The Houston Rockets are said to be “increasingly serious threats” to ink soon-to-be free agent point guard Chris Paul this summer, and James Harden is leading the charge.
League sources say James Harden is among those in Houston advocating for the signing of Chris Paul and has made that known to CP3 directly.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 28, 2017
The Rockets still have to do some salary cap jiu-jitsu to make space for a potential CP3 mega-deal.
Houston continues to also chase after Paul George.
Per ESPN:
The Rockets still have work to do in terms of clearing sufficient salary-cap space to make a representative offer for Paul, but sources said that Houston star James Harden has been advocating hard in favor of the Paul pursuit and has made his interest in teaming with the LA Clippers’ All-Star known directly to the point guard.
The Rockets were aggressively trying to trade away veterans such as Patrick Beverley, Ryan Anderson and Lou Williams to create the needed financial flexibility to go after the likes of Paul, Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, Atlanta’s Paul Millsap and the Clippers’ Blake Griffin in free agency.
The fastest way for the Rockets to dramatically increase their cap space is to find a trade taker for Anderson, who is on the books for $19.6 million next season and is owed $61.3 million through the 2019-20 season. Sources said that Houston has been focused on trying to find a team with cap space to take on Anderson — such as the Sacramento Kings — in hopes of potentially creating up to $28.5 million in room under the cap.
But the Clippers, sources said, continue to worry that they won’t be able to convince Paul to remain, despite their considerable financial advantage over external suitors.
Related
Morey: Rockets Have ‘Something Up Our Sleeve’ to Counter Warriors
