Sixteen days before the Russell Westbrook era ended in Oklahoma City and began anew in Houston, amid all that reported turmoil about the Rockets that so many believed had them all on edge, general manager Daryl Morey and point guard Chris Paul sat for several hours inside the Montage hotel in Beverly Hills discussing their uncertain future.



As Morey recalled that night, when he announced on the red carpet at the NBA awards in Santa Monica that his team was the undeniable favorite in the West and refuted a Yahoo Sports! report that Paul had ever asked for a trade, they explored the possibilities for the forthcoming free agency period and prepared to – as their slogan goes – run it back. Even with the looming notion that Paul’s days in Houston might be numbered, and with all the rumblings about friction between him and franchise centerpiece James Harden, Morey was running his team the best way he knows how in this age of player empowerment: By giving the most...