As part of today’s Chris Paul trade, Paul opted-in to his contract for this season, aligning his free agency with best friends LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony.
While the Houston Rockets won big by acquiring point guard Chris Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers, the All-Star avoided signing an extension as part of the deal. As Tommy Beer pointed out, Paul’s contract now lines up with the three other stars who make up the internet-famous Banana Boat:
With CP3 opting in, it now appears likely that LeBron, Melo, D Wade and CP3 will all be unrestricted free agents on July 1st, 2018.
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) June 28, 2017
It’s no secret that the four future Hall-of-Famers are best friends, going on vacation together in the offseason, calling themselves a brotherhood, even uniting in a powerful message at last year’s ESPYs. Moreover, as recently as last year, James told Howard Beck in a profile that he would take a pay cut to play with his three best friends.
"“I really hope that, before our career is over, we can all play together,” James said of Anthony. “At least one, maybe one or two seasons, €”me, Melo, [Wade], [Paul], €”we can get a year in. I would actually take a pay cut to do that.”Maybe at the end of their careers, James said. Maybe sooner. One more ring chase, this time with everyone on board.“It would be pretty cool,” James said. “I’ve definitely had thoughts about it.”Before bounding away, he smiles and closes with a coy chirp: “We’ll see.”"
While the internet figured out all sorts of cap gymnastics to form the Banana Boat team, things the past couple seasons stayed fairly the same with each of the four. Paul toiled toward first round exits with the Los Angeles Clippers while James delivered a championship to Cleveland before losing to the Golden State Warriors.
Wade and Melo have found themselves in increasingly unfavorable situations — the Chicago Bulls just traded away Jimmy Butler and the New York Knicks almost traded Kristaps Porizingis before parting ways with Phil Jackson on Wednesday.
Heads have scratched over the last few weeks as both Wade and Melo committed to their crumbling franchises. And while their large salaries are reason enough to stay, Paul’s puts some sense into things.
With reports surfacing about CP3’s dislike of Clippers’ head coach Doc Rivers, Paul had no reason to stay in an unfavorable situation. With Houston and its general manager Daryl Morey — who has a track record of constantly being in play for big names — Paul has a front office willing to take risks to assemble a star-studded roster.
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Free agency in the summer of 2018 got a whole lot more exciting with Paul’s move, and if none of the four sign extensions, LeBron’s dream is that much closer to reality.