4 1sts and 2 2nds for Chris Paul.... that's a gigantic chunk of change, I'm sure the FO is confident he will resign next year, but we need more. We do have the 2020 and 2022 1sts still available to trade I believe, as well as Anderson and Gordon/Ariza. The problem is, now, you are talking giving up full time starters for full time starters. We gutted the bench, so we will need to find a way to work through that.
I love how perplexed the media is that Chris Paul chose Houston. Houston???!!!!????!!!! ESPN will shut down if we get a 3rd star. If Lebron comes too, oh boy.
Anyone have ideas about how big our TPE is? This really was a masterful trade. A TPE, and two exceptions goes a long way to fill out the roster. Propbably can get Nene back, Patterson, and one other solid piece.
Drake did Houston a solid at the NBA Awards. Houston is a cool ass city and the players recognize that. It used to only be LA, NY or Miami. Props to Drake for reppin our city. Even if he is talking about women, and clubs....possibly strip clubs.
But Harden is a narcissistic ass that no one wants to play with. His leaguewide perception is low. @kjayp I need you to make sense of this all for me.
At some point, a team stops believing it can win. Players get tired of each other, and yearn to try new things. The culture had eroded. Insiders complained about a lack of accountability -- about practices and shootarounds starting late, and Austin Rivers carrying himself like an anointed superstar. The relationship between Paul and Doc Rivers frayed, sources say. The Clippers may push the idea that they were hesitant to offer Paul a fifth season on the back of his deal, and they surely were. No team is thrilled about earmarking $40 million-plus for a 37-year-old. But they would have gone there to keep Paul. Bereft of draft picks, they are not set up well to rebuild. The alternative may be despair. Unloading Ryan Anderson to sign Paul outright would have helped Houston keep one of their outgoing guards, but the market for the three years and $60 million left on Anderson's deal was frigid. Not even the Kings wanted him for free. At least two teams would have demanded two Houston first-round picks in exchange for absorbing Anderson, according to several league sources. Good news: The Rockets have all their exceptions. They coaxed Nene for less than $3 million last season; would the biannual exception, worth about $3.3 million, do the trick this time around? They can find someone useful with the $8.4 million midlevel. It might not be enough for Patrick Patterson or JaMychal Green -- a restricted free agent -- but it could net Mike Muscala, P.J. Tucker, Zaza Pachulia, Kyle Korver, or a combination of cheaper guys. The tax benefits of playing in Texas are real; just ask Paul. Houston is not done star-chasing, either. They will beat down Indiana's door for Paul George, though they may not have enough -- either on their own, or in conjunction with a third team. Boston, Cleveland, and the Lakers should be able to beat an offer of Eric Gordon, salary filler, and a top-3 protected Houston future first-round pick. (The salary filler probably can't be Trevor Ariza, by the way. Ariza and Paul are close after years together in New Orleans, and playing with Ariza factored at least a little into Paul's decision, per league sources. The Clippers had tried to trade for him in prior seasons, sources say. Ariza is also still good at a coveted position, and his Bird Rights will be valuable to a capped-out Rockets team next summer.) Carmelo Anthony is a different matter. If the Knicks buy him out -- and they shouldn't, but we are talking about the Kazoos -- he could soak up a lot of power forward minutes in working as Team USA Melo, spotting up around stud ball-handlers. He would also be an interesting, borderline switch-proof pick-and-roll partner for both Harden and Paul, but we are getting ahead of ourselves. There is some risk for Houston. If they really re-sign Paul to his five-year max after this season, the back-end of that deal will be painful. It will take time for Harden and Paul to mesh, and there is always the possibility it doesn't work as well as the Rockets hope -- that they won't be more than the sum of their parts. Paul is a domineering personality who has always wanted to play his way. He must adapt. http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...paul-james-harden-running-houston-rockets-nba
ya maybe after all the better free agents are already plucked up some team will agree to take ryno for only 1 first rounder
