"The Clippers were right to keep their group together, despite the déjà vu postseason flameouts. Building 55-win teams is hard. Any group that good is a break or two from the NBA Finals. Blow it up early, and there is no guarantee you sniff that lofty territory ever again. [..] But that crumbling against Houston crystallized some of the issues that always dogged them: A thin, top-heavy team relying on creaky veteran role players (Matt Barnes), the coach's son, and classic Doc Rivers Boston-era retreads (including an embarrassingly out-of-shape Glen Davis) ran out of gas. Yeah, filling out a roster with three max-level players is hard. Welcome to the first-world problems of competing for championships. [..] This was a fun team that played gorgeous, precise basketball. It is gone. At some point, a team stops believing it can win. Players get tired of each other, and yearn to try new things. The culture had eroded. Insiders complained about a lack of accountability -- about practices and shootarounds starting late [..] No team is thrilled about earmarking $40 million-plus for a 37-year-old. But they probably would have gone there to keep Paul. Bereft of draft picks, they are not set up well to rebuild. The alternative may be despair. [..] The "Why even try competing with the Warriors?" chilling effect is real, but it may be limited to Boston and a few bad teams keeping their powder dry. San Antonio wants a true shot against Golden State. Denver is chasing Kevin Love. Minnesota, stuck in a decade-plus playoff drought, just robbed Chicago of Jimmy Butler. [..] The league isn't giving up in the face of the Warriors juggernaut. This is a worthy, fascinating gamble for Houston that will force Morey and Mike D'Antoni to reimagine a go-go, 3s-and-rim-only attack in which James Harden served as alpha and omega. Paul likes to play slow, pound the ball, bark out orders in over-choreographed half-court sets, and jack midrange shots. Every bit of that runs counter to how Houston played last season. And that's OK. Harden and Paul can share, and be better for it. Almost every championship team in history meshed two ball-dominant stars who learned to play off of each other. A lot of those duos and trios didn't bring the combined outside shooting of Harden and Paul. Both are useful away from the ball. Paul has hit 40 percent from deep in two of his past three seasons. Harden has shot much better than his blah overall mark from deep on open catch-and-shoot 3-pointers -- the kind of looks he should see more alongside Paul. [..] Doing everything for Houston took its toll on Harden, too. The Rockets' season effectively ended with Harden settling for lazy step-back 3s in an overtime loss to the Spurs in Game 5 of the conference semifinals. Even Houston's cruel and efficient offense can use a dose of unpredictability in the playoffs. Stingy postseason defenses have held Houston below its regular-season scoring mark two years in a row, and the gap got bigger this season. The Spurs exposed the formula: Encourage Harden to drive, plant a tall guy near the rim, stick close to shooters, and concede midrange jumpers Houston will never take. It worked. Houston's scoring fell off. [..] Paul is one of the greatest midrange shooters ever. The Rockets should let him take those shots. They are good looks for Paul, and they will loosen up better looks for teammates. If opponents suddenly have to defend the midrange, other spaces will open. [..] The tax benefits of playing in Texas are real; just ask Paul. [..] There is major downside risk for Houston. If the Rockets really re-sign Paul to his five-year max after this season -- a gift in exchange for Paul opting in and costing himself a bit of cash -- the back-end of that deal will be painful. It will take time for Harden and Paul to mesh, and there is always the possibility it doesn't work as well as the Rockets hope -- that they won't be more than the sum of their parts. Paul is a domineering personality who has always wanted to play his way. He must adapt. But if you have a superstar in his prime, as Houston does with Harden, you might as well try like hell to win. There is no time to waste, not even with Golden State lording over the league. Injuries happen, and it's unclear if the Warriors will swallow unprecedented payroll bills approaching $400 million once Klay Thompson's new deal kicks in for the 2019-20 season. Last season's Houston team approached its ceiling. This version has a higher one. [..] The Clippers' and D'Antoni's offenses represented two of the league's most known, certain commodities. Close your eyes, and you could see how each played out on the court. In one move, both transform into wild-card unknowns. The NBA's crazy summer has already started.“