Weren't the Rockets 42-3 with Chris Paul, James Harden, and Clint Capela in the 2017-18 regular season? I would love for Rockets to convince CP3 not to retire just yet and finish the season with Houston. And then become Reed’s PG coach.
He's one of very few Rockets who weren't here for a significant amount of time but I do own merch for. That season is one of my favourites as a fan (despite the end) and I'm not at all ashamed to be a CP3 fan, I think history's very different if we never trade him for Westbrick.
He stole from the Rockets after signed the second contract. He admitted it, too. More than money net cost—> Picks to get him and more picks to move on from him. His time as a Rocket set the organization back years.
Relatively.....his time did not set the Rockets back, they made the WCF with him and forced a Game 7 against the Worriers, even leading the series I believe at the end and GSW had to come back. The pick that Clippers got for him was turned into Landry Shamet...... Players like Beverley and Montrezl proved that they were in and out of the league in the future seasons. They seemed a bit much but 2 of the Swaps did not convey even..... Topic and McCain might help the Thunder but that is not right now, and Morey got 1 pick back for the Sixers....ironically.
Ultimately Chris Paul deal what Durant was this year......it just ended bad because of Morey and Fertitta not being able to handle him. The Rockets just go All In ......2nd time now .....you can't even blame Morey for Durant.
CP3 when showing off the custom plaque that the Spurs gave him last season: "Crazy, ain't it? This is dope. The Spurs gave this to me last year. It's so dope 'cause the Spurs gave me this last year, my best organization I played for."
Fallacy Alert: The Durant deal is not "all in". If you remove Durant, you still have 3-4 top rated draft picks left on the team with several upcoming 1st round picks. Note: Whether any of the 3-4 young players left on the team don't end up "hitting" is another matter that is unrelated to Durant. The CP3 deal was what it was and they nearly won a championship with that team. You try to build a contending team and they did that. But it's sports, it's not scripted. Just because CP3 got hurt, doesn't mean it was a bad decision. It just means that he got hurt. I would blame JH for why that team fell apart.
#5 all time win shares, #2 all time steals and assists. On the all-time NBA rank list, you take wherever Stockton and Malone are on that list, and you plunk CP3 one spot ahead of them. Because Stockton and Malone and those seedy statkeepers in Salt Lake City and that seedy coach manipulating those seedy refs produced a whole lot of bullshit up in that town.
2027 would be a significantly weaker draft though and the Rockets have 4 picks in it.....just to state clear...
