From your lips to God's ears.... I hope it works out... just saying its a helluva price tag. to upgrade a position that i for one felt pretty good about already... Loved PBev... I felt Harden/Bev/EGo was a pretty solid 3 guard rotation and wish we had focused on other areas of need first... but hey, it is what it is.... fingers crossed for the year to come...
Keep in mind that CP3 actually had one of his best seasons last year when it comes to advanced stats. Led the league in RPM, had 20-20 game with 0 turnovers at one point, and averaged 25-10 in a playoff series against a great defensive team in Utah. Steve Nash entered his prime in his early 30s while playing for MDA; no reason why CP3 can't duplicate that success. What people don't realize is that CP3 last year was way better than how he was 5 years ago, especially the shooting. The only time in Paul's career when he was more impressive is during his early days with NOLA, but as a Clipper I would say last year was definitely his best year.
You realize that if they signed him in free agency, they would have been forced to trade people away to be able to pay him, right? It would have literally been the same exact thing, except they would have been forced to trade EVEN MORE away because he would have signed for $34 million, not $25 million.
Wow I did not realize Nash was already in his 30s when he started playing for MDA with the Suns. That's very encouraging.
Some players age badly, while others play at an elite level until they hit 34 or 35. It seems clear to me that CP3 is doing fine in his 30s, just as LeBron is doing fine. Fun fact : 5 years ago, Paul shot 33% from the three point line. Last year, he shot 41% on much higher volume. In fact, his shooting is improving every year, which is really impressive. CP3 was always a great mid-range shooter, but his three was good, just not great. Now, he's a legitimately an elite three point shooter.
I'm jus playin theoreticals, man... Basically CP3 was cool coming here for 1 yr at 25M... he didn't have to opt in if he didn't.... We gave up the assets we did to entice the Clips into facilitating the deal for us before free agency.... IF we had the utmost confidence that CP3 would sign that deal with us - 1yr/25M (what he's getting paid post trade...) We theoretically coulda moved Ryno's contract with the addition of Lou and a first rd pick... and maybe kept Bev or maybe Harrell and/or Decker... So basically we gave up the assets we did to ensure we locked up CP3 before he got to the free agent market... so obviously we didn't have a high level of confidence that he would sign that 1yr/25M contract at 12:01... so based on this, how can people be so confident that this isn't a 1 year rental?
CP3 will bring us Melo and Lebron after the 2018 season if Harden decide to be a FA and go home to LA LA Land.
worst case scenario... teams wanted 2 1st rd picks to take ryno's contract.... PBev coulda been flipped for a 1st... we gave up a first in the CP3 trade... so theoretically, we coulda used PBev and that 1st to move Ryno's contract and used that 25M to sign CP3 in FA... we woulda kept Lou, Trez and Decker - but most importantly we woulda been rid of Ryno's contract... The only reason this scenario wouldn't have been better is if you didn't trust CP3 to take that 1yr/25M deal at 12:01... so if we DM didn't have a high enough level of confidence that CP3 would honor that agreement.... how are people confident he will re-sign when he's a FA at the end of the season?
He'd be a nice piece off the bench next to Ray Allen. Can we get T-Mac also? He could also be the missing piece to the Astros rotation.
Chris Paul is better on defense than Bev, better on offense than Lou, and is a more brilliant basketball mind then all of those players combined. Rockets have a leg up on signing him again. Calling him an upgrade over Bev would be like calling Scarlett Johansson an upgrade over your junior high crush.
How about the NEED to take care of the ball (especially at crunch time). Harden brings a lot to the table, but turning it over nearly SIX times a game is flat out horrible!!!!
Think... If he does that, then we don't get his Bird rights to go over the cap to give that last big deal.. The route he chose gives us some flexibility NOW and then we can pay him the big contract later. We also didn't give up that much... I'll miss Bev, but y'all are being ridiculous.
Well you have to remember, Chris Paul chose to opt in and be traded to this team. He could have become a free agent and signed with anybody. Now yes, we traded for him to make sure he didn't hit free agency, but by doing it now we also became the only team capable of giving him the 5 year max next summer. That's why we are confident. Also, why run the risk of having to trade Anderson for Chris Paul when you can get CP3 now and trade Anderson for another player to add to him?
If it had to be a trade to get the Bird rights ability to go over the cap next year on a re-sign... than ok, that's something to factor in as an additional benefit to how the deal was orchestrated... Bev is the biggest loss... but i'll also miss that future 1st as trade chip...