David West testing FA could be huge for Rockets! Chris Paul?l!

i doubt it

if the hornets are going to trade paul they will want at least 1 if not 2 unprotected lotto picks in return much like how the nets gave the jazz for williams

if you are going to lose Paul you are going to want to rebuild from the bottom not take on pieces that will keep you mediocre

 

I'm assuming West opted out because he makes less next year (7.5mil vs 8.2 this year). Also, this is probably his last big contract he can make as a contributing player.
That being said...

Hornets only have 43 mil in guaranteed contracts for 5-6 players next year.
With that, they can resign West or go for some other free agent.

Our hope (and it seems like current plan) is to clear most of our salaries for next year and make a run at Dwight + Paul as free agents. If Scola/Martin gets traded this season (for assets and salary purposes) then you can assume that this is the plan. As of current, we only have ~34 mil in the books for next offseason. Take one of Martin or Scola off and we suddenly have cap space for 2 max free agents depending on the new CBA.

 

If the Hornets aren't able to match other team's offers, it's almost a certainty CP3 would want out of New Orleans.

 

Not according to the Rockets.

 

They are going to want draft picks I would imagine.

The strange thing for me though is how can the league be running the team and then making trades? Seems to be a conflict of interest.

DD

 

Even if Chris Paul becomes available, their is going to be teams in better position to go after Chris Paul then us.

The Clippers for example would be in great position to nap Chris Paul from NO. Specially with the T-Wolves unprotected pick in the loaded 2012 NBA Draft, a long with a young asset like former 2010 8th overall pick Al-Farouq Aminu or young promising PG Eric Bledsoe.

The Rockets simply don't have a chance with offers like the one mentioned above being possibility for Chris Paul, IF he were to be available.

 

i think the biggest hurdles rockets will have are that hornets may not want to trade paul to someone in there own conference much less own division.

Paul may not be willing to sign long term with rockets so you may lose everything

 

yeay! we can take to next level with those guys and push for 46 wins!

 

Why would Paul want to come here?

 

Because we're trading for him + clearing cap space for Dwight. That's the only chance we have. Of course, most people here would rather us keep Lowry and push for the 7th seed.

 

Hmmm, so you are saying trade for him and take the chance that he walks after this season?

I would do that, especially with the new CBA probably having a "Franchise" player tag.

The downside would be that the S&T option may be going away, and then what do we have if he decides to bolt?

Still, for a talent like him, I would trade pretty much anyone on the team for him.

DD

 

I think we're a pretty attractive destination for Paul, considering none of the contenders have cap space to sign him as a FA. We have a very solid young core. If we sign Paul we'll have to trade Lowry, hopefully for a decent center, and our lineup will look something like this:
Paul
Martin
Morris
PatPat
Scola
Lee
We get a center in the trade for Lowry. The ideal piece here would be a center along the lines of Tyson Chandler. That's a very good team.

We don't really have what NO would want in a trade. But then again, Paul is going to be a FA so if gets traded to a random team like the Clippers, he is not going to resign unless he likes the organization. So our better chance is to sign him as a FA. The key is convincing Paul that Houston is a good place to play.

 

Ridiculous. If Paul leaves New Orleans it will be to join Melo and Amare in NY. Houston has nothing to offer him.

 

You pitch him the idea of teaming up with another superstar -- AKA, we'll have enough cap space to sign both you AND Dwight Howard. There's no way he'd turn down that down.

The Knicks and Heat were both able to successfully implement this strategy -- and to a lesser extent, the Bulls with Boozer. I would trade Lowry/Martin/+ for a chance at CP3, then look to deal Scola for expiring contract/1st round picks.

If they do away with the SnT, we can still sign Dwight outright to a maximum contract.

Further, we'd still have Patterson/Lee(QO)/Motiejunas/Morris on rookie scale (or QO cheap) contracts. We know Courtney Lee and Dwight are freinds; we know Dwight and CP3 would love to play together. If we were able to pull that off, you're looking at:

CP3
Lee
Morris
Patterson
Dwight

With Motiejunas off the bench or supplanting Patterson as the starting PF if he can develop. Morey is terrific at finding supporting role players -- he just needs the superstars for those supporting role players.

 

With a lineup like that, we'd definitely be a top 5 defensive team with major offensive firepower. Fast break anyone?

We have 5+ contracts set to expire this season. I do like the idea of trading Scola for a first rounder or two. We still have a couple picks in this upcoming draft in a super deep draft class. The pieces we currently have can make a compelling trade offer for sure. It's just selling CP3 on recruiting Dwight in the off season.

 

the irony is absolutely deafening.

 

We'd be trading our core for cp3 and the only reason cp3 wouldn't even bother to play for the rockets is is we had our core of Martin scola (Lowry?) and we'd have to give up one of those guys to get cp3 probably Lowry and losing one of those guys would make us fall apart .