We saw the Rockets almost dethrone the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals last season as they lead the series at 3-2 before Chris Paul got injured and they lost the series. General Manager Daryl Morey feels that it was too close for them and he wanted to retain that core who almost beat the Warriors. He wanted to invest in that core as much as they can and didn't even care about the money they are about to spend.
Chris Paul, James Harden and Clint Capela are the most important pieces for Houston. Houston spent a lot of money to secure them for the future. The Rockets knew that they would lose some important role players to extend the contracts of Paul, Harden and Capela. And as a result, they weren't able to retain Trevor Ariza who signed with Phoenix and Luc Mbah Moute. Two of their best perimeter defenders who can also shoot from the outside.
Now look at this, by 2022, the Houston Rockets will have to pay Chris Paul, James Harden and Clint Capela huge amount of money. I think that would be over a hundred million dollars. That's a huge blow because by 2022, the Salary Cap would be 118 million. And that means that they will only have 9 to 10 million dollars left for the remaining roster spots. That would be 9 to 10 million to be divided to 9 players. That's a huge problem for them and not only that, Chris Paul will be 37 years old by 2022 and I don't think he's still the same player when that time comes. Nobody can beat father time.
Paul is owed 44 million dollars by the Rockets by 2022, Harden will make almost 44 million dollars and Capela will be having almost 19 million. The problem is huge for their future and I don't see the Rockets will be able to pull a big trade involving these players. Houston is struggling so far this season and they weren't even in the top 8 in the Western Conference. They have to figure out what's wrong and will have to face the future full of problems.
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