The Houston Rockets are going hard when it comes to NBA trade rumors involving who they may try to land for their franchise. Reportedly, there are four main stars that the team is targeting its attempts on getting and two of them are from the Los Angeles Clippers trio of stars. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are names that have popped up on Houston's radar, along with stars from the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors.
Here's the latest on the players that the Rockets are most interested in acquiring.
Clippers stars
In the past week or so, Chris Paul has been mentioned as a potential candidate to leave the Clippers as a free agent. It's been reported that while the San Antonio Spurs were a strong potential suitor, Paul would also be willing to talk with the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets. The most recent ESPN report lists Paul as one of the players the Rockets are doing their best to go after. A source said the team will go "hard" after Paul in July.
It seems like Paul's his top choice for next team would be playing under Gregg Popovich and the Spurs alongside NBA MVP candidate Kawhi Leonard.
However, the Clippers are trying their best to keep "CP3" on their roster. They brought Jerry West into the front office as the first move to try to convince Paul that the Clippers organization is where he needs to be.
Paul's teammate Blake Griffin is also mentioned in the report. Griffin becomes a free agent in 2018. It also seems that Griffin could be a better fit on the team alongside Harden since both James Harden and Chris Paul are playmakers and scorers for their respective teams.
The report comes around the same time that there were NBA trade rumors regarding their teammate DeAndre Jordan in a deal with the Phoenix Suns for the No. 4 pick and Tyson Chandler.
Other possibilities?
The Atlanta Hawks' Paul Millsap and Toronto Raptors' Kyle Lowry are also presented as possibilities for the Rockets.
The report goes on to say that the Rockets have certain players they are willing to part ways with right now too.
Apparently, there are three players that the Rockets are "making available" just ahead of the NBA Draft on Thursday. They are Ryan Anderson, Patrick Beverly, and this past season's acquisition from the Lakers, Lou Williams. Of those players, Williams provided solid scoring help off the Rockets' bench during the later half of their season and into the playoffs.
In an interview, Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey recently said that he and the Houston front office will do everything they can to create a Rockets team on par with the Golden State Warriors claiming they're "not unbeatable." Should Houston be able to snag any of the aforementioned players, it would add a second All-Star to this season's NBA MVP candidate James Harden who could give them more of a chance in the West.