Old -- when Chris Paul was a Hornet. King first tried to get Paul from New Orleans before dealing with Utah for Deron Williams. King believed he was making progress, but the deal went cold after Jeff Bowers was replaced as GM by Dell Demps. “At that time, I don’t think Dell wanted his first thing to be trading Chris Paul. That didn't go anywhere,” King said. The Nets believed they were close to acquiring Howard from Orlando just before the 2012 trade deadline. “We went to bed as a staff — we left the office pretty late — we went to bed pretty much knowing that tomorrow we’re going to get Dwight,” King said. Magic GM Otis Smith had planned to finalize the deal the next morning, but King woke up to a text saying that Howard had elected to opt in for the following season. King reached out to Howard’s agent, who responded, “I don’t think he did,” and even Smith hadn’t heard the news when King called him. However, Smith returned the call an hour later and confirmed the news. The Nets responded by trading their 2012 first-round pick to Portland in exchange for Gerald Wallace in an attempt to appease Williams and discourage him from opting out over the summer. The Blazers used that pick to draft Damian Lillard. King reached out to the Celtics in 2013 because he thought he had a talented nucleus that needed veteran leadership and was interested in acquiring Pierce. [Deal for Pierce alone was Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks & a 1st] Negotiations led to Garnett and Jason Terry being included and the package of picks going to Boston. King made an offer to Pierce in the summer of 2014, but he got a better deal from Washington and the Nets decided not to match it. “Once that decision was made, I think it changed our thought process,” King said. “I think some of the players even thought, ‘What’s going on here? We were committed and now we’re not.” King added that he wouldn’t have made the deal with Boston if he knew he couldn’t keep Pierce longer than one season. To absorb Gerald's [Wallace] contract, another pick was added. The biggest regret, if I had to go back & do it, sleep on it & take out the swaps. Without the swaps, it's still a lot of picks but without the swaps, wouldn't have been as bad. If you re-sign Paul, you probably win a few more games. (When you think back, your dream team within reason, if those two moves happen, this is what the team would have looked like?) If we could have gotten Dwight. If we got Dwight with Deron, it would have been pretty good because we still had flexibility going forward & they were young enough. That's what we had been planning for all along. https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2017/09/billy-king-looks-back-on-tenure-with-nets.html
Wait, so Paul was "traded" to Houston to help facilitate Rockets' salary cap needs. He even waive a huge portion of his trade kicker. There was no point at which the Clippers actively shopped Paul or discussed a trade with anyone because Paul was about to become a free agent by opting out.
lulz. I guess this guy doesn't realize Paul hadn't opted in yet. smdh Paul only opted-in because it was the Rockets. Being a free agent gives players the same power as a No Trade Clause.
He was a week from being a free agent. It's the same as a NTC. Paul only opted-in because it was the Rockets. Otherwise, he opts out and signs directly. Ignore that BKN trade bs.
Zach Lowe in his '32 crazy NBA predictions' Chris Paul re-signs with the Rockets If the Rockets are really good, odds are Paul stays with a known winning quantity. Where else is Paul getting all his money and the chance to win alongside another top-10 player? The Lakers come into play if LeBron orchestrates, but all the chatter surrounds the possible LeBron-George team-up. At 33, Paul won't quite be in the stratosphere where any team would rearrange its entire roster just to get him. He can't call his shot like LeBron. Deep in the recesses of their cold analytical souls, the Rockets surely feel queasy at the prospect of paying Paul $40 million-plus per season into his late 30s. Daryl Morey probably has a framed graph of John Stockton's aging curve in his office to make him feel better. But they are trying to win it all in Harden's prime. They will do what it takes to maximize that window, and figure out the rest later.
hated this trade then, really hate it now with last years roster we beat this sixers team tonight easily
