Rockets to acquire Chris Paul in blockbuster sign-and-trade
The Houston Rockets have reached an agreement on a trade for LA Clippers All-Star point guard Chris Paul, sources told ESPN.
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The Rockets will send Sam Dekker, Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams and a top-three protected 2018 first-round pick to the Clippers in exchange for Paul.
Paul had been planning to decline the player option on his contract and wanted to play with Rockets All-Star James Harden, according to The Vertical, which first reported the trade.
The Clippers were determined get something for Paul rather than lose him for nothing, sources told ESPN, so Paul instead agreed to opt in for the final year of his contract (worth $24.2 million) to facilitate the trade.
Point guard Chris Paul will now be James Harden's teammate with the Rockets. Andrew Bernstein/NBAE via Getty ImagesSince he is being acquired in a trade, Paul will be eligible for a five-year deal worth an estimated $205 million from the Rockets after this season. If the nine-time All-Star had opted out and signed with a team other than the Clippers in free agency, the most a team could offer was a four-year deal worth just more than $152 million.
Besides the Rockets, the San Antonio Spurs also had been planning to pursue Paul aggressively if he had become a free agent, sources have told ESPN.
Paul, 32, has performed impressively since the Clippers acquired him in a 2011 trade with New Orleans.
Since the deal, he's made the All-NBA first team three times, All-NBA second team two times and All-Defensive first team five times. He's averaged 18.7 points, 9.8 assists and 2.4 steals over the six seasons.
But the Clippers' shortcoming during that span has been playoff success. Despite stars like Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, as well as the addition in 2013 of Doc Rivers as coach, Los Angeles hasn't made it out of the second round in the past six seasons and has lost in the first round each of the past two seasons.
Paul was ranked No. 3 on the list of top available free agents this offseason compiled by ESPN's Kevin Pelton.
