NBA Free Agency: CP3 to Rockets - 5 Biggest Winners

As per news coming in today, Chris Paul has reached agreement on a four-year, $160 million maximum contract to stay with the Houston Rockets.

This is huge news coming out of Houston early in the free agency market, as Chris Paul staying means the core stays the same for the record-setting Rockets, who finished first this regular season and only just lost out in an epic 7 game series against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.

Here are the 5 winners that come out of this news:

#1 Winner - Chris Paul

The first real winner of this deal has got to be Chris Paul. He turned down a 130m+ extension during the season in order to get a maximum contract at the age of 33, which was a bold move as the Rockets could always decline and try to sign LeBron James. But his gamble paid off as the Rockets realized this is the time frame in which they can win a championship and decided to offer Paul a max contract of 160m over 4 years. He showed his ability to play alongside a player like Harden, who likes to keep the ball more, and still be a massive impact on the court.

The Beard and the Point God are back together

Chris Paul led the NBA in Real Plus-Minus last season. His Player Efficiency Rating(PER) of 25.6, is just behind Wilt Chamberlain for the sixth-best in NBA history among players with 500+ games played. It is currently the best among all point guards in NBA history. He is also only one of the 3 point guards to be earning this much, the other two being Steph Curry and Russell Westbrook.

2. Winner - Houston Rockets:

The Rockets are definitely winners here. Getting to keep a future Hall of Famer, who is still in his prime and looking to win the elusive championship is great for them. They get to keep the core of Harden, Paul, Capela (presuming they match any offer that they get for him), Tucker, Green (who also signed a one year, 2.4m deal) and Nene.

The Rockets have decided to keep the core together

The Rockets know that this is their best chance of winning a championship, when they have 2 all star point guards and a breakout young star, alongside such potent shooters. This playoffs, they almost upset the Warriors in a seven game thriller, which you can argue they could've won if CP3 was fit, which ultimately lost them the series. They can have a go again at this and maybe this time, they come out the winners.

3. Winner - The NBA:

This season, the NBA finals were watched by the least TV audience in a while as the Warriors made another finals appearance against the Cavaliers and blew them out of the water. But the Rockets v the Warriors game was a series of epic proportions and was followed by millions.

The 2018 NBA Finals was a drab affair

The Rockets keeping Chris Paul makes sure that the league stays somewhat competitive, with the Rockets staying as a legitimate threat to the throne. They almost overcame them this season and with LeBron James deciding to enter free agency, the competitiveness of the NBA on the whole is up again, which is always a good thing. Keeping the fans engaged is probably the biggest factor and this move does so.

4. Winner - Mike D'Antoni:

D'Antoni comes out as a clear winner here as he can continue with the philosophy that he has worked towards instilling into this squad. Under his tutelage, the Houston Rockets broke their regular season wins record, by having a 65-17 season. He is known for having a fast-paced, offense-oriented system, which he has implemented at the Rockets and taken it to another level by increasing the number of 3 pointers taken every game by a huge margin, attempting a NBA high of 42 3 pointers per game, making them at a 35% clip, which is amazing.

Mike D'Antoni has changed the modern NBA

The fact that Paul stays gives him the same freedom that he had last season, to push Harden as much as he can offensively and then hide him on defense with Paul taking a fair share of that load. Offensively too, Paul has been a great addition and having 2 All Star guards in his team do him no harm. He will stick to this offensive ideas and hope this time Paul stays fit and they can overcome the Warriors and move towards their dream of a championship.

5. Winners - The Golden State Warriors:

Now you must be wondering how the Warriors make the list of winners, but they are winners in a way. Last season, they retained their NBA title by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA finals. But their true test was in the Western conference finals where they only just overcame the Rockets in a seven game series. The Rockets almost managed to beat them but fell short and they also lacked Chris Paul, who was a force to reckon with in the finals.

The Warriors are champions again

With Chris Paul signing on again, the Rockets have no wiggle room to retool their roster if Paul gets injured again, making them non competitive again. They cannot improve their roster anymore now that Paul has been signed on for good. They are also paying 40m+ salary to a player who is very injury prone. Rockets also were a defensive force to reckon with due to their ability to play small ball. Ariza and Mbah Moute both have to be re signed for them to be a defensive force to be reckoned with. But with Paul signing on, both of them cannot be signed since the Rockets need to keep Capela as well and that already puts them deep into luxury tax, thus making the Rockets weaker, improving the chances for the Warriors to achieve a 3-peat.