Though the Houston Rockets saw their season come to a heartbreaking end weeks earlier than they would have liked, they head into this offseason with a variety of outcomes possible.
Two of their marquee players are free agents in Chris Paul and Clint Capela, but the team has already expressed the desire to bring both of them back. In fact, Paul has already moved on to bigger fish, beginning his recruitment of free-agent-to-be LeBron James before the offseason has even commenced. Following from NYTimes’ Marc Stein:
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.
Out of all Rockets players, this loss had to have devasted Chris Paul the most who was forced to watch his Rockets get slaughtered in the second half of Game 7 from the sidelines.
The biggest knock against Paul is his inability to perform in the playoffs and there’s zero doubt that adding LeBron James this offseason would put them in prime position for a title run next season. The Rockets were already on the cusp of an NBA Finals berth and adding James to their nuclear offense could take them to even newer heights.
Of course, before James can make any decision regarding his future, the superstar forward must battle the Golden State Warriors for a fourth consecutive time in the finals. A lot has been made of James’ future but joining close-friend Chris Paul on a championship-caliber roster in Houston has been highlighted as one of his potential landing spots.
