Chris Paul likely to demand max contract from the Rockets

Rockets guard Chris Paul

If the Houston Rockets thought they were going to retain injury-plagued guard Chris Paul on the cheap this summer, they were sorely mistaken.

Paul will hit free agency next month. That’s about a calendar year after he turned down a Stephen Curry-like five-year contract worth about $40 million annually from the Los Angeles Clippers.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Paul’s decisions to turn down said deal and agree to a trade to Houston was a precursor to what he’ll demand from the Rockets this summer.

“When the Rockets made that deal for Paul, knowing they would re-sign him, they made a conscious decision that they were gonna have to live with a $46-47 million-a-year salary when he’s not nearly the player anymore in his late 30s,” Wojnarowski noted. “They said we’re gonna make a run at it now, we wanna win a championship now, we’ll deal with it later. We’ll see how that plays out in their contract talks here in free agency, but Paul didn’t turn down $200 million from the Clippers because he thought that somehow the Rockets were gonna talk him into saving them luxury-tax money. I don’t imagine it playing out that way.”

At 33 years old, a long-term max deal would bring Paul into his age-38 season. Given that the guard has played 62 games or less three times in the past five seasons, that has to be somewhat of a concern.

Clearly set to make a play for LeBron James in free agency, Houston is slated to be just $18 million under the cap. This means the team will have to move the contracts of Ryan Anderson and/or Eric Gordon to make it work.

By re-signing Paul to a max contract at north of $40 million annually, the Rockets would be going well over the luxury tax.

An editor here at Sportsnaut. Contributor at Forbes. Previous bylines include Bleacher Report, Yahoo!, SB Nation. Heard on ESPN ... More about Vincent Frank
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