After significant rumors of turmoil within the Houston Rockets, a report from Yahoo Sports on Tuesday said that Chris Paul wants out of Houston. Among other things, the report mentioned that Paul and superstar Rockets teammate James Harden went nearly two months without speaking to each other during the season, adding fuel to the belief that the two stars are having trouble coexisting in Houston.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has vehemently denied that Paul ever requested a trade, and that he will play for the Rockets next season. But there were rumblings of Paul being traded before Tuesday’s report, so it’s worth going through the thought exercise.

If the Rockets do end up dealing Paul (which is entirely possible), the situation is tricky due to the gargantuan amount of money owed to the future Hall of Famer over the next few seasons. Assuming he opts into the final year of his contract, Paul is set to make north of $124 million over the next three seasons. Factor in his age (34) and injury issues over the past three seasons, and there will be few teams with both the matching salaries and willingness to take on the aging superstar, particularly with Houston’s lack of enticing draft assets to offer.

It’s not impossible, though, and Morey has been known to pull off some miracles during his NBA tenure. So let’s take a look at some possible deals now that Paul could be on his way out of Houston. But first, an important clarification:

Don’t even think about it, Lakers fans. While the prospect of Paul teaming up with best friend/Banana Boat buddy LeBron James in Los Angeles might seem to be kismet, it’s simply impossible after the Anthony Davis trade that depleted the Lakers’ stock of young talent and salary. The only way it can work is if L.A. trades LeBron for CP3, but that would kind of defeat the purpose.

Now, on to the real possibilities. With salary cap and timing issues (depending on when the trade finally goes down) there might be some finagling required to make these deals work, but this is a general sense of the type of deals the Rockets might be able to pull off.

• Chris Paul

The Celtics look like they’re going to lose Kyrie Irving, so they’ll have a hole to fill at point guard. Hayward didn’t look close to his pre-injury self last season, but if the Rockets believe he can return to that form then he would be a tremendous piece to add alongside Harden. Hayward is a good 3-point shooter to space the floor, and could also take some of the play-making burden off of Harden. When healthy, Hayward is also a stout defensive player who could help the Rockets get back to the elite level on that end of the floor. After missing out on Anthony Davis and potentially losing Irving, Boston could be willing to roll the dice on a superstar talent to keep up with Eastern Conference’s heavy hitters.

• Chris Paul

The Suns have been acquiring young players for years with little impact on winning, and they’ve been looking for a point guard to pair with Devin Booker for some time now. They might feel this is their opportunity to take a big swing with Paul available. Paul, Booker and Deandre Ayton is a pretty decent start for potential contention in the suddenly wide-open West.

On the Rockets side, these aren’t the most eye-popping assets, but they could help bridge the gap as Houston tries to figure out its next steps. Warren is a proven scorer who suddenly became an excellent 3-point shooter last season, hitting a crisp 43 percent on 4.2 attempts per game. Jackson has been inconsistent to say the least, but fits the mold of a versatile wing player who can guard multiple positions, plus he’s still only 22 years old. Houston would have to take on Johnson’s expiring contract to make the money work, but could try to flip him if he piques anyone’s interest. The gem of the haul would be the No. 6 pick in Thursday’s draft, which Morey could either trade for more win-now assets or use to build for the future — something the Rockets have to think about seriously with Paul leaving the fold.

• Chris Paul

• Aaron Gordon
• D.J. Augustin
• No. 16 pick in 2019 draft (via Orlando)

The Magic got their first taste of the playoffs in a long time last season, and adding Paul alongside All-Star Nikola Vucevic (assuming they re-sign him) would be an excellent start for getting back to the promised land. They would have to part with Gordon, but the hope for Orlando would be that Jonathan Isaac would then be able to flourish as the full-time power forward with the shooting of Evan Fournier to balance things out. Paul could also serve as a mentor to Markelle Fultz, to hopefully get his career on track.

The Grizzlies are in rebuild mode, so parting with Conley is an inevitability. Picking up a good young player (Gordon) and a first-round pick might be enough for them, and it would allow them to reward Conley for all his years of service in Memphis by sending him to a contender. The Rockets would get an immediate replacement for Paul who could keep the team among the Western Conference elite.

• Chris Paul

It’s no secret that Wiggins’ contract is looking, well, not great. He’s owed $122 million through the 2023 season, but the Rockets might see his isolation-heavy style of play and think he might be able to excel in their system. Wiggins’ 3-point shooting remained steady last season (34 percent) while he increased his attempts, and his defensive potential, though not yet realized, has been obvious since he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2014. It really depends on whether the Rockets see Wiggins as a future star who could continue to improve next to Harden. Saric would fit well into Houston’s system as a stretch-four who shot 38 percent from 3-point range last season.

For the Wolves, they would be shedding Wiggins’ contract (Paul’s expires one year earlier) and giving Karl-Anthony Towns a bona fide point guard to help him make the leap to superstar status. After acquiring Paul they would probably look to deal Jeff Teague’s $19 million expiring contract, which could get the Wolves a solid piece or two to complement their new All-Star duo.

• Chris Paul

How willing is Pat Riley to gamble on Paul? Miami appears to be a team built perfectly for mediocrity and is saddled with some long-term deals it is probably regretting about now.The Rockets would likely want Josh Richardson in a Paul deal, but given his team-friendly contract for the next three seasons it’s hard to imagine Miami parting with him for an aging superstar with a bloated deal. Likewise, the Heat would love to unload Hassan Whiteside, but he appears to be a horrible fit for Houston’s system, plus the Rockets already have Clint Capela (for now).

So instead the Heat could send out Dragic, who might appeal to the Rockets due to his ability to play both alongside Harden and fill in for him as the primary play-maker when he’s on the bench. Dragic is also on an expiring contract, giving Morey options if he can flip him for something more appealing. In order to pull off the trade, the Rockets would have to take some bad money like Johnson off the Heat’s hands, but given his positional versatility and defensive presence, he could actually help the Rockets in the short term. Jones is an athlete with potential, and could serve as a deal sweetener. For the Heat, adding Paul to a group of Richardson, an emerging Justise Winslow and whatever they could net in free agency could be an appealing notion.