A week before free agency officially begins, the Houston Rockets shocked the NBA world by acquiring point guard Chris Paul from the Clippers in exchange for Lou Williams, Patrick Beverely, Sam Dekker and a 2018 first-round pick. Paul is a nine-time All-Star, who has averaged nearly 19 points per game adding nearly 10 assists a game and two steals a game. <!– [if lt IE 9]>https://cdn-static-1.medium.com/_/fp/js/shiv.RI2ePTZ5gFmMgLzG5bEVAA.js<![endif]–>
“Chris Paul and James Harden were determined to play together,” Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday.
The Rockets won 55 games this past season and the Rockets were on fire from beyond the arc last year and H-town now has one of the best point guards in the NBA, the Rockets now have an offense that should almost be unstoppable next season. Yes there are concerns whether Paul and James Harden can play together considering Harden gets the ball on most possessions. At this time last year, some were wondering whether Kevin Durant would fit in a crowded Golden State lineup and we all know how that worked out.
44% of Houston's half court offense was created out of the pick & roll last season. The Rockets now have 2 of the NBA's top-3 PnR passers pic.twitter.com/GvOcx6xTjW
— Synergy Sports Tech (@SynergySST) June 28, 2017
According to SportVU, Paul and Harden are two of the best ball-dominant guards in the entire NBA. Harden possessed the ball for almost 9 minutes per game last season and Paul ranked 7th at 7.2 minutes. Harden and Paul are spot-up three-point shooters and whoever has the ball, the other can be a floor spacer who can create stress for the opposing defense. One of the knocks on the Rockets has been, playing defense and while Beverely is a big loss, Paul is no slouch on defense. He is a 7 time All-Defensive first team and has led the league in steals 6 times since making his NBA debut in 2005.
With the complaints that the Warriors are a super team, it may come down to another building of a second super team to beat the first super team to bring the NBA the competition it has lacked in the last few years. The NBA thrives on competition and Paul’s arrival to Houston will make the league more compelling to watch. This move may have been a game changer in that the Rockets are not going to let the Warriors run away and win another championship without much competition.
This move will not just help the Rockets be a legit title contender but there was a report by ESPN that Paul had a feud with Clippers coach Doc Rivers because Rivers favored his son Austin to the detriment of the team. Austin got rewarded with a three-year contract worth $35.5 million.
“It’s a guards-based league,” Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said. “It’s a weapons race in the NBA. You’re either in the weapons race or on the sidelines. We felt that with James Harden in his prime and Chris Paul in his prime, this gives us a real shot to chase the juggernaut teams out there and puts us right there with them.”
I’ve written about the Houston Rockets before, but while Harden gets most of the attention, the Rockets have other solid supporting players such as Ryan Anderson, Clint Capella and Eric Gordon. While superstars carry an abundant amount of weight on a team, you can not underestimate the contributions from these three role players. In 75 games last season, Gordon averaged 16.2 points per game and averaged 2.5 assists per game.
Even with the addition of Paul, this is still Harden’s team, and Paul will be a supporting player to take some pressure off Harden as Harden averaged over 36 minutes played in the regular season and nearly 38 in the playoffs. The key to the Rockets success will be can their impeccable talent make three-pointers and that fast pace to compete against the Warriors. Harden’s growth not just as a player, but a team leader can be credited to Mike D’Antoni, who received the NBA coach of the year in his first season with the Rockets.
Most of the attention is on the Paul trade, but the Rockets are not going to stop after this move. Carmelo Anthony could be the next to go to Houston, the Rockets are looking at Paul Milsap, Paul George and Blake Griffin. The Rockets are not quite there yet, but free agency has not started and I would not be surprised at all if the Rockets make another big deal because lets just say that Carmelo goes to Houston, you would have a combination of Harden, Paul and Anthony. If that pans out, the Rockets could be that next super team that can win a championship.
While I have argued that the Warriors and Cavaliers have not ruined the NBA, this is also a great move for NBA fans in general because for most of last year it was inevitable that the Warriors and Cavaliers would meet in the NBA finals again. The Rockets were a solid team before, but they are even better now and basketball in H-town is going at a Rockets pace to do what it takes to win in today’s NBA. The Rockets know they have something to prove, not just trying to be the new super team, but to overcome past playoff defeats and besides beating the current super team, the Rockets know they need to get over that playoff hurdle.
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