The Houston Rockets have reportedly emerged as a contender to acquire Chris Paul, which would give Mike D’Antoni two of the best point guards in basketball.
Only that wouldn’t make much sense.
“I’m not buying the Houston stuff,” NBA-TV analyst Rick Kamla said on CBS Sports Radio’s The DA Show. “It just doesn’t make sense. The reason Mike D’Antoni won Coach of the Year was his decision preseason to put the ball in James Harden’s hand and make him the point guard. He leads the league in assists, has a million triple-doubles, almost wins MVP – what were they, the third-best team in the NBA in the regular season? It’s ridiculous. Stop it.”
Paul and Blake Griffin can become free agents July 1, but Kamla expects both players to remain with Clippers.
“I don’t think Chris Paul or Blake Griffin are leaving L.A.,” he said. “Why would they? Why would L.A. let them go? If you (let them go) and you don’t get assets in return, you completely screw your franchise for five to seven years.”
Kamla’s approach? Re-sign Paul and Griffin, give it a year, and see what happens.
“What you do, to me, is you give Blake the money that you have to give him, you give Paul the money that you have to give him, and then you still have those assets,” he said. “And then in advance of the 2018 deadline, if you want to go in a different direction and blow it up, you still have those assets you can flip at the deadline for players or future picks. So to me, it’s a no-brainer. The Clippers have to re-sign those guys.”
You’ll likely get no argument from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer on that one.
“Look, I think Ballmer wants to stay relevant, wants to stay ahead of the Lakers in that town,” Kamla said. “So I don’t think he wants to let them go – and I don’t really think that Blake Griffin and Chris Paul want to leave L.A.”
