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Houston Rockets swap for Chris Paul: Experts react on Twitter

By Brian K. Patterson

Dec 4, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) reacts to a foul call in the second half of the game against the Indiana Pacers at Staples Center. Pacers won 111-102. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 4, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) reacts to a foul call in the second half of the game against the Indiana Pacers at Staples Center. Pacers won 111-102. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
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The first domino has fell in the NBA Free Agency wave for the Houston Rockets!

Yes, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey sent a shock wave across the hoops spectrum in regard to his serious intentions of building this team into a contender.  Of course, we already knew that our team was special but he’s putting something together in order for us to compete with the NBA’s current gold standard — the Golden State Warriors.

Mark Berman was the first among the local reporters to share the news:

Adrian Wojnarowski, the first to report the trade as usual, lent his initial thoughts on the trade:

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle also weighed in on the deal:

And here’s some important tidbits about the deal from long-time NBA front office executive and Insider Bobby Marks:

Whew!  What a day!  I knew the rumors were going to heat up but to have a deal done by mid-morning definitely exceeded my expectations.  Just to be clear, this was a four-team trade that involved six players just get Paul.  Who was involved?  Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Wiltjer, Dallas Mavericks guard/forward DeAndre Liggins and Detroit Pistons forward Darrun Hilliard, all going to the Los Angeles Clippers.

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Not only that but they sent their 2018 first-rounder and $661K in cash to the Clips.  Both Liggins and Hilliard were acquired for cash by the Rockets before being traded to L.A.

Goodness gracious!  Did you get all of that?  Although we’ve lost quite a bit of our bench, that’s a fair price to pay for a player of Paul’s caliber.  Paul will make $24.6 million with the Rockets in 2017-18 so this will be viewed as a one-year rental with the hopes pinned on signing him to a long-term deal in the future.

Now you know Morey isn’t done right?  Paul George, Blake Griffin and Carmelo Anthony are still on the table and the Rockets are going to go after anybody and everybody that can make an immediate impact to this team.

Next: Chris Paul trade the beginning of a super team creation

I applaud Morey for swinging toward the fences and this team could be exciting to watch once all the pieces have been put together.  I’ve come to know that when it’s the off season, there’s no telling who will be on this team from one year to next with the exception of James Harden.

Hopefully we can say that about CP3 in the future as well.  They’ve have a strong friendship and things will foster even more into a business relationship on the court.  Harden wanted him here and was instrumental in his signing.  So let the back court dominance begin!  It’ll be like the old days when Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley ruled the NBA with their ball-dominance.

This is only the beginning and we’ll have to see how this shakes out.

Go Rockets.

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