NBA Rumors: Rockets plan on re-signing Chris Paul, chasing LeBron James next summer
NBA Rumors: The Houston Rockets plan on re-signing Chris Paul to a long term deal and chasing LeBron James this summer
Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey doesn’t like to settle. He swings for the stars and even when he misses, he usually ends up in a pretty good place.
So when he landed Chris Paul this past summer it wasn’t a real surprise. And next summer, when he potentially lands LeBron James it shouldn’t be a surprise either.
Morey has transformed the Houston Rockets into one of the the NBA’s most prominent franchises, even without winning a championship. It started with trading for James Harden a few years ago and continued when the team landed Chris Paul a few months ago.
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When LeBron James hits the free agent market this summer, he will have no choice but to consider the Rockets.
"[via ESPN]They are underdogs, maybe big ones, but Morey has long promised that he will go for it if he thinks Houston has even a 5 percent chance of winning a ring. He will hunt likely LeBron this summer, per league sources, and hopes to sign Paul to another long-term deal. With Clint Capela and Trevor Ariza headed toward free agency, just bringing this group back could vault Houston well into the luxury tax. Tilman Fertitta, the team’s new owner, has said he would pay the tax to preserve a contender."
If LeBron hits the open market, which most expect him to do so, one of the big reasons why Houston should – or could – be at the top of his list is because of Chris Paul. Paul is one of LeBron’s closest friends and could play a huge factor in his ultimate decision.
As Lowe notes, the Rockets plan on inking Paul to a new long term deal. Ideally, this would happen before a LeBron decision. That way the Rockets could head into a potential meeting with LeBron equipped with Paul and James Harden in the room.
That could be mightily hard for any other team in the NBA to beat.
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Houston might be huge underdogs to land LeBron in free agency, but they might be the team best equipped to take him on – and the contender most likely to compete with the Golden State Warriors. The Rockets are no question the biggest dark horse in next summer’s LeBron James sweepstakes.