NBA Free Agency 2018: Most impactful signings of the summer

2. Chris Paul, Houston Rockets

In terms of all-time NBA “What If’s,” the right hamstring injury that Chris Paul suffered with under a minute to go in Game 5 against the Warriors should be near the top of the list. While it’s impossible to know for sure if Paul would have made a difference in a Game 7 that the Rockets led by double-digits at halftime (to say nothing of a Game 6 that was closer than people remember before the Warriors pulled away), it’s safe to say he would have made his presence felt.

Now Paul is another year older. Houston, despite the recent sneaky-good addition of James Ennis and impending attempt to resurrect whatever is left of Carmelo Anthony from the dead, should be worse, and that’s not even considering the doomsday scenario of the Clint Capela negotiations getting ugly.

None of it changes the fact that despite the flurry of moves that happened around them, the Rockets are still the clear best answer to the question of “Who has a snowball’s chance in hell of beating those guys?”

It’s hard to overstate just how good Paul was last season, even at 32. He led the league in Real Plus-Minus, and became only the second player ever (after LeBron’s first last Cleveland season in 2009-10) to have a usage rate of 25, a true shooting percentage over 60, a turnover rate under 13 and an assist rate above 40, according to BasketballReference.com. His all-world defense continued as it always has.

Can he replicate that effort one more time? Possibly. And maybe this time, the Rockets will get some injury luck on their side and a key Warrior will be forced to miss a game or two when it matters most. That possibility, however remote, is enough to put Paul’s re-signing second here, but there remains a chasm of significance between it and the one that takes the top prize…