Chris Paul's agent informs Hornets that star won't sign deal, wants to play in NY

I don't think New York would be able to absorb Okafors contract and offer Paul a max contract, so I don't think any other team would feel leveraged to do so. New Orleans could always trade Paul for the best offer (excluding demanding the team take on Okafors contract) and amnesty cut Okafor to rebuild.

 

I agree that Morey should try to trade for Paul, but Id be shocked if NO traded him to a division rival.

But there's hope folks! Historically speaking, there will be more superstars that'll enter the league.

Idea: It would be easier for Morey to try to trade for Howard first (different conference, Olajuwon, Mchale, Lee etc.) Then convince Howard to convince Paul to demand a trade here instead.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ys-chris_paul_hornets_knicks_nba_trade_120111

Would a deal centered round Patterson and Lowry be enough?

 

If Paul wants to play in NY, why are the Rockets potentially offering Lowry/Patterson? Even if they were to get Paul, if he has his mind set on New York, what makes you think he will extend his contract here? And once he leaves, we just threw away our quickly rising, young, top 10-15 PG in the league. Not to mention Patterson, who would have made Scola expendable and allowed us to free up some cap room if we were to use amnesty on him..

 

But then for the next 3 years we would be a top 5 pick

 

You're being sarcastic, right? Bird had 3 other Hall of Famers in their prime, Magic had a still decent Kareem, along with James Worthy. Jordan had Scottie along with Rodman for 4/5/6. Hell, you could argue that in historical terms Kobe had less help in terms of all-time great teammates for the Shaq-less titles than either of those '80s juggernauts; outside of Pau, there's no HOF-worthy players on the '08-10 Lakers.

 

You forgot about

Spoiler

 

I'd trade Lowry, Martin, Patterson, and all of our draft picks next year for Paul. I don't think the Hornets actually have a shooting guard or a power forward right now.

This year's lineup:
PG: Paul/Dragic
SG: Lee/Williams
SF: Budinger/Parsons
PF: Scola/Morris
C: Hill/Thabeet

Next year's lineup:
PG: Paul/Llull
SG: Lee/Williams
SF: Budinger/Parsons
PF: Scola/Morris
C: Dwight Howard/Motiejunas

 

What would be nice to know is exactly what is motivating Paul.

1) Wants to win a trophy
2) Wants the glamor of a place like NYC
3) Wants to play with guys he likes
4) Just wants out of NO

If 2) is high on his list, I hope we do not gamble on him. If he has made commitments to certain NY players already (3)), then I say no also. But if we can make him come here through a trade, and then lure Howard here as well, without gutting our roster, then yes, roll the dice.

But really though, I just dont see having the player resources to trade for 2 max guys. NY got one of their star via FA signing (Amare), so only had to give up cap space to get him. Getting the other star nearly gutted them.

So it seems to me that between Paul and Howard, one of them is going to have to wait until they are a FA to get them to Houston. And if we trade for one, the other will be a FA again before we can sign them.

Perhaps their is another way, or my logic is flawed, but its tough to see both of them here.

 

They probably could. If they were traded NY could resign Paul as an in-house free agent. Financially NY make enough to absorb the luxury tax implications. In the end the luxury tax implications would be the real sticking point for most markets.

 

Anyway this could slow up finalizing the new CBA?

 

No. There's nothing new about a player saying he won't resign with his team at the end of his contract.

 

No way CP3 is traded to the Knicks. No way. What, they're gonna offer Chauncey Billups (age: 47) and Landry Fields?

 

Well if he comes here and we still have Martin and Scola then we are gonna have a pretty decent shot at getting Howard since we can offer him a max deal.

 

It's more of him requesting a crappy trade for his team to a team that has no useful pieces to send back that I'm talking about.

 

He's doing them a favor. He could just keep quite and walk away leaving them high and dry.

 

If he walked he would have to take less money, right? The hornets would be getting so much less than he is worth. Yes, that is more than nothing if he just walked, but I don't think this is Paul helping the Hornets.

I think this is Paul not wanting to waste a year in New Orleans and still get paid what he thinks he should be paid.

Wasn't this a supposed big hiccup earlier with small market owners in negotiations? Not wanting this to happen again?

 

Most guys are waiting until their contract expires. There is also a difference between someone saying get me out of here now and someone saying when I'm free I plan to go to team X.

 

This is a common misconception perpetuated by the media.

If Paul signs outright with the Knicks over the Hornets, he will only lose ~$10 million over the 4 years of the contract and 1 year. Assuming he does not get a super serious injury over those 4 years, he will easily sign another contract to make up for that "lost year". In fact, since he is younger he may have leverage to still get a max deal at that point instead of having to take less.

On top of that, those ~$10 million can easily be made up with with endorsement deal he would get from being in NYC and winning there.

Not sure what team would take him on a 1 year "all in" bet. First thoughts on this would be:

1. Orlando: Seriously. Think about it. If they get Paul, they might be able to keep both him & Dwight in town. Without some big change Howard is gone anyways, so why not swing for the fences, even if they have to give up a ton of picks and/or use a third team?

2. Boston: Obvious reasons with Big 3 aging. Would have to trade Rondo. However, giving him up does not solve the problem of the hole left by trading Perkins. Plus Rondo was able to guard LeWade partly, whereas Paul, Allen, & Pierce would have problems with both of them.

Lastly, NYC has nothing to trade. Seriously their best players other than Big Shot, Melo, & Amare are Fields, Shumpert, & Carter. They also have NO picks to trade, since all 1st round picks until 2016 are spoken or cannot be traded. Plus the next 2nd round pick they have is in 2014.

Stern is going to watch the new CBA and his owner's stance CAUSE the exact problem they were trying to prevent.

 

Hornets would welcome our assets, paul on the other hand won't sign an extension, he is fixed on playing with his buddies and none of who have interest in Houston. IT seems that all those people that say players should go where they want, well it won't work out for houston. We are a good destinatino, but 2nd teir to the players behind the La, Ny, Bos, Chicago, Heat sort of deal.

Interestingly enough, I just realize Leon Rose is Paul's agent, Carmello's, Lebron's old bud. All using the same tactics and fleeing