Four years ago at Carmelo Anthony's wedding, then-New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul lifted up his cup for a toast and promised to form his own Big Three in New York. Since then, Paul's become a Laker, then a Hornet again, then a Clipper and Anthony's universal popularity in New York City has dwindled. Meanwhile, Paul's proposed Big Three combo with Amare' Stoudemire and Anthony has shriveled up and died. However, according to SI.com, Paul may be on the verge of formulating his own power troika. This time, all signs point to Houston as a surprise contender in the Paul sweepstakes.
Via SI.com:
Houston is planning a simultaneous pursuit of Clippers point guard Chris Paul and is working to create enough cap space to pull off the coup, according to The Houston Chronicle‘s Jonathan Feigen.
“They are targets No. 1 and 1A,” a source told Feigen.
While Howard has expressed interest in playing for Rockets head coach Kevin McHale, has spoken with Rockets starters James Harden and Chandler Parsons, and would be open to accepting the max four-year deal as opposed to the Lakers’ five-year max, wooing Paul appears to be a bigger challenge.
The team’s best option to create cap space is trading 22-year-old power forward Thomas Robinson, acquired from the Sacramento Kings in a February deal, but a source told Feigen “there are about 20 other ways” to create enough room.
Houston could pay Howard $20.5 million and Paul $18.7 million in their first seasons to make the moves work.
If this trio does become a reality, they could give the Miami Heat a run for their money and more importantly, they may be better fits for one another than the Heatles as far as defined roles go.
