It’s easy to forget given how well it has gone so far, but Chris Paul took a major risk by engineering a trade from the Clippers for the Rockets.
The Clippers offered a huge contract (though not the five-year full max.) In Houston, he’s on an expiring contract.
He played on an established very good team with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan in L.A. The Rockets had to adjust to a pairing between Paul and James Harden, two ball-dominant guards.
And of course there were personal considerations for Paul and his family. Moving from one city to another so far away is always a big choice.
Sarah Berger of CNBC:The day after he was traded to Houston, Paul had a photo shoot that he struggled to get through.
“Everyone always thinks us athletes, we’ve always got it together. That’s a lie,” Paul tells CNBC Make It. “I was throwing up at the photo shoot.
“I was out there taking pictures,” Paul continues, “and I was like, ‘Give me a second.’ Boom. I ran out, threw up. Boom. Came back and acted like I had just taken a phone call. [It was] just the anxiety of knowing that there was a change that was coming.”
Paul admits he was scared. “I had been living in L.A. for the past six years. The decision that I made was not only going to affect me, but my family, my kids, everybody around me. It was a big decision.
“Who would have known it’s been one of the best things of my life.
Tyler Johnson said he threw up when he first learned the Nets would sign him to a $50 million offer sheet (which the Heat matched).
But a day later? That’s intense.
