Did someone say blockbuster trade? I think the whole state of Texas did, while DeAndre Jordan is somewhere crying, wishing he went to Dallas when he could've.
On June 28th, Chris Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Patrick Beverly, Sam Dekker, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Darrun Hilliard, Deandre Liggins, Kyle Wiltjer, a protected first round pick next year, and cash considerations. Darren Hilliard was acquired from Detroit and Deandre Liggins was acquired from Dallas for cash considerations.
First off, props to Daryl Morey for taking the challenge of beating the Golden State Warriors head on and recruiting some of the NBA's finest players, instead of "waiting it out" like Danny Ainge of the Boston Celtics is doing. Even if you already have an elite point guard, Chris Paul is one of the top 5 point guards of all time, so if you have even a slight chance of getting him, you better go after him.
Secondly, when I first saw the notification that Chris Paul had been traded, the first thing that I thought was "How are him and James Harden going to coincide on the same team?". They both ranked in the top 10 in Usage Percentage, Assist Percentage (Chris Paul is number one), and Assists per game (Harden is 1st on this list). Both are ball dominant point guards who love holding the ball for 16 seconds. Harden did learn to pass more last year when he was moved from shooting guard to point guard, but now that Paul is on the team, and he is for sure the point guard of the Rockets now, Harden is back to where he was at shooting guard. Chris Paul definitely brings defense to the Rockets that they lost in Patrick Beverly, so now someone can guard the premier point guards who is a point guard themselves on the team. I also think that there being two primary ball handlers being on the same team can give both Harden and Paul a break. In this years playoffs, Harden and Paul seemed to be tired out, as they were doing most of the work. So if Mike D'Antoni decided to not put them on the floor at the same time, he can swap them out at certain times. This is also a golden opportunity to attract even more stars to Houston, such as the obvious choice, Paul George. Although George is on the record saying that he wants to play in Los Angeles after this season, I believe he just wants to win. If he joins the Rockets for a one year "rental" and he sees that they can win, he will stay long term, unless Lonzo Ball turns out to be an absolute stud. He would rather win and go deep in the playoffs every year and possibly reaching the finals rather than ending up in the lottery every year.
But the main reason why I like this trade is that Chris Paul is a true competitor; he wants to earn a championship. Notice how I said earn and not win. Kevin Durant didn't earn a championship. Dirk Nowitzki did. Kevin Durant left his already great team and went to the best regular season team of all time and took a shortcut to a championship. Yes Chris Paul left his team to go to an even better team, but he left a team that has never gotten past the second round as long as he's been there and went to a third seed team. There's a fine line between earning a ring and winning a ring, and Chris Paul exemplifies the term "earn".
They did lose a majority of their bench in Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker and former 6th Man of the Year Lou Williams. We will see how that will effect them later on this season, but as of right now, I predict at least 60 wins for them this season. I'm excited to see how Chris Paul can maybe mentor James Harden and turn him into a point god type player.
On June 28th, Chris Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Patrick Beverly, Sam Dekker, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Darrun Hilliard, Deandre Liggins, Kyle Wiltjer, a protected first round pick next year, and cash considerations. Darren Hilliard was acquired from Detroit and Deandre Liggins was acquired from Dallas for cash considerations.
First off, props to Daryl Morey for taking the challenge of beating the Golden State Warriors head on and recruiting some of the NBA's finest players, instead of "waiting it out" like Danny Ainge of the Boston Celtics is doing. Even if you already have an elite point guard, Chris Paul is one of the top 5 point guards of all time, so if you have even a slight chance of getting him, you better go after him.
Secondly, when I first saw the notification that Chris Paul had been traded, the first thing that I thought was "How are him and James Harden going to coincide on the same team?". They both ranked in the top 10 in Usage Percentage, Assist Percentage (Chris Paul is number one), and Assists per game (Harden is 1st on this list). Both are ball dominant point guards who love holding the ball for 16 seconds. Harden did learn to pass more last year when he was moved from shooting guard to point guard, but now that Paul is on the team, and he is for sure the point guard of the Rockets now, Harden is back to where he was at shooting guard. Chris Paul definitely brings defense to the Rockets that they lost in Patrick Beverly, so now someone can guard the premier point guards who is a point guard themselves on the team. I also think that there being two primary ball handlers being on the same team can give both Harden and Paul a break. In this years playoffs, Harden and Paul seemed to be tired out, as they were doing most of the work. So if Mike D'Antoni decided to not put them on the floor at the same time, he can swap them out at certain times. This is also a golden opportunity to attract even more stars to Houston, such as the obvious choice, Paul George. Although George is on the record saying that he wants to play in Los Angeles after this season, I believe he just wants to win. If he joins the Rockets for a one year "rental" and he sees that they can win, he will stay long term, unless Lonzo Ball turns out to be an absolute stud. He would rather win and go deep in the playoffs every year and possibly reaching the finals rather than ending up in the lottery every year.
But the main reason why I like this trade is that Chris Paul is a true competitor; he wants to earn a championship. Notice how I said earn and not win. Kevin Durant didn't earn a championship. Dirk Nowitzki did. Kevin Durant left his already great team and went to the best regular season team of all time and took a shortcut to a championship. Yes Chris Paul left his team to go to an even better team, but he left a team that has never gotten past the second round as long as he's been there and went to a third seed team. There's a fine line between earning a ring and winning a ring, and Chris Paul exemplifies the term "earn".
They did lose a majority of their bench in Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker and former 6th Man of the Year Lou Williams. We will see how that will effect them later on this season, but as of right now, I predict at least 60 wins for them this season. I'm excited to see how Chris Paul can maybe mentor James Harden and turn him into a point god type player.
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