GOLDEN: WHY CHRIS PAUL IS JUST A ROCKET RENTAL

By a show of hands, who believes Chris Paul will retire as a Houston Rocket?

Next question. Who believes LeBron James will play his remaining years in Cleveland?

It’s good to see most of us are on the same page.

Houston trading for CP3 is akin to your ne’er-do-well friend showing up at the class reunion in a late-model Benz. He’s the same guy who avoided you for six months because he still owes you 10 bucks.

Turns out your friend’s Benz was a rental. So is Paul. Don’t be duped into thinking the 32-year-old point guard is putting down some permanent roots in Houston, Rockets fan. He’s merely passing through. It’s a one-year deal, and he’s a one-year player who will be off to his real destination this time next year. Teaming with fellow point guard James Harden doesn’t make sense positionwise, but things clear up nicely when juxtaposed with his best friend’s contract.

This has LeBron James’ fingerprints all over it.

Decision III can’t get here soon enough. CP3 and LBJ are hooking up in 2018, location TBA.

On the surface, the Paul trade is a strategic reaction to the Golden State Warriors, who sent a clear message to the league in 2017.

Want to run with the big dogs? It will take more than two superstars to get it done. Cleveland had three and got only one game.