I would do it. Paul is definitely on the decline and Hayward can still improve. Baynes would be a nice backup. You guys sound like you have a choice. Danny Ainge would not be dumb enough to take CP3 contract though.
I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm not a fan of bringing Hayward here. All I'm saying is that, looking at other guards historically, Paul probably isn't going to get back to being a .260 WS/48 guy, so people shouldn't plan on that when trying to figure out what the Rockets should do this offseason.
Lot of things in regards to CP3 …. His age and the probability that he declines further going forward - probably a significant decline over the life of this contract. The other thing is asset allocation - It just doesn't make sense to me to spend ~30% of your total cap space on CP3 when Harden is the defacto point. $40m for a secondary playmaker …. and one who cant really defend at a high level just doesn't make sense in the grand scheme. Its a luxury you just cant afford in a capped league. I really believe you'd be better off with an allstar wing - 3/4 and a solid if unspectacular backup point (Rivers would be ideal in that role) and maybe a high level defender off the bench than the redundancy of Harden / CP3. Harden standing 35 feet from the bucket …. CP3 way out near the timeline when he's off the ball …. I really don't believe they trade they trade CP3 …. but I think they could be better without him , especially long term.
The numbers definitely agree with you, but context is important here. Chris Paul was in poor shape to start the season and it carried into the season. It is almost unfathomable that he'll repeat that mistake, especially given he parted ways with his own trainers mid season and made a comment about how his fitness was mishandled. The other thing I see is he can definitely shoot better. His ability to get to the rim and get open mid range will almost certainly continue to diminish. Being able to defend at 6'1 is becoming a bigger obstacle with each passing season independent of age. But there are parts of his game that dropped off for reasons other than age. I don't know if it's the more likely outcome. I just think it's interesting to consider. On Hayward my opinion is that he was overrated before the injury and the game has not evolved in his favor. I don't think he will ever be able to keep up with players 6'7 and below again, and I don't think he will ever have the ability to move over to the bigger forwards like many ex-SF's have done. He is a good but not great shooter. He certainly has the ability to be a good scorer/passer and maybe a mediocre defender but I don't think it's a given he will be better than, say, Eric Gordon next season.
I don't think anybody is planning for Cp3 to go back in time 2 years, even the other poster you quoted isn't certain of it, But we don't really need CP3 to be a max player just get double digit pts on good % and more than 5 assists a night while not being a liability on defense, even at his age he can do that and has been that for most of the regular season. We just need a coach who doesn't assume how things play out in the regular season is how it plays out in the playoffs and we'll be alright.
Honestly I agree with u. I was wait till the playoffs guy for cp3...but was let down by him. So I'm just as mad as everyone that he played like **** last year. But the basketball observer in me think he played like trash cause he wasnt properly integrated in the offense due to injury n harden having to carry so much. I dont blame harden. He was in a groove n the games mattered so u didnt have the luxury to try to integrate cp3 properly. So I think a full season we may see a better cp3 as well. But with that said I'm not chancing it I'm still going for butler
These trade proposals are reminding me of the time Morey wanted to trade a guy named Anderson. It's unrealistic to expect anything of value coming back in a trade when the player is on a bad contract. Hayward only has two more years on his contract. His play was improving throughout the season. I don't see Boston trading him at this point.
No matter what we may think of them as players, Paul is owed $124m to Hayward's $66m. At the going rate of $15-20m for a mid-late first, we are talking about an impossible deal for Morey to pull through. Plus Hayward's contract expires when Tatum's new contract would kick in, unlike Paul's. Plus Hayward has a higher chance of improving his recent form. Only contract anyone would consider trading for Paul is Wall's. Let's face it we are doomed, we have no option but to ride this out. Our only hope is that we strike gold with minimums, MLEs, 2-way contracts and 2nd rounders, or that GSW breaks from within.
Hayward was an amazing point forward with superior atheticism 3 seasons ago. With that said that ankle damage is a shroud of mystery.
