Rumor: Chris Paul doesn’t plan on taking paycut for Rockets

Yup, and there isn't any NBA team besides the Rockets that can beat GSW.

Facts.

 

Perhaps, I don't know. But you are on the right track when you focus on #NewMath. Because clearly Morey has the Rockets cap horizon strategized for the duration of the Harden contract.

 

You have no idea where they would wanna go you're just assuimg they wouldnt want to come here without cp3 and taking it as truth and thats one of the big problems with this board. You are also not Morey, lol.

 

I think the trickiest part of this summer is signing CP3.

Are we paying him max at 5 years? Which means 40 plus millions a year when he's 35, 36. He can get 205 millions but will there be teams willing to sign him to max contract?

I love to keep CP for 4 years with last year team option. I think having CP3 is key to getting Lebron.

However CP3 changed the rules on max age for contract from 35 to 37 along with Lebron. So this tells me CP3 is eyeing for max for 5 yrs which will make him at age of 37 when his contract is over. 41 millions a yr is a poison pill we may have to swallow.

 

A CP3-less Rockets team is not getting LeBron. Period. It doesn’t take someone in LeBron’s inner circle to figure that out.

If LeBron leaves Cleveland, it’s because he wants to win more championships and be on a team he feels can beat the Warriors. The Rockets without CP3 do not qualify. Especially when you consider CP3 and LeBron are good friends and CP3 is a primary reason LeBron is considering the Rockets now.

As for Paul George, he’s not coming to Houston to be Harden’s wingman when he can be the face of the Lakers, play at home and get max money. Or he can pair up with Embiid, Simmons and an up-and coming Philadelphia team in the east for max money. Now, as a third option with Harden and CP3, he might think that core is good enough to dethrone Golden State and win a ring. Again, it doesn’t take inside knowledge to figure that out.

 

The Rockets can beat the Warriors without CP3 while having Lebron... we almost beat the Warriors without Lebron while having CP3.. I'm sure if we had lebron this year we would have won a championship

 

I don’t disagree with any of that, but I highly doubt LeBron views it the same way. If he comes to the Rockets, it’s to play with CP3, not to replace him. He wouldn’t want to do that to a guy he respects and considers a close friend in the league. CP3 plus the team’s success this year is what gives the Rockets a chance at LeBron. The LeBron to Houston rumors only began once the Rockets acquired CP3 last summer.

 

The problem is how can we maintain the same defense intensity next season.
A hamstring injury is a lot different.

 

Its the easiest part of the offseason. You pay him his max because he still is a premier player. You try to improve the team. CP3s salary is all on Tillman and paying the tax. Doesnt affect our cap at all. We are an over the cap operating team.

 

This is probably a negotiation tactic. CP3 might be willing to take pay cut coz he wants to win badly but he can’t give rockets management negotiation edge or else he worries they might low ball him even more (offer below his expectation). So he starts from a strong position and during discussions he can dictate the terms by negotiating a lower offer in the vicinity he is content with.

 

CP is the president of players union, him and Lebron changed the rule of a player can have his max contract extended from 35 to 37. Meaning him and Lebron maybe seeking a max 5 yrs contract this off season.

If CP gives us a break it means a slap in the face to him and Lebron. That's a huge headline and it will have a large effect on him as the president of players union.

Lebron is 33 so this is his last summer for a max 5 yrs deal as well. No one talks about this but it may change his decision but I still think Lebron cares more on winning than money.

Can we swallow 3 max contracts?
Or we wait until 2019 summer to see if GSW would be able to keep 3 max of their own?

 

Millions will go into strengthening his body and maintain durability. ----- LBJ

 

If being the face of a franchise is what he wants well, he won't be the face of the Sixers, Simmons (and eventually Fultz) would handle the ball there, Embiid is the face of that franchise...and he won't be the face of the Lakers either if Lebron or Kawhi end up in L.A. Sure, he will if he's the only star ending up there (and if Lonzo or Ingram will not develop enough), not sure he'll be happy with that though.

 

Lol he’s old and literally was injured when we needed him and he wants max

Idk I’m not buying it

 

All the of CP3/President stuff is overblown IMO.

 

A team with LeBron and Harden but no CP3 would be fascinating to watch but also frustrating at the same time.

 

Exactly. He already took a cut this past season.

 

He will if Lebron comes. Both will take paycuts. No team out there is going to give CP3 max anyway. His best chance to win a title is Houston. He knows it too.

“I really hope that, before our career is over, we can all play together. At least one, maybe one or two seasons—me, Melo, D-Wade, CP—we can get a year in. I would actually take a pay cut to do that.”--Lebron in 2016

 

I wasn’t saying that George necessarily wants to be the face of a franchise. I was simply stating there are other, more appealing options to him than joining a CP3-less Rockets team.

 

Yes but you also have this: