LeBron James Rumors: Cavaliers Star Being Recruited to Rockets by Chris Paul

Chris Paul is reportedly already recruiting LeBron James to the Houston Rockets following the team's Game 7 loss against the Golden State Warriors, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times. 

Per that report: "Rest assured that the Rockets' understandably devastated Chris Paul—who made a fast exit from Toyota Center late Monday night after being forced to watch the biggest game of his life from the bench because of his hamstring injury—has already begun his recruitment of James to Houston."

Rumors have linked James—who can opt out of the final year of his contract this offseason and hit free agency—to a number of teams throughout the season, most notably the Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers.

For the Rockets to land James, however, they'll need to get creative. 

The team will already have $75.8 million in salary cap space tied up to five players next season, per Spotrac.com: James Harden ($30.4 million), Ryan Anderson ($20.4 million), Eric Gordon ($13.5 million), P.J. Tucker ($7.9 million) and Nene Hilario ($3.6 million). 

If they want to retain restricted free agent Clint Capela, who will likely get offers in the $20-25 million per year range, along with unrestricted free agents like Paul and Trevor Ariza, there is simply no way they'll be able to afford James outright in free agency.

So, general manager Daryl Morey will have to work some magic if he's going to bring James to Houston. He may need to find trades for players like Anderson or Gordon, or he may need to convince both James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to do a sign-and-trade deal for the superstar. 

James has a player option for $35.6 million next year, so if James tells the Cavaliers he won't re-sign, getting a package involving Anderson, Gordon and draft picks could convince Cleveland to do a sign-and-trade. It's possible, however, that Cleveland tries to call that bluff and refuses to do the deal, hoping that James will choose to return to the Cavaliers over signing elsewhere like Philly or Los Angeles if Houston is out of the mix.

But if the Cavaliers take the deal, it would allow the Rockets to then re-sign Capela and Paul and essentially fill out the rest of the roster with cheap role players. And a starting five of Paul, Harden, James, Tucker and Capela would be scary, even if the team would have pretty questionable depth behind them (and quite the luxury tax bill to pay). 

The Warriors figured out their depth behind Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. The Rockets could do the same.

So basically, James to the Rockets is certainly possible, but Morey will need at least one team to play ball with him. More than likely, that team would have to be the Cavaliers. But if James wants to go the Rockets, the team will likely find a way to make it work. Certainly, it will be the summer's most fascinating storyline to follow.