With the NBA Draft coming up on Thursday and the league’s free agency period set to kick off on July 1, the rumors about where LeBron James will end up are flying fast and furious.
The Lakers, Sixers, Celtics, and Rockets have all been floated as potential landing spots for the four-time MVP and, up till now, James himself has been publicly mum about which one, if any, he prefers. However, if he does end up with the Rockets, it sounds as if the biggest reason will be the work of Chris Paul.
The All-Star point guard, who is also a free agent this year, has reportedly been aggressively recruiting James to join him in Houston, even though reports have James privately preferring the Lakers in L.A.
“Chris is going to return there. And listen, right now, Chris Paul’s focus isn’t so much on his own free agency,” according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. “He’s trying to recruit LeBron James to Houston, and somebody close to him said to me he is as focused on recruiting LeBron as anything he’s done in this league. He wants to find a way.”
It would take some doing, but there is a way the Rockets would be able to retain Paul and restricted free agent Clint Capela, bring in James, and still keep James Harden on his max deal.
So will Paul be able to convince his friend to ignore the brights lights of L.A. for the better odds of winning a championship that Houston provides? We may get answers as early as Thursday.
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