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Houston Rockets: The interesting kicker added to Chris Paul’s mega deal

By Brian K. Patterson

HOUSTON, TX - MAY 28: Chris Paul #3 of the Rockets (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - MAY 28: Chris Paul #3 of the Rockets (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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The Houston Rockets first move when free agency opened July 1 was to re-sign Chris Paul to a four-year, $160 million max contract.  There’s a kicker that has been added.   What’s the latest?  Let’s talk about it.

The Houston Rockets have made little headway in improving this team from last season.  There is still a lot of unanswered questions outside of the re-signing of Chris Paul and Gerald Green.  The team also inked a deal for veteran guard Michael Carter-Williams but that’s not honestly enough to move the needle to ensure that this team remains competitive for the chip.

Clint Capela has reportedly been offered a four-year, $60 million contract but has been reluctant to sign it with his hopes pinned on him wanting to seek a larger deal to solidify his financial security.

I talked about this yesterday in a piece and I think he should negotiate a shorter version of what has offered.  I think he should take some blunt-tipped scissors and CUT THAT DEAL IN HALF.  He should cut the deal into two years, $30 million and go into unrestricted free agency in 2020 to which he’ll still only be 26-years-old at the end of the term.

But Capela still has higher sights on a deal that doesn’t exist and will not magically appear out of

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sheer hope.  Let’s face it — he had the unfortunate happening of being in the same free agency as LeBron James, who opted out of his $35.6 million option with the Cleveland Cavaliers for 2018-19 to take a four-year, $154 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.

There’s no free agency that will trump LeBron’s and Capela definitely played second-fiddle to that.  So he needs to let bygones be bygones and take a modified version of the deal the Houston Rockets have put before him.

So what’s the latest with Chris Paul’s deal?

According to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, Paul’s four-year deal has a kicker attached to it.  What?  What’s going on?   When I heard this, I was quite intrigued to see what it was.

Paul’s final year of the deal has a $44 million (and up) player option that has been embedded in the contract.  It’s quite peculiar that component was added in the deal, considering he will be 36 at that point of his pact.

But it’s prudent that Paul leaves his options open by having that installed just in case he wants to opt-out for whatever reason — unrestricted free agency, retirement, bringing about world peace, whatever.

In my opinion, it’s great that the option is there but it’s highly unlikely he’d opt out and leave that much guaranteed money on the table, especially if he’s able to perform at a high-level even in his late 30s.

All in all, it’s terrific to have Paul back in the fold but I feel committing this much money to a guy that has a injury history that reads like a rap sheet is a rather risky move but likely to pay off way more handsomely than Ryan Anderson‘s four-year $80 million deal.

But regardless, welcome back CP3!

Next: Three reasons why Melo should be avoided at all costs

Paul, 33, averaged 18.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 7.9 assists with a shooting line of .460/.380/.919 through 58 games in 2017-18.

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