By John Hollinger We've been hearing since the infamous wedding toast of last summer that Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Chris Paul want to play together for the Knicks. We're two-thirds of the way there. Melo and Amare are already Knicks, and CP can become a free agent after the season and sign with New York. Looks like a slam dunk, right? Not so fast. http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/stor...&_slug_=nba-chris-paul-knicks-highly-unlikely ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Can someone please post the rest of this article....
That is how competitive balance happens, players have to decide between taking the $40 million guaranteed or sign in NY and hope to make it up in endorsements. Love it. DD
of course he WILL. If he really wants to play there and feels like he can only be successful there he will pay any money that is required
I imagine he would gladly take the $14.5M to form another big 3. He can also block the Hornets from doing anything about it, as no one wants to trade for a player that has clearly already made up his mind not to stay. The real issue is what the Knicks do to build a team after they have those three. The recruitment war with the Heat for any decent player willing to take the MLE or vet min will be hilarious.
Stupid salary cap question here... Does anything change if he signs a 1 year deal in NY, with regards to the contract he could potentially then sign with them the following year? Let's say for example he was willing to sign a one year contract for a very small amount, which would allow a sign and trade for the Hornets to sign and trade him for some NY scrub (and a very far future draft pick), would allow Paul to retain his bird rights, and thus sign the next year a max deal with bird player length/raises. Is that possible.... cause if so, yes, he would be foregoing some major money, but only for one year, so it wouldn't be $40 million but closer to $10 or so, depending on how much he signed for. moreover, the Knicks could then have room to sign other players. Now when they re-up Paul at a much higher amount the following season, of course they go into luxury tax mode, but they're a team that can afford to do so, even the super punitive luxury tax mode. Paul would have to take the extra risk of playing on a 1 year deal, and at low money... but he can probably insure himself against injury, and is the perfect D'Antoni point so if healthy his numbers will be gaudy and he will of course get paid. just a thought / question
Unless they sign with a team that has the capspace to sign them outright. The problem with the Knicks is that they have 2 other max guys already. There is nothing preventing another team from pulling a Miami.
The other angle to consider is that the NBA owns the Hornets, and (stupidly) is committed to making the team work in New Orleans. I believe Stern's already been on record that it's more important to them to keep the team competitive on the court and in the box office than to firesale the roster (dump the debt) to attract the next owner. In the wake of the Carmelo Anthony fiasco, there's no way they let Paul hold the team hostage. Utah already preemptivily ditched Deron Williams (for a better package). If they move, it's best to move him quickly for a big deal before Paul has a chance to turn off suitors. And if they amnesty Mo Williams, the Clippers could do just that. Dwight-Blake-Chris
Yet the current owner of the hornets couldn't trade paul to ny, la etc (or possibly anyone, but especially them) due to the uproar it would create....
