Paul eager to resume ‘the process’
Fresh off signing $160 million contract, star relishes chance for another shot at Finals
LAS VEGAS — Rockets guard Chris Paul on Sunday squeezed in a half of summer basketball before he rushed off to another meeting with more planned, along with the celebration of the four-year, $160 million contract he had signed to attempt to finish what he started in his first season with the Rockets.
He always expected to stay with the Rockets long-term, even moved to a home located better for someone who works downtown and frequently heads to the Houston airports.
But when he signed the contract on Saturday in Las Vegas, he knew he would get the chance to run it back, as the Rockets have come to call the goal of reassembling the bulk of last season’s Western Conference finalist.
“It’s a blessing. You know what I mean?” Paul said. “It’s great to know where I’m going to be.”
He likely would have felt that way no matter how last season ended. But with his strained hamstring forcing him to miss the final two games of the Rock-
ets’ playoff series against the Warriors, both losses after Paul had driven the Rockets to a 3-2 series lead with a sensational Game 5 performance, he said he was especially driven to start building toward another chance.
“Anybody who knows me knows how I feel,” said Paul in his first comments since the injury. “I don’t have to talk about it. I’m fueled by competition. What are you going to do? I can’t go back. I can’t go back in time. All I can do is move forward.”
He described the Rockets’ efforts to keep free agents Clint Capela and Luc Mbah a Moute as part of the process.
Asked if he has begun talking with Carmelo Anthony, who is expected to be released by the Oklahoma City Thunder later this summer, Paul said: “I talk to Melo all the time.”
He did not specify if those conversations were recruiting efforts should Anthony become a free agent again, leaving it at, “We’ll see. We’ll see.”
With that, Paul kept moving forward, having assured he would be coming back to Houston, and then kept moving.
After watching the first half of the Rockets’ summer league game against the Warriors, taking a front-row seat with Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta and his family, a few seats from coach Mike D’Antoni and assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik, Paul had to rush off to an NBA competition committee meeting, with another scheduled for Monday morning and a union meeting to follow.
His first meeting in Las Vegas, however, included putting his name on a contract, a step he always expected but now described as part of a plan he could not complete in his first season with the Rockets.
“That’s the only option,” Paul said. “Do the process all over again and see what happens.”