Report: Chris Paul has already started recruiting LeBron to Houston

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Rockets guard Chris Paul has already begun recruiting LeBron James to Houston, reports the NYT‘s Marc Stein.

Paul and James will be unrestricted free agents in July. Via Stein’s newsletter:

Rest assured that the Rockets’ understandably devastated Chris Paul — who made a fast exit from Toyota Center late Monday night after being forced to watch the biggest game of his life from the bench because of his hamstring injury — has already begun his recruitment of James to Houston.

Oh my, if this isn’t deja vu to when Draymond Green called KD in the parking lot after losing Game 7 of the Finals I don’t know what is. I said this yesterday in a blog, that this years Houston offseason has the feeling of 2016 Golden State because of the players available and the way their seasons ended.

Houston with LeBron will be more complicated, James Harden is the highest paid player ever — CP3 will command a max deal to be re-signed, and Clint Capela will likely command max. That would be four max players to a team that is already not very deep.

Remember, when the Warriors got KD, they had to let key role players like Festus Ezeli, Leonardo Barbosa, and Harrison Barnes. Obviously, they got better because of it — but the Rockets will need to play more cap gymnastics than Golden State to re-sign Capela, CP3 and add the King.

 

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