JULY 8: The new contract with Paul is official, the Rockets announced on Twitter.
JUNE 30: The Rockets will lock up Chris Paul to a long-term deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the All-Star point guard has agreed to a four-year, maximum-salary contract with Houston.
As our breakdown of max salaries for 2018/19 shows, a four-year max for Paul should be worth $159,730,592.
Paul turned in a stellar season in his first year in Houston, dispelling any concerns about his ability to mesh with James Harden. Paul averaged 18.6 points and 7.9 assists and helped the Rockets post the NBA’s best record at 65-17. However, he suffered a hamstring injury late in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals and missed the last two games as Houston fell to the Warriors.
The big payday for Paul comes a year after he bypassed free agency and opted in to the final year of his $24.6MM contract to help facilitate a trade from the Clippers to the Rockets. At the time, there was a belief that CP3 and the Rockets had a general understanding that the team would take care of him when he eventually reached unrestricted free agency.
That turned out to be the case, though the 33-year-old was eligible for a full max contract over five seasons, so Houston got a bit of a break with a four-year deal.
With Paul locked up, the Rockets will now shift their focus to retaining key contributors like Clint Capela and Luc Mbah a Moute. If Houston re-signs Capela to a lucrative new deal, team salary figures to exceed the luxury tax threshold for 2018/19.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Risky for a player often injured and getting older but they really had no choice it seems
Huge overpay…
Next up, LeBron…if he really wants to win a championship.
I mean if he really wanted to win a championship he’d go to Golden State. But Houston is in that second group of contenders (along with Boston and Philly) that are ready to win now.
I don’t think GSW wanted him as hard as that might sound. He would change the entire dynamic of the GSW. I also think he would be immeasurably ridiculed if he signed with his nemesis. Right now, despite the finals losses, he at least has an excuse if he losses to GSW as long as Durant is there. If he were to join it would look 3x as bad as Durant signing to GSW.
Golden State said they didn’t want LeBron. Moot point now. He’ll retire in LA. His boys are already enrolled in basketball power Sequia Canyon. CP3 said last summer he wanted to play with Harden.
Not without exercising the sign-and-trade option that LeBron denied HOU by opting out of his latest Cavaliers contract.
Great signing. Had to be done. He is the reason Houston was the No. 1 seed. Rockets re-sign Capela and they are back in the WCF.
The Rockets maxing Paul feels like a white flag being raised. Paying more for a lesser version of something that wasn’t good enough.
Bargain
That bargain is $40 million per year… for the next 4 years.
The salary cap for the whole team is around 100 million.
You’ve got Harden and Capela. Be interesting to see how they figure this all out.
It”l be interesting to see if Houston goes well over the cap inorder to bring back Capela, Ariza and others. That’s the difference between a guy like Dan Gilbert vs other nba owners. Gilbert has consistently been willing to go well over the cap to field the best team possible when LBJ is on the roster.
Yes you’re right.
Ariza is already gone, to the Suns I believe. They need to lock up Capela to have any kind of Defense at all
unfortunately, this will be the beginning of the end for the Rockets. This will become an untradeable contract and he will be an unplayable player in 18 months time.
Well deserved CP3 is amazing, way better than Curry will ever be, so he deserves every penny he gets & I am happy for him. Not sure anything anyone can do is worst than what KD did, right?
CP3 never won an MVP or a title!
LeBron did the Superteam twice before KD did it.
Big difference between Durant and LeBron, Durant makes his teammates better, sure, Klay and Steph were good together, the addition of Durant put them over the top. LeBron was handed Clarkson, Hood, and Nance, while not Curry, Klay and Draymond, he should have been able to win by properly utilizing their talents, which he didn’t. Even Jordan elevated his teammates
If Kerr, Hodges, Cartwright and Horace Grant had played anywhere else, their chances of winning a ring took a huge nosedive. LeBron may be better then Durant, but KD is the better teammate. Watch for GS to walk all over LA this year, and prob win another title.
GS title odds are at 4-7, Boston at 9-2, Houston ?, everybody else irrelevant.
“Well deserved CP3 is amazing, way better than Curry will ever be…”
Said no one ever Lol
Everyone’s saying they had to do this but did they? CP3 is constantly getting hurt when it matters most. He’s already 33 and his numbers last year weren’t even that great compared to his career averages. I can’t see how this contract is any good in even 2 years.