's just the best option out there this summer.
Stop being an idiot. 3× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2009, 2012–2013) 2× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2008, 2011)
Chris Paul isn't leaving Clipperland. Our PG is Jeremy Lin. Deal with it. He's improving, his shot was better near the end of the season. At worst, he'll be a solid PG, which is all we need. At best, he makes our backcourt the best in the league.
