Getty LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers escorts Chris Paul of the Houston Rockets after a fight.
In what was finally some good news for the Los Angeles Lakers, the Houston Rockets pushed the Lakers out of the spotlight in the media world today on the back of a Woj report that they’re open to moving every player not named James Harden.
As the Lakers are looking for a secondary star and are actively searching the trade market, they were among the first teams mentioned as a possible landing spot for some of the Houston castaways. While some, like Clint Capela, could be a strong fit that would benefit the Lakers, Chris Paul‘s name has been brought up most frequently.
Despite Rumors, Lakers Chris Paul Trade Makes Little Sense
Although the Lakers are looking for another star player and Paul is a close personal friend of LeBron James, the trade makes almost no sense from the Lakers standpoint. Not only did Paul show last season that his age was catching up to him but he owns one of the worst contracts in the sport. Due $38 million next season, Paul is set to make north of $40 million in the two seasons after that as well.
From purely a cap perspective, trading for Paul would not only cripple the Lakers ability to make a championship run two or three years down the road but probably wouldn’t even make them all that better of a team.
Paul hasn’t played in more than 60 games in either of his past two seasons and is coming off the worst shooting season of his entire career. Making just 41.9% of his shots and knocking down the deep ball at a 35.8% clip, Paul is far from the scoring/playmaking threat he was in his younger days. Without the athleticism to get by his defenders the way he once could and showing decreased numbers despite taking on a lesser workload alongside Harden are troubling trends and likely not worth the hefty cap implications.
Even if the Rockets try to attach Capela and his team-friendly contract, the addition of Paul alone would likely set the Lakers back years and spoil their short window to win a title before father time catches up to LeBron James.
Chris Paul Unhappy With Rockets Offensive Gameplan Against Warriors
As the Rockets unraveled against their heated rival Golden State, Chris Paul was vocal with how he felt unhappy with his team’s ball movement. However, the Rockets were built this season to play off Harden’s elite iso game, something that really came to life after Paul and Capela went down with injuries early in the year.
The Rockets’ coaching staff and front office have been adamant in their support of the Harden iso gameplan and the pass-happy Paul doesn’t seem to be the best stylistic fit in their system. Unfortunately for the Rockets, Paul’s contract and age make him nearly an immovable asset and they almost certainly need to include some future draft capital or another incentive to any team even willing to entertain the idea of taking on the albatross deal.
Hopefully, that team isn’t the Lakers.