Earlier this month, it was reported that the Rockets believe they have a chance to land LeBron James in free agency this summer and Zach Lowe of ESPN.com echoes those reports in his latest piece.
Lowe writes that the team will go after James while planning a long-term deal for Chris Paul, who will turn 33 in May. Giving a point guard a max deal at that age may make most franchises think twice. However, the team believes the potential reward of a championship during James Harden‘s prime outweighs the risk of having an expensive declining veteran on the books.
“We think we have a five-year window with Chris and James,” Coach Mike D’Antoni tells Lowe.
GM Daryl Morey knows it will be up to Paul to return to Houston, but added that the franchise feels good about having him around long-term.
Here’s more from Houston:
- Winning a championship will require the Rockets to beat several teams in the postseason, though they are “obsessed” with taking down one team in particular. “It’s the only thing we think about,” Morey recently said on ESPN Radio’s The Ryen Russillo Show. “I think I’m not supposed to say that, but we’re basically obsessed with ‘How do we beat the Warriors?’
- Morey added (in the same segment) that in approximately 90% of the team’s simulations, Houston will have to go through Golden State to win the title and he admitted that much of the team’s offseason decisions were made with that in mind. “…we’ve gotta obviously beat the Warriors at some point. So we’re extremely focused on that. A lot of our signings and what we do during the year is based on that,” Morey said.
Bad timing to have a 5 year window.
Who are the Warriors?
If the Rockets think Chris Paul will stay healthy for 5 years they’re dreaming. He can’t stay healthy in his early thirties what are they thinking about his mid-to-late 30s.
They can dream about beating the warriors all day every day, it will never happen. They know it, and are just trying to sell tickets after plopping down billions for a team.
I could see the Rockets squeezing out a home win or two max, but that Rockets- Warriors series won’t go any longer than 6 games…
It’ll certainly be a fun series to watch though..Both the Conference Finals’ series should be a ton of fun this season…Rockets vs. Warriors and the Cavs vs. Celtics…
I would be absolutely stunned if those are not the final four teams left fighting for the Championship…