Chris Paul to stay with Clippers; Houstan eye Howard

All Star point guard Chris Paul will stay with Los Angeles Clippers under a new five-year contract reportedly worth $107 millionThe contract is yet to be made official, but ESPN sources said that Paul had verbally agreed to sign the contract, reports Xinhua.Doc Rivers, who guided Boston Celtics to the NBA title in 2008, joined the Clippers for the franchise's championship ambition, and the former Celtics head coach is considered a key reason for Paul's decision to stay.The Clippers offered power forward Blake Griffin a five-year, 95-million-dollar contract last summer.[caption id="attachment_921531" align="alignleft" width="380"] All Star point guard Chris Paul will stay with Los Angeles Clippers. Reuters[/caption]Yao among Rockets big names to attract Howard to HoustonHouston Rockets showed its desire to sign Dwight Howard by sending a elite group to Los Angeles to talk with the free agent, and former Rockets All Star center Yao Ming also helped with the situation.Yao told Houston KRIV-TV that he had already been in touch with Howard through Skype. Yao said Rockets "have a young team, a talented team that has ability to reach championship level with you" to Howard, and he indicated he would come back to Houston July 11, with hope to meet Howard again, reports Xinhua.Rockets "persuading group" included Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, owner Les Alexander, general manager Daryl Morey, head coach Kevin McHale, player James Harden and Chandler Parsons.Former Rockets member Dikembe Mutombo also sent Howard a message.IANS