Houston Rockets Rumors: James Harden to lead pursuit for Chris Paul

The fireworks have started to pop ahead of the July 1st magic date of the NBA Free Agency for the Houston Rockets.

Did you think it’d be any different at this time of the year?  This is when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey shines at this best as he swings for the fences to bring the best talent to H-Town.  He’s done a solid job in that so far with his best acquisition that has paid enormous dividends being James Harden.

Which leads to a Segway of the next point that needs to be made with the latest news on our hottest target.  You knew it was coming right?

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Houston Rockets have emerged as a serious candidate for the services of Chris Paul, who is now a free agent after opting out of the final year of his five-year, $107.3 million contract that included $24.3 million in salary for 2017-18.

Here’s the initial release of the news:

He also added some extra tidbits as well:

The fact that this is even in the rumor stage makes me wonder how powerful this back court could be with Harden and Paul together.  Their relationship is strong and plus I think their rapport on the court would be a match made in heaven.

So who should we trade to get him?  That question will certainly be up for debate but in my opinion, it’s a no-brainer.  I’d trade Patrick Beverley ($6M salary in 2017-18) and Ryan Anderson ($18.7M salary in 2017-18) and our 2019 first-round pick to land CP3!  Will this be enough?  We’ll have to see but I think this proposal is a great start.

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Why the 2019 first-round pick?

Keep in mind that the Rockets must keep in line with the Ted Stepien rule that prevents teams from trading first-round picks in consecutive years.  We’ll own the 2018 pick so we can trade the next year’s to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Good ‘ol Ted…

This may be enough of incentive to get newly-minted front office exec Jerry West to bite on the bait.

Since we don’t have the cap space for Paul — the Rockets barely have close to $10 million available —  he’d have to be a sign-and-trade so that the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement will change hands across teams.

Beverley’s contract is quite friendly in today’s escalating salary cap realities as his value of being an elite defender, shooting the three-ball well — he shot a career-best 38.2 percent from three this season — and just being a junkyard dog.  Those tangibles are invaluable to a team and his value I’m sure is still high.

Remember when multiple teams were wanting Bev back at this year’s trade deadline?  It will be the same now and the heat just got turned up more with this news to break.

Although Anderson has three-years left off a four-year, $80 million deal, his three-point shooting (40.3 percent in 2016-17) and his ability to provide instant offense in just about any situation would certainly make the Clips raise their brow.  He can also make those threes in high volume.  We all know his defense is lackluster but who cares?  This guy can shoot lights out and when it’s playoff time, HE WOULDN’T BE OUR PROBLEM!

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So let the free agency bonanza begin and here’s to hoping that we land the player that will make an immediate impact.  Harden knows the town and I’m sure he guide him to popular food hot spots and where the best strip clubs are in Houston, his specialty.  Can he do it?  If it worked for Dwight Howard, it can work for CP3.

Now we must wait.

Paul, 32, averaged 18.1 points and 9.2 assists off 47.6 percent shooting from the field and a 41.1 percent clip from behind-the-arc through 61 games in 2016-17.

Go Rockets.