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The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the Clippers had agreed to trade Paul to Houston in exchange for point guard Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, DeAndre Liggins, Darrun Hilliard, cash and a top-three protected first-round pick in next year’s draft. For both parties, the move made all the professional sense in the world. By opting into the final year of his deal and being shipped off, Paul gets to earn $24 million while freeing himself up to re-sign for $200 million should he remain with the Rockets or $150 million should he join another squad next summer, when LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Paul George could all be unrestricted free agents.
But there were also irreconcilable personal differences between Paul and Clippers coach and team president Doc Rivers, who according to ESPN’s Michael Eaves, favored his son, reserve Austin Rivers, to the detriment of the team, nixing a deal that would’ve sent Carmelo Anthony to the Clippers last season.
From Eaves:
Paul led the Clippers to the playoffs in each of his six seasons in red, white and blue, but never reached the conference finals. Last season, the Clippers won 50 or more games for the fifth straight time and earned the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference only to fall to the Jazz after Paul and Blake Griffin suffered season-ending injuries.
But what really solidified Paul’s dissatisfaction with Doc was a proposed trade involving Carmelo Anthony last season. New York offered Carmelo and Sasha Vujacic to the Clippers in exchange for Jamal Crawford, Paul Pierce and Austin Rivers, a deal to which Rivers ultimately said no. That event led Paul to feel that keeping his son on the roster was more important to Doc than improving the team. So, ultimately, Paul lost both trust and faith in Doc. As one league executive put it, “Chris despises Doc.”
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Pairing the 32-year-old Paul, who averaged 18.1 points, 9.2 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game with Harden (29.1 ppg, 11.2 apg, 8.1 rpg) gives the Rockets one of the league’s best backcourts along with Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Portland’s Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, Washington’s John Wall and Bradley Beal and Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry.
Despite Eaves’ report, there was no beef between Paul and Austin Rivers as the now ex-Clipper packed his bags for Houston.
