I just saw this on RealGM and my jaw dropped open and I couldn't stop saying "WHAT???" I can't believe they would do this! It's outrageous! He is an excellent coach and deserves to have a job in this league. I am just blown away!!
They need to overhaul their roster.....just keep cp3,west, okafor, and pray Julian Wright can take the next step. Two steps backward , one step forward.
But these days, basketball is more than just a 1,2 or even 3 person sport. Especially when players 4-10 suck so much. Compare the Hornets roster as a whole to Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, Lakers, Denver, Spurs, Blazers. Don't get me wrong, they're certainly not playing as well as they maybe could and should be, but of their 6 losses, there is really only 1 where you can definitely say they shouldn't have lost (against the Knicks), which is made up for due to the fact that they turned around and beat the Mavs, who do have better personnel. Again, West and Okafor are nice players. But Okafor is still new to the team and system, and West, for his 15-20ppg and 7-9 rpg, never seems to impact the game in the way you would expect someone with that performance to impact it. But beyond that, they have Peja (aging, declining, lack of defense, very few intangibles), Devin Brown (mediocre role player), Bobby Brown (wasn't one mediocre Brown enough?), Morris Peterson (this guy has started 6 games, despite shooting 34% overall), Darius Songalia (sadly, one of their better role players), Hilton Armstrong (sucks), Julian Wright (sucks, never developed), and James Posey (big mistake). There's not a player in that bunch I would give any PT to if they joined the Rockets right now. The Hornets are screwed in the near-term. At best, they might turn it around and sneak into the playoffs, where they will get knocked out. They have no salary cap flexibility this offseason. Heck, in 2011-2012, they still have $35+ million of salary in CP3, Emeka and Posey - which certainly is below the salary cap, but for comparison purposes, the Rockets have under $10 million of committed salary that year. Golden State, the Lakers, Orlando, Philadelphia and the Wizards are the only other teams in the league with that much currently committed for 11/12. Point being, the Hornets don't have the talent right now to compete for anything other than first round exits, regardless of their coach. They don't have the salary cap flexibility to clearly identify a manner through which they can improve next year or the following year. They aren't likely to be so bad that they luck into another great draft pick. And they don't have any real pieces that other teams would want in a trade, other than Chris Paul. Scott may be pretty happy he was let go.
They can't overhaul the roster without parting with a solid piece to get someone else to take on the bad contracts. The only talent they have that GMs would be willing to do that for is Paul. If they don't move Paul, it means they sit as is until the bad contracts expire, which means that for two years or more they pay the luxury tax for Paul to either waste some his best years with no surrounding talent (and no guarantee of ever having decent talent) or become vocal about wanting a trade. It's a no-win situation for them.
I have been saying all along that New Orleans was a train-wreck waiting to happen. I am convinced that Morey is waiting for that program to fall off the tracks and that is why he has been accumulating well-priced assets and holding onto McGrady's expiring contract. Paul is our #1 target and no one realizes it yet.
Seems a good prompt to bring this thread back up... http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=169494
lol i think it was some espn analyst but they called this a few weeks back. whoever it was...good call!
Which is kind of why I think if things get bad enough by the trade deadline, something like the trade I proposed might be something Shinn would consider. AB, T-Mac, Dorsey, 2010 Draft Pick for CP3, Peja Brooks is clearly no Chris Paul, but I think Chris Paul lite is a valid description. He's at a minimum a decent, young, starting PG. More importantly, they are getting back $24 million in expiring contracts...and an extra draft pick. And they'd certainly be worse, improving their draft position. And the Rockets, even if they do make the playoffs, will almost certainly only sneak in, so that draft pick will be in the teens. If you needed to sweeten the deal a bit for NO, according to ESPN's trade checker, this also works: AB, T-Mac, Dorsey, Cook for CP3, Peja, Petersen The Hornets now get back $27 million in expiring contracts. They're projected salary for next year basically drops to about $40 million, putting them in the free agent hunt even. Conversely, the Rockets take on a ton of salary, something Les is willing to do, but to this extent? Still, their potential 2010-2011 lineup is (if they re-sign Scola): PG: CP3, Lowry SG: Ariza, Peja, MoPete SF: Battier, Chase PG: Scola, Landry, Hayes C: Yao, Andersen ...and Peja, MoPete and Shane will all be expiring contracts then that another team might be interested in...
