[CBS Sports] Paul wants out of New Orleans before season

While we have the assets to pull this off, I just don't see the Hornets trading CP3 to a division rival....

 

You weigh your options as an owner:

1) Keep a presumably angered/frustrated Paul, and risk ending up with nothing after he opts out of his contract.
2) Trade Paul with the hopes of getting some good assets in return.

Sending a message to Paul hurts ultimately accomplished nothing and it hurts your team's future prospects. A similar analogy can be drawn to Cleveland going through with the sign-and-trade with Lebron. You either suck up your pride and make the best decision for your team, or you get emotional and try to send a message and hurt your team in the long-run.

Paul did sign a short contract extension though, so it is messed up that he is trying to pull this. He could simply tell his team early that he isn't planning on resigning with them at the conclusion of his contract, and then they could pull the trigger on whatever trades they see fit.

 

uh oh this will have Rockets fans thinking we have a shot.. dont be naive like we were with Bosh, Paul didnt have us on his list like Bosh didnt so lets not even get excited thinking Morey can get him

 

**** Chris Paul. He's.. 1. following in the footsteps of LeQueen..signed on with his marketing company 2. demanding where he wants to go when he has two year on his committment to the team 3. Will probably leave us after two years to play with his friends.

I dont want to give up half of our young talent for this guy! Give me Danny Granger or AI.

 

and yes, i understand his franchise is in rebuilding mode, but give me a ****ing break. He is getting paid well and is considered one of the best, if not the best PG's in the game. He should be leading his team during tough times, not giving up on them before his committment is up. Suck it up and play basketball.

Question: If Yao were to come out right now and say I dont want to play for this team; trade me to the Lakers, Heat, Magic. What would we be thinking then?

 

I'm sorry to tell you but Kobe and Lebron is not a wash and Gasol will **** bricks on Bosh whenever he feels like it. Plus having a one of the best pg's if not the best run the Lakers offence is as deadly as it gets.

 

Wow!!! I can't believe it's happening already!!!

Players and teams looking for an easy way out, will not get far. David Stern and the refs will not make it easy for them. Not to mention, how every other team is going to be gunning for them.

CP3 will probably end up in NY, Orlando, or LA. In that order. Don't be surprised when Melo demands the same.

After the way teams and players handled them shelves this off-season. It's only fitting that the basketball gods shine their light on the hardworking, and under the radar underdogs of the Houston Rockets.

This is our year.

 

You know Chris Paul won't have Houston in his destination list. Don't be surprised if he doesn't get traded here. What disappoints is what could be his mentality that is that he thinks Yao is just gonna get injured again and he wants to win now...



You don't think maybe that's why Bosh decided to go to Miami and not give Houston a chance? Everyone knows Yao is just a time-ticking bomb waiting to explode any time he gets out on that floor. If NY gets Paul, then it's instantly going to be the Phoenix Suns of the east, but better since Paul is younger and more talented.


But all in all, look for Paul to be traded in the East, or to the Lakers, not Houston. If he did come to Houston, I'd be the happiest man alive. :grin:

 

The problem is we don't know how Yao's going to recover from injury yet. So even if we got Paul, we're probably not contenders if Yao doesn't prove he's back to normal.

If Yao never had a problem you definitely make the trade ASAP. If Paul leaves at the end of his contract then so be it, you'd have a two year window where you would be a top 3 contender.

 

The first question should be, who has the trade assests to make this move. I think Paul may have NYK high on his list, but they have jack squat to offer beyond Curry's expiring, and that is only really a fair offer for Okafor.

LAL with Bynum, Odom, filler, and picks
ORL with VC and Nelson, maybe a Lewis for Peja swap if they are desperate

Anyone minus a superstar is out, including us. Our best bet is to become a 3rd team grabbing scraps.

I'm not against sending Hayes and Jeffries for Okafor. But there may be a much better deal to be had out there.

 

Bynum,Odom,VC, Nelson none of those are superstars

 

LOL....very true

 

Amen! If there is a God, the Rockets are Championship-destined.

 

Chris Paul needs to be on the team that should have drafted him way back when--Atlanta Hawks.

Chris Paul
Emeka Okafor

For

Josh Smith
Marvin Williams or Zaza Pachulia
Mike Bibby

Paul going to the Knicks RIGHT NOW is unlikely since the Knicks has little to zero trade assets, don't have the caproom to take that kind of hit IIRC, and I'd imagine a third team would be needed to facilitate that trade.

Going to the Magic makes some sense because Orlando has plenty of players they are willing to deal but NO won't be getting any All-Star caliber players in return unless they REALLY think Jameer Nelson is that type of player.

Going to the Blazers? Sure, if you want Brandon Roy to be unhappy. Roy had trouble with Andre Miller last season at the point because, well, Andre Miller was being a point guard and that prevent Roy from dominating the ball. Put Paul next to Roy and that same issue probably would occur. Plus, what can the Hornets get from the Blazers in return?

Lakers? I'm not even going to think about this possibility since it would be more ludicrous as far as disparity goes than D'LeBosh.

Atlanta gets Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Mike Bibby's corpse. This gives the Hornets the ability to try and experiment with a Smith/West combo up front or move West for another assets. They can get back Marvin Williams to go along with their other 38 small forwards or take on Pachulia and have him start at center in the interim. Bibby's contract has only 2 years remaining and this is a small price to pay to get rid of Okafor's monstrous contract.

Atlanta can use Okafor at the starting center position and move Horford to his true position at the 4. Paul fills in at the 1 very nicely and this alleviates the Iso-Joe offense that Atlanta's been running for the past 5 years.

 

LarryCoon Twitter

 

Because it took one of the biggest heists in NBA history to keep Kobe Bryant in LA. Unfortunately for Chris Paul, I don't think the Hornets are in a position to get a Pau Gasol-type of player any time soon.

 

Hornets just won't do it with the team in same division, period.

 

What it seems like is that we may have the players NO wants, but we dont seem to be the team Paul wants. NO has the most leverage since 2 years are left. So for some mutual deal to happen, Paul would have to become convinced his first tier preferences wont materialize, forcing him to his second tier. If Yao-Go were a no brainer, id say we had a good chance at being on his second list. As things are, id say we are on a third tier, if you put playing with another superstar in a finals competing team at the top of his thinking.

Although I cant fathom such things, if somehow we were to get Iggy, and still have enough left to get Paul, then the Martin/Iggy/Yao combo might attract his attention. We would be mortgaging the farm to it im sure.

Lets see...

Paul/Scrub
Martin/Taylor
Iggy/Harris?
Scola/Hayes/Patterson
Yao/Miller

Im thinking Brooks/Lowry/Ariza/Battier/Hill/Budinger/Anderson would be gone along with all our picks to pull off both moves. And we would get scrubs to fill the vacancies at the 1 & 3.

I know, im dreaming.....

 

Lakers would have sent him to Chicago if the Bulls would have given up both Deng and Gordon. Bulls didn't want to part with that much "young talent." pfff.

 

When I played fantasy basketball, I always went for the top 10 guys..."best player rule" - the team that gets the best player in a trade usually "wins" the trade. I think it is very similar in the actual NBA.