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.
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.