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This offseason the basketball world was treated to a whirlwind of trades and transactions, one of which was Chris Paul telling the Clippers he did not intend to resign on a massive veteran max contract which he helped structure through the players association. The contract would have earned him over $201 million in 5 years and would have ended when he was 37 years old, thats a commitment. Any other team could only (LOL) offer him $149 million over 4 years. Instead of playing out the remainder of his career under coach Doc Rivers in a Clippers locker room that was rumoured to have lost its joy, Paul decided to move along to the lowly Rockets. Did I say "lowly"? Oh I didn't mean that. In my opinion the Houston Rockets are the biggest threat to the Warriors and last year they were flat out scary at times. Their fatal flaw was epitomized by their biggest strength in James Harden. In a playoff series with the San Antonio Spurs the Rockets scored their way into a game 6 where Harden's effort was non existent. We've all seen the lowlights of the beard's defensive dullness but this entire game was a joke, straight up. The rest of the Rockets aren't known for their defence but this game 6 collapse showed us all just how fragile their success was.
Cut to this season and the addition of CP3, a real floor general and defensive presence. Overall the addition of Paul to any NBA team seems like a good idea, his great basketball IQ alone should help any team improve. Simply having him bark at his teammates ought to sharpen a teams defence but on the other side of the ball the Rockets already have one of the best ball handlers in the league. This is a team where more than ever I want to scream, "THERE'S ONLY ONE DAMN BALL". How will Chris Paul fathom sharing the rock? Houston has found success since he went out with a bruised left knee and have looked like a continuation of last year except that Eric Gordon is playing lights out, so even better. We had such a small sample of a CP3 version of the Rockets that we can't say for sure but as long as they figure out who gets the lion's share of possession and Paul brings his tight mid range game with him their potential is tasty. He's slated to return on Thursday night against the Phoenix Suns, so if you want to have a look at what a scrimmage during Rocket's practice looks like, just tune in.