Houston Rockets: Is Chris Paul’s contract even tradable?

Each summer, it seems like the Houston Rockets have to deal with moving a massive contract to free up cap space. Can they even find a team to take the former superstar point guard?

The Houston Rockets made a ton of headlines yesterday when it was announced that the team will be looking to improve by putting every available player and draft pick on the table in a potential trade this summer.

Those trades include, potentially, Chris Paul and Clint Capela, two staples of the team during their big runs against the Warriors. The inclusion of CP3 in these talks has made a lot of people step back and see if there even is somebody that would take the massive contract he signed around a year ago.

Paul is still owed over $120 million over the last three years of his deal, including a massive $44.2 million in the last year of that contract. That’s a huge amount of cash to pay any player, nonetheless an aging star who showed declining offensive abilities last season. Will any team be willing to take on that contract and salvage the talent he has left?

It would be tough, obviously

As many people have spoken on already, it would be extremely tough to find a trade partner for CP3. It would take some desperation, in my opinion, from a team that was looking to make a big move in the offseason but struck out swinging. The main two teams looking to make moves like that are the Lakers and Knicks.

Another team that people have thrown out there is the Suns. CP3 could maybe go in and be a great mentor for the young Phoenix team as they grow to relevancy, while the Suns are able to absorb that contract. I doubt that Chris wants to finish his career in a tanking or mediocre situation, though.

If the Rockets are going to move Paul, this is the summer to do so. He still has value as a player (not quite up to his contract, of course) and can contribute to a high-level team potentially as a third option. He’s still a great player and showed just that in the last game of the series against the Warriors.

We’ll be covering this news all summer as the Rockets attempt to improve the roster and going more in-depth on the teams that might look to make a move for CP3.