The Rockets are not going to get a player the caliber of Chris Paul with only $22 million in cap space. Best case scenario, you might end up with a guy like Khris Middleton, and that’s if he wants to leave the team that had the best regular season record in the NBA last season and will likely pay him more, too. Also, Middleton is a nice player and a good fit with the Rockets, but he is not demonstrably better than Chris Paul. Furthermore, what follow up trades do you propose the Rockets make to create enough cap space to offer Butler or anyone else a max contract? They do have a bunch of non-guaranteed contracts they can trade on July 12, but that means other teams have to want those guys and their salaries, too. The other option would be to dump Gordon or Capela for no incoming salary. If they do that, good luck convincing an elite free agent to come play with James Harden, P.J. Tucker, one of Eric Gordon or Clint Capela and a bunch of rookies and young players. Finally, Jimmy Butler wants to win. That means he wants to play with both Harden and Paul, not just Harden.
