Houston Rockets: 3 reasons re-signing Chris Paul is necessary
By Jason Elbaum
2. Keeping the core group of players together
When LeBron James announced that he was refusing to opt-in to his player option with the Cleveland Cavaliers, it made it incredibly difficult for the Rockets to go and acquire him. This announcement might have caused Rockets management to turn its attention to re-signing Chris Paul right at the beginning of free agency.
Now that Paul is back in the mix, he can be paired with James Harden once again to form arguably the best backcourt in the NBA. Many expected both players to suffer statistical setbacks while playing together, but Paul maintained similar numbers while Harden enjoyed one of his best seasons as a pro and took home the league’s MVP award.
The Rockets now have this tandem in place for at least four more years. They can also now turn their attention to bringing back center Clint Capela in restricted free agency. Houston was 43-3 this season when all three of these players were in the lineup, so bringing Paul back gets the Rockets one step closer to keeping the core together.