Chris Paul Is Being Traded To The Rockets, And The Worst Case Scenario Is That We Get To Enjoy Some Fireworks

After Chris Paul agreed to opt-in on contract, Clippers are trading All-Star guard to the Houston Rockets, league sources tell @TheVertical

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) June 28, 2017

Chris Paul and James Harden were determined to play together, and found a way with Rockets-Clippers trade agreed upon today.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) June 28, 2017

Show me two people with personalities and general dispositions that differ as much as those of Chris Paul and James Harden, and I'll show you a couple that got married too young under the ruse that "opposites attract" before splitting ways in a messy, knock down-drag 'em out divorce in which clothes were flung into the street prior to the cops being called to intervene.

I don't want to say that the Houston Rockets made the wrong decision by trading for one of smartest, most versatile point guards in league history, because success in the association has never been more dependent on the stockpiling of talent. However, in adding a second ball dominant player whose will to win is often exuded through loud, on-court critiques of his teammates, they definitely made a locker room that was previously led by the most apathetic superstar in the NBA more flammable. I don't know what type of basketball the Rockets are looking to play, but if two facilitators fight over the rock that inevitably gets stuck in a hard place then their offense might even be more explosive than if it actually runs smoothly. Not only is this an odd couple that makes Dwight Howard and James Harden look like they have chemistry, but it's an odd couple that consists of two players whose only similarities are their favorite positions and playoff failures. 

Maybe Chris Paul learns what constructive criticism is before the season starts. Maybe James Harden learns how to take it without sulking into his overgrown beard. Maybe Houston just gave themselves a better chance of competing with Golden State by creating a roster of floppers that will stop at no act of embellishment to foul out their competition while getting to the line on each and every possession. "Maybe" being the operative word, because this duo might not be a ticking time bomb, but they sure are a volatile concoction that is a few circumstantial ingredients away from a "solution" reaching it's boiling point.

Either way it works to the benefit of the casual fan. If they aren't going to be a great team capable of contending for a championship then they might as well be an entertaining team, and there is nothing more entertaining than the idea of rekindling the level of resentment and spite that Kobe and Shaq for one another with two guys who are far less likely to win their way through it.

Credit to Daryl Morey for throwing caution to the wind in the thankless pursuit of a title, but here's to hoping that wind knocks over a canister of gasoline onto the combative fire that will unquestionably be brewing between Chris Paul and James Harden.