NOTES Rockets trade 7 players for Clippers’ Paul
Chris Paul is heading to Houston to join James Harden, and the Rockets will soon have two All-Stars in the backcourt to lead their chase for a championship.
In the NBA’s second blockbuster trade in less than a week, the Rockets acquired Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday in exchange for Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Darrun Hilliard, DeAndre Liggins, Kyle Wiltjer, a protected firstround pick next year and cash considerations. The Rockets acquired Hilliard from Detroit and Liggins from Dallas for cash considerations before adding them to the deal.
Both the Clippers and Houston will look far different next season than they did in falling short in the playoffs again just six weeks ago. The roster overhauls come five days after Minnesota sent three players to Chicago for All-Star Jimmy Butler to kick things off.
NBA free agency opens Saturday.
Paul, 32, will soon be playing for his third team after opting in for the last year of his contract so the Clippers could work on a deal.
The nine-time All-Star has averaged 18.7 points, 9.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 steals over his 12-year career, though he has been dogged with criticism in recent years for failing to help the Clippers get out of the second round of the playoffs. Los Angeles reached the postseason in each of Paul’s six seasons with the team, but the Clippers were eliminated in the first round three times and in the Western Conference semifinals three other times.
Perhaps the most crushing playoff series loss of his tenure with the Clippers came to the Rockets in 2015. Los Angeles had a 3-1 lead in the conference semifinals before Houston won the last three games of the series to send Paul and the Clippers home early again.
The Clippers were eliminated in the first round the past two seasons, and Paul isn’t the only star who may be leaving. Blake Griffin informed the team last week that he is opting out of the last year of his contract to explore free agency. JJ Redick is also a free agent.
In Houston, Paul joins a team that was eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinals last season. With Harden’s move to point guard last season, Paul’s role will probably be a bit different than it has been in Los Angeles.
Houston also acquired Ryan Kelly from Atlanta and Tim Quarterman from Portland for cash considerations and Shawn Long from Philadelphia for a future second-round pick and cash considerations. Jackson, Knicks part ways: Phil Jackson wanted to trade Carmelo Anthony and wouldn’t rule out dealing Kristaps Porzingis. Turns out, Jackson is the one leaving.
Jackson is out as New York Knicks president after he oversaw one of the worst eras in team history, with the team saying in a statement that they had “mutually agreed to part company.”
“After careful thought and consideration, we mutually agreed that the Knicks will be going in a different direction,” Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan said. “Phil Jackson is one of the most celebrated and successful individuals in the history of the NBA. His legacy in the game of basketball is unmatched.”
But the winner of an NBArecord 11 championships as coach couldn’t engineer one playoff berth while running the Knicks. The team was 80-166 in his three full seasons, including a franchise-worst 17-65 in 2014-15.
Dolan said general manager Steve Mills would run the day-to-day business in the short term and that former Toronto executive Tim Leiweke would advise him and help develop a plan going forward.