[Stein] Rockets emerging as serious threat to sign Chris Paul

If we get Chris Paul then we will become a team for ringchaser vets to sign with for the minimum/big discount.

 

There's a lot speculation that Ryan Anderson is bound for Sacramento (he's from there and they have cap space).

My dream was George + Millsap, but CP3 + George is still pretty dope. It's already a team with 3 stars, and Morey has always been great at finding the small pieces.

I would personally put a trio of CP3/Harden/PG13 over Curry/Klay/Durant mainly because Klay Thompson is easily the worst of the 6 players here. He's an elite role player because of his shooting and solid defense, but even his shooting is wildly inconsistent.

Either way, it wouldn't put us over GSW because we don't have anything remotely close to Draymond Green, but it's a hell of a start.

 

Who said that wed have no other shooters? This would still be a 3pt contest with shooters everywhere.

Im with you about filling out the frontcourt though. Ideally wed find ways to clear cap space without losing ryno.

 

Right, I know you can't do EVERYTHING in one offseason, but we finally made strides in adding shooters this season. Can't just get away from it.

The good news is that if we aren't getting Paul George there's no reason why we are dumping Gordon and both of Lou/Bev (only need one.)

That said, a stretch four is SO important to the offense. If we do dump Anderson (which seems likely at this point) I really hope we find a way to add another stretch four to the team somehow.

 

The Warriors had a perfect storm to assemble the team they have. The Rockets are unfortunately not that lucky. It's really hard to build a team to beat the Warriors. The Warriors were fortunate to extend Curry at a time when he was going through several ankle issues and he wasn't necessarily the player he is today. Then they were able to get Iguodala before Thompson/Green extended their contracts. They were also able to get Livingston on a very cheap deal since he wasn't a sure thing injury wise at the time of his signing. Then the ultimate gift of cap space increasing by a huge amount the year Durant became a free agent.

The Rockets just don't have this luxury. And we can't compete with the Warriors with just Harden. I love all of our role players, but you have to worry about that later. If Chris Paul is willing to come here, then you do whatever it takes to sign Chris Paul. We can't roll the team we have now and expect to compete next year. We will definitely have holes, but it is what it is, I'll take our chances.

 

How about just a partially elastic four in Patrick Patterson?

 

If you have 3 truly elite players you can at least compete with Golden State. It really just depends on what the rest of the roster looks like. If it's 3 stars and scrubs, you have a puncher's chance and that's it. Golden State kills you because they are elite for basically 48 minutes. They have the best starting lineup in the league but they still come at you with good players off the bench. As the game goes on and they start staggering minutes, they are literally better than you almost every minute on the court. You can't counteract that without having some good bench options.

 

INB4 b_allholic writes an essay explaining that everyone misunderstood what he said when he kept repeating that Harden wanted to be the only ballhandler/PG/bosshog/king/dictator/etc.

 

I think we can find shooters. I mean when you have the two best pick and roll guards on the same team you can find people open. The key is hoping some of our young guys like Dekker and Herrell have grown into better shooters than last year.

I was skeptical about this move until i saw Harden was all for it. Makes sense because he was just so beat up during the Spurs series. Same for Paul who i think is also tired on carrying the playmaking role for the Clippers.

 

He's a perfect fit for the Rockets, just not sure we can make it happen since he's a free agent. What are we giving Toronto to get them to do a sign and trade? I don't think 2Pat is interested in the room MLE.

 

The Rockets with James Harden and a great supporting cast have no chance of threatening, much less beating the Warriors in the next 2 years.

Morey knows the unfortunate position Kevin Durant has put the league in. You have to try something seismic, just trying to improve won't get it done, and you can't just punt on 2 prime Harden years waiting for GS to disassemble.

There are a million possible things wrong with going after Chris Paul, but desperate times. Get 2 superstars together and see what shakes lose in the way of veterans wanting to come here.

 

This report should at least shoot down the asinine narrative that no one wants to play with selfish, ball-hogging, quitter James Harden because he had a rough 55 minutes to end the season.

 

Send Lou back to Jurassic Park lol Patterson at $7 mill a year ain't bad

 

Could be to chase a ring back in Houston, right?

 

I guess if the young stars won't come here, then the Rockets are content getting an old star. I don't have a good feeling about it, but I have been wrong in the past.

What would be nice is if Harden and Paul were willing to take less than the max in order to surround them with some talent. I won't hold my breath on that one.

 

Rockets would be willing to pay more assets for George with Paul here because George will make a commitment to the Rockets with Paul here. That's why the proposed trades for George are at a standstill. He's not committing to re-sign or extend with anybody. He wants to go home to the Lakers but he will commit to stay with a team of super players that he likes.

So you tell me, let's assume we get Paul and Celtics get Hayward. Who does George want? Who will he commit to? Paul/Harden or Hayward/Horford/IT? Knowing we can still go get Millsap or possibly DeMarcus. (Yes, that's very possible.)

Paul George is, for all practical purposes, a free agent that is going tutto be signed and traded because he is going tutto determine where he goes. If he wants Houston, he'll commit here, well out an extra asset on the table and Boston won't match it because if Paul not being willing to commit to them.

George is essentially a free agent.

 

Sure I'd make that deal if they would, but recall that we might have to dump Lou just to get the cap space for Paul.

It's all going to be very tight.

If we are getting Paul AND George, we are probably moving all of Bev, Lou and Gordon in those two deals alone. You don't have salary left after that for a sign and trade.

 

I am a fan of CP3's individual game...but the guy has choked or been injured in big moments. This is a huge gamble the Rockets are preparing to take (increased risk profile). That being said, I would love for the Rockets to VALUE offensive possession with much more focus. Chris brings that to the table. No more high TO games...If they can find a way to also keep Gordon, the Rockets may have something. Chris Paul is a control freak and demand certain things on the court...he really is an alpha and demands that his teammates play smart basketball.

 

Finally!

Suck it Spurs:

 

You never know obviously, but this would be Pat's first chance to sign a stupid contract lol. Is he going to sign for whatever the room MLE is (just under $5 million?) when he could sign for more than that if he stats in Toronto? Or maybe some team will give him $45 million? Dudley got $10 million a year last year.