with Ryen Russillo and Ric Bucher. Some of it below: Spoiler There are conversations going on (with Paul). Otis Smith, for whatever reason, has not been aggressively calling teams and saying this is what it would take to get Howard. Thats not the case with the Hornets. Hornets have been exploring options for some time now. They're setting the table. There has been more activity with Chris Paul. I would be shocked if he's not the first of the two traded. Thats why there is more to say and cover as far as Paul is concnered. Who is the favorite for Paul? Still going to say the Clippers. They can give up young talent, that Minnesota pick, they dont want to give it up but if push came to shove, they would and that would really be the prize in this draft. As I understand, the age limit will stay at 19 for at least this year. That will make this draft a bonanza. If you have your own pick and Minnesota's unprotected pick, you will get 2 guys in this draft who can go immediately into your rotation. You might even get an Anthony Davis- the next all-star PG. Anthony Davis from Kentucky? Yes. No he's a big. No. Who am I thinking of then? I don't know. Davis is the projected #1 pick then Barnes. I gotta go back to my drawing board. Point being, you'll get two guys out of this draft that you can put in your rotation uhh If you pick up a Bledsoe, Al-Faroq Aminu, who I'm big on, you're looking at three quality guys that can play for you. I dont know who else offers that. I know there is a lot of talk about Golden State and Steph Curry. I like Curry but don't think he is a franchise cornerstone by any chance. On a championship team, probably a third guard. I look around, Im not sure anybody else offers anything. Especially the Lakers. I know we've blown out this Dwight Howard/Chris Paul thing for the Lakers but it's practically impossible. For both those teams, it doesnt make sense. They would be looking to get off money and to rebuild. I know from both of them, they want young talent and draft picks, the Lakers cant offer either team any of that. It sounds great but...I don't know. I know it's juicy. When we do stories like that, I wish we would put them in context. As opposed to this can really happen, it can't. Heres the thing for me, if you were going to treat it as serious and not a fantasy story, you have to be able to define what Orlando would like out of that deal and how it could feasibly work. We never went to that step. We said they got talent, yeah the Lakers are interested in those guys but so are 29 other teams. To me in itself, I dont know. So Curry has been offered or will be offered ultimately but reading you here right now, the Clippers would not include Eric Gordon? Yeah, correct. I dont know specifically that GS has offered Curry but to get Paul, and the fact you have new ownership, he's not married to Curry. Dwight doesnt want to be there does he? All the signs point to that. He tried to play this game like, he's having a summer BBQ, he's saving kittens from drowning in Mississippi, hes going all over the world on humanitarian effort to just say Im really a good guy. Im not sure I want to stay in Orlando but Im really a good guy. I feel as if, looking at what LeBron did, I dont want that happening to me if I leave so how do I minimize the damage? So thats what I believe is behind all this. Its the simplest thing. The guys in Toronto and Cleveland will tell you, when the first, the minute our guy said he wasnt going to sign an extension, we should've moved him because thats the sign. Even if he is genuinely on the fence about staying or leaving, it screws up your team because everybody is looking around not knowing if that guy will be there. You have no chance of getting FAs to come in. I understand you dont want to give up that talent but it hamstrings you in a way that you might as well and go ahead and make the best deal possible. That is why iin some ways why I dont fault Kevin O'Connor for doing what he did with Deron Williams. He avoided the craziness and stress. I feel he could have gotten more but who knows. He saved himself a lot of trouble. We've seen this story before. If you wont learn from that, you're responsible for whatever happens. So NJ could put together the best package? NJ could put together a great package. This is what is interesting about the new CBA --unlike before where LeBron and Bosh basically could opt out and go where we want to go, we dont really need our team to cooperate with us, now the way the rules are, you are costing yourself a lot of money not getting that 5th year. You want to go someplace. Those saying, why dont these guys sign extensions now, they cant. Makes no sense. They all have to become FAs even if they want to stay with the teams they are on. When you wait to be a FA, now you're signing for 5 years. ... Dan Fegan(Dwight's agent), he has a good relationship with Cuban. They communicate well. I keep saying, keep having Dallas in the mix for Dwight. Dallas cant give them young talent though or lottery picks. I dont know if Chandler, Terry, Barea combo works for Orlando. I would not dismiss, if Cuban does not sign any of those guys back, my guess is that he knows something about who he is capable of getting next summer. ... What happens with Nene? I am going to say, last I said was that he would end up NJ as the concellation prize once NJ crosses the bridge and says ok we wont get Dwight. They may overpay a little bit, though not the max. Nene is a good center and a center on a very good team. He is one step short of a cornerstone guy. Lets not confuse Nene and Chandler. Chandler may have a ring but Chandler is not half the center Nene is. He cant do half the things Nene can do. He might be mentally tougher but as far as pure talent, people seem to lump them together and I dont think they deserve to be in the same class. Nene would be a good fit with Lopez. NJ is looking for a big man who can guard PFs. Lopez cant. ... Chandler had a very high risk surgery done on his toe and that has been completely resolved. Im not worried about his injury status as much as I am....he needs a skilled big man next to him and a very good PG to be at his best. What was he in Chicago and Charlotte? Now, what was he in New Orleans and what was he in Dallas? Hes a guy, that you put on a talented team, could be a x-factor for you. If he's not on a talented team, and that what concerns me a bit about even the GS combo. In the dreams of the Bay Area, they get Paul and Chandler and were able keep Ellis. David Lee aint that guy that allows Chandler to do what he does. ... Timeline for Paul? I will say they are going to get something done before the start of the season on Chris Paul.
