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In addition to the Rockets’ longstanding interest in free agent-to-be LeBron
James, another noteworthy longtime target of general manager Daryl Morey is
Paul George, two league sources told Rockets Wire.
Immediately after agreeing on a deal to bring Chris Paul to Houston last
June, Morey was reportedly aggressive in the pursuit of George, then with the
Indiana Pacers. Ultimately, George was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder
to combine with Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony. Many had that trio
pegged for Western Conference greatness, but the Thunder won 46 games and
lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Utah Jazz. With the offseason
approaching, the Rockets will once again be aggressive in free agency,
targeting James or George, both sources said. The sources spoke on the
condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak on the
record about George.
A max contract for James or George would likely come with a first-year salary
around $35 million, meaning Houston would have to make moves to open up more
cap space to make either deal happen. Houston currently is slated to have
$85.1 million on the books for next season, with the salary cap projected
around $101 million. That’s before factoring in Paul’s $35.5 million cap
hold, which counts against Houston’s total until he either signs a new
contract with the team or leaves for another team.
If George or James decide they want to play in Houston, the easiest way to
make it happen without the team sacrificing too much depth would be for
either player to pick up his player option for next season before the end of
June and engineer a trade. This is how Paul came to the Rockets last year,
foregoing his player option and pushing the Los Angeles Clippers to work out
a trade rather than losing him for nothing. Any deal for James or George
would have to include power forward Ryan Anderson for salary-matching
purposes, although it’s unlikely either Cleveland or Oklahoma City would
want to take back the two years and $41.6 million remaining on Anderson’s
deal.
Landing James or George is difficult for Houston, but not impossible. Morey
insisted Wednesday that he has a path to improving the team, and he’s been
known to think outside the box in years past.
Where James decides to go is a mystery the entire league is attempting to
solve, and there likely won’t be much clarity on his future until after the
end of the NBA Finals between the Cavaliers and the Warriors, which begins
Thursday. However, if the Rockets want any shot at landing Paul George, they
will have to fend off serious competition from the Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers
president Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka have made it known
that George is a priority for them, having even been fined for tampering
earlier this season.
ESPN驻休士顿记者Kelly Iko透露，有两位消息人士告诉他，除了LeBron James外，Paul
George也是莫雷追求的长期目标。
随着休赛期的临近，火箭队将对LeBron或Paul George发起猛烈追求，两位消息人士均希望
匿名，因为他们没有被授权在追求Paul George的议题上发言。
LeBron或Paul George的最大合约可能会来到第一年3500万左右，这意味着火箭将不得不
采取措施，清理更多的薪资空间，以达成任何交易。火箭目前预计下赛季将拥有8510万
的收入，薪资上限预计将达到1.01亿左右。
如果Paul George或LeBron决定要去火箭打球，那么在球队没有牺牲太多深度的情况下实现
这个目标的最简单方法就是让他们在6月底之前执行下个赛季的球员选项并进行交易。这就
是CP3去年来到火箭的方式，CP3执行了他的球员选项，并且让快艇进行交易，而不是白白
让快艇换空气。任何与LeBron或Paul George有关的交易为了薪资匹配的目的都必须把Ryan
Anderson放在交易包裹内，尽管骑士或雷霆不太可能想要吃下Ryan Anderson两年4160万的
合约。
尽管空降LeBron或Paul George对火箭来说有难度，但并非不可能。莫雷周三时还坚称，
他找到了一条改善球队的途径，莫雷在过去的几年为人所熟知的就是他那跳脱框架式的
思考。
如果火箭想要得到Paul George，他们将不得不面对来自湖人的强烈竞争。湖人队总裁
Magic Johnson和总管Rob Pelinka已经表明，招募Paul George是他们的首要任务，甚至
在本赛季早些时候还因为这件事而遭到联盟罚款。
短评或心得：A计划姆斯 B计划PG