CP3 May not resign [Bill Simmons tweet so grain of salt needed]

I actually think the situation is very simple, and it comes down to "why would Paul leave?" There's really no reason because he can't upgrade his financial situation and it's debatable whether he could upgrade his winning situation (let's cut the fiscally unrealistic pipe dream that he and Howard are going to team up with a third star somewhere). The Clippers have one of the top young players in the NBA who is better than anyone LeBron, Howard, Allen, KG, etc. had when they left. They have a solid supporting cast not locked into long contracts outside of DJ. They have one of the top trade pieces in Bledsoe, who surely improves their offseason flexibility. They have no coach under contract. This team is in a great situation if they make some wise moves.

 

A couple of months ago I would have said 'no way' that CP3 would leave the Clippers.

But after that first round exit and from watching CP3's demeanor in the presser after the game, I just get the feeling he is unsure about his team and coach.

You have to wonder if the Clippers have peaked.

With what happened with the Lakers and Clippers, if there was ever a time for someone like Morey to try to convince CP3 and DH12 to join together with Harden, this is it.

 

Chris Paul needs another star alongside him to win an NBA title. James Harden is a star. At least for now, Blake Griffin is not. As you said, it comes down to "if" Griffin develops and "if" they make wise moves... and by the way, have we mentioned that they have a terrible owner and historically are one of the worst franchises in the sport?

That's why Paul would leave.

Now, he may or may not feel that way. But there's certainly a very viable case to be made. Both CP3 and Dwight know that this contract will decide where they play for most, if not all, of their remaining prime years. If their top priority is to contend for a ring, can they sign on the bottom line when so much is up in the air? CP3 has to trust the Clippers to make the right moves and/or Griffin to develop into a star. Dwight has to trust the Lakers to bring in another legit star in 2014 free agency. Houston has a star already on the roster, at 23 years old, and locked in. Bird in hand is worth...

It's not a slam-dunk decision for either, but Paul has every bit the same dilemma as Howard, and by all accounts appears to be even more of a Kobe-esque competitor. Next two months will be very interesting.

 

Lin is better than Cp3O and younger.

 

Wow, if Atlanta got Paul, Howard, and kept Horford, they would be ridiculous.

 

I know this is a Rockets board but to say that Harden is a star and Griffin isn't is homerism at best. Harden is the first option on his team and put up first option numbers. Obviously Griffin would put up better numbers if he were a first option-- the guy did 20/12 as a rookie ffs.

Furthermore, Paul and Harden is not a good combination because both are extremely ball dominant. Paul and Griffin makes much more sense but needs a good coach to make it work better.

You can hold Sterling's history against him, but the Clippers have been as spendy as anyone in recent years. I expect them to sign a good coach under pressure from Paul, but we'll see.

The Lakers are in a much worse situation than the Clippers because they have so many bad contracts and no trade chips. The Clippers have one bad contract (DJ.. And it's not even that bad) and at least one great trade chip in Bledsoe. They also have expirings this year that should be easy to unload.

 

Depends on your definition of star. I'll be more specific. Harden is a top 10 player (see recent ESPN rankings), clearly elite. The kind of guy that can potentially be a top option on a title team. I don't think anyone puts Griffin in that category right now.

Both James and Wade are ball dominant, too. So were Westbrook and Harden in OKC, and to a large extent Durant. Superstars trump all.

 

If you want to go by ESPN rankings, this year Harden was #11 in PER and Griffin was #12, and every previous year Griffin was higher. If you are calling Harden a star, then Griffin is too. Of course Harden's stats look better this year-- he dominated the ball and played way more minutes. But very rarely do you take a good guard over a good bigman. I seriously doubt any GM would take Harden over Griffin.

Wade and LBJ works because LBJ is the best player since Jordan and is so versatile that you can plug him on any team in the NBA and improve it dramatically. Unlike Harden, he can play off ball and in the post and at either frontcourt position, And yet it still took some time to build chemistry with Wade.

 

Also, sure Westbrook and Harden worked... But Harden had to come off the bench and no one considered him a "star" like you are. With CP3, he would be marginalized in the same way due to lack of touches. Just like Griff's stats have taken a hit with Paul. But with Griffin, there is a lot more room for improvement because under a good offensive system he will get more looks. No system will allow two ball dominant guards to put up the same numepbers as they would individually.

 

No, I'm going by ESPN's #NBArank. PER is one stat of many.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9139400/nba-player-rankings-no-1-lebron-james

LOL. You call us homers, then come here with that bull****? Hilarious. You've proven your lack of objectivity here. If there's a single GM in the league that wouldn't take Harden, he needs to be immediately fired and sent to rehab.

 

All of what reports?

 

Ok, but that's just as arbitrary as anything. By your own rankings, Griffin was #10 when he was a first option too. You don't seem to get that when a player is the goto guy on his team, he's going to put up bigger stats. Griffin had games of 45 and 47 points as a rookie. Do you think he's lost all that after two years? In truth, his game has improved a lot but people who look at box scores and rely on highlights don't have the information necessary to see it.

Most fans would probably take Harden because he put up some big numbers this year, but GM's look at advanced metrics as well as performance in different situations. Both Harden and Griffin have been first and secondary options, and have had comparable performance as both. But Griffin is a bigman, and bigmen are much rarer in this league, so you always take them first when things are close.

 

While it's certainly debatable who is more valuable in a vacuum, it's not quite so simple because good bigmen are very hard to come by (since obviously there are a lot more talented players in the 6'6 and under range than over). You can replace Harden with any number of guys and, while they may not put up the exact same production, they'll be ok. But there aren't very many bigs that can do what Griffin does-- they are all on the all-star team.

 

Local LA Times "satire" writer TJ Simers, as retweeted by the ever so unbiased Bill Simmons

 

I think the NBA would love to have Howard and CP3 join Atlanta. The Hawks finished with the same attendance on the road as the worst team in the WC, the Phoenix Suns a a playoff team. There's something everyone hates about buying tickets to see their home team play the Hawks. They also finished 26th in attendance at home. In overall attendance they were in the bottom 5 amongst lottery teams.

I think the Hawks starting 5 next season could look like:

Howard / Johnson
Horford / Tolliver
Korver
Williams / Harris
Paul / Teague

The Hawks can re-sign Harris for cheap after his poor playoff performance. They also have the 17th and 18th picks in a draft loaded with wings that can be role players.

I would say there's a 5% chance of this happening and a 95% chance they stay in LA.

 

Don't think Howard wants to play in Atlanta though.

It's been in the headlines a couple of times when he was in Orlando that he doesn't want to play in his hometown.

 

maximise what leverage? they're going to give him whatever he wants regardless

 

James Harden for Chris Paul.

 

Give me a break. There a many gm that would take Blake over Harden.