Who the f knew there was a guy named Tim Quarterman getting paid $540k this year playing for the Blazers?
Guys forget about the coexist of Paul and Harden nonsense, I really don't want to be too optimistic or jinx BUT Chris Paul is the one with the mental (I know I konw his record of WF)who can whip Harden's ass, that finally make Houston a true competitor.
A key piece? Yeah. He was still averaging elite PG numbers at 35, 16 and 11...he just didn't find himself on a championship team but he still led good teams even at that age. His team, at age 35, finished 54-28...so yeah, I think Chris Paul can be elite for 2-3 more years and then you'll start to see the fall...personally, I'm just asking for one championship, so the fall doesn't concern me. In a perfect world we get one out of CP3/Harden + whoever else and when CP3 is old Harden would have matured, bettered himself to the point where he can carry the flag for the team ala David Robinson to Tim Duncan.
The question is what's next. We had a strong backcourt last year, and we didnt lose on the weakness of our backcourt. In the playoffs we really struggled to keep up down low, and Nene's injury hurt this team big time vs. the Spurs. CP3 immediately improves our late game play as he's FAR more clutch than JH. Although I dont anticipate this happening, part of me wonders if Harden is, for the right price and the right piece(s), on the trading block because we're going to need a strong bench to get to where this team needs to go (something that has been hurt by this trade).
But will it be good enough to move the needle against GSW? In my opinion, "No". This move gives you a terrific two guard attack yes - but does it address the inherent weaknesses in MDA's system? (No). Does it address their issues defending the paint? (No). Rebounding? (No). Team attitude toward defensive play? (No). Plus, there are a bunch of "Ifs" in your post: If they can get George. If they can get Milsap. If they can get Gay. If they can get Melo via trade (Not likely given the events of this morning in NY). I'm reserving judgement until I see the rest of Morey's moves in FA but this move feels a lot like the one that netted them Dwight Howard and we all know how that turned out.
@WojVerticalNBA: The Rockets are gathering non-guaranteed contracts to use in Clippers trade, or elsewhere. Owner Leslie Alexander is spending to compete....
Just to be clear, the principle player the Rockets gave up in this trade was a low 2nd round pick, out of the league virtual nobody before the Rockets picked him up. Who Morey signed and then traded later for Chris-freaking-Paul.