That's a championship contender right there. Man is my mouth salivating over that one, although I fear they will try to force BOTH the Peja and Okafor contracts on us now that they essentially handcuffed themselves one more year by exchanging Chandler for Okafor. I feel like this is what it would take: T-Mac, Brooks, Landry, Budinger, Cook for CP3, Peja, Okafor You might think that's better for us, but in New Orleans' eyes if they're going to get rid of Paul then Okafor-the-player's value is a moot point when competing against Okafor-the-contract. The contract will be what makes them package him up in any Paul deal. Personally I think this trade will be better for New Orleans than the other one, but if you draw out our team it's still pretty nasty, just not nearly as deep: CP3, Lowry Ariza, Jermaine Taylor, Peja Battier, Ariza, ??? Scola, Okafor, (Hayes) Yao, Hayes, (Okafor)
I wouldnt mind the proposed traded "JayZ750" did. However, imo you're gonna have to move Battier in a trade. Neither Ariza or Battier are SGs and I just dont think it will work(Battier runs for how many more years, 1 after this year or 2?) unless one was willing to come off the bench at the SF spot. SG still remains a weakness on this team imo. I see many people throwing in Budinger's name at the SG spot. Not say theyre wrong but I always thought he was a SF but hey, if he can play SG, thats great too!
If Shinn was like Michael Heisley and just took the 1st offer to dump salary, then your suggested trades is plausible. The problem is that there will better offers pouring in as soon as NO shops Paul. There are lots of teams that have expiring contracts this year, and most of those teams have better prospects than the Rockets. The only way Houston has a chance at Paul is if Paul states he'll only accept a trade to a few teams, Houston being one.
We have the best single expiring contract in the league, the next closest is Miami with Jermaine O'Neal's, but the Rockets have so many more good cheap assets than the Heat it's silly. This is the moment Morey has been accumulating depth and talent at ridiculous prices for. If you really think other teams can offer more than T-Mac, Brooks, Landry, and Budinger (or if you like, subtract Landry and Budinger and add one of Battier/Ariza), then prove it. No one's going to gut their team for Chris Paul + 26M in trash contracts (37M total in salary there) because it wouldn't make sense for them to give up a star to shackle their team down like that. The Rockets on the other hand have so much depth that we could actually sustain taking such albatross contracts and still have enough contract flexibility next year (with Battier and Peja expiring in 2011) to sculpt our team around Paul and Yao and a bunch of good role players.
No one's going to gut their team? We'll see. NJ nets: Devin Harris Bobby Simmons Tony Battie Rafer Alston Trenton Hassell Brook Lopez That's 37 million, all of which expire besides Lopez + Harris. GS: Ellis Biedrins Claxton Randolph 1st rounder It's only 26 million, so you'd be getting Paul + Peja. It's the weakest offer of the bunch, but isn't that better than Tmac + Brooks? OKC: Etan Thomas Earl Watson Harden Green Westbrook 25 million, 14 expiring, 3 solid young guns under NO's control for years to come. I believe all 3 offers are stronger than Brooks + Tmac. Would these 3 teams do it? NJ definitely would, they're moving to Brooklyn and desperately want a superstar, there is no guarantee that they'll get one, so why not trade for one. Sure they blow up the team, but their cap would look great in 2011 and they're going to be a player buying picks and stuff with their new Russian money. OKC probably would, sure they like their young guys but who wouldn't want to combine Durant and Paul, potentially 2 top 5 guys in their prime with complementary games. Just find some average guys to fill out the team and they'll be set to dominate the West for years to come. GS would be the most reluctant to do it, but only because they'd have a hard time convincing Paul to stay.
Will someone please be rational and tell me why the Hornets would trade Chris Paul, who is the only reason that franchise is relevant and has any value. Why is it every time a coach is fired, people think a fire-sale for players will ensue? If winning and losing meant absolutely nothing to George Shinn, why didn't he just keep Byron Scott and trade CP3 instead?
Chris Paul taken aback by New Orleans Hornets' firing of Byron Scott http://www.nola.com/hornets/index.ssf/2009/11/chris_paul_taken_aback_by_new.html
