The way I see it is New Orleans is most likely going to have to move Chris Paul by midseason, simply because they are not going to be that good. They've already tried to trade Okafor with Collison as the enticement in a salary dump to improve their financial statement and they couldn't find any takers. Then there was this alleged deal with Orlando that was essentially Paul and Okafor for Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter's expiring contract. But supposedly Orlando was looking for someone to take Okafor off their hands and they found no takers. It should be clear that Okafor's value around the league is severely diminished at this time. If half of this is true and if New Orleans is really in as bad a shape financially as has been reported and if Shinn can't make it look attractive enough without dumping contracts, then it looks like Paul is going to have to be paired with Okafor to get rid of Okafor's deal. So, the proposed deal would be Jeffries, Battier, Andersen, Hayes, Budinger, Hill, plus whoever we can get for that $3 million trade exception, plus picks for Chris Paul, Okafor, and James Posey. This trade wipes New Orleans out of their worst contracts. They are left to start afresh with: Collison at the point Thornton at SG Budinger at SF Hill at C Brackins at PF with David West to be dangled for more picks/young cheap talent and another expiring. This type of deal makes too much sense for New Orleans if they are really cash strapped and Shinn needs to close the sale. And it makes too much sense for the Rockets. Paul/Brooks/Lowry (Brooks or Lowry would have to go, probably Brooks) Martin/Taylor Ariza/Posey Pao/Okafor Scola/Patterson What if we could sign and trade Lowry and Ariza for Granger? Paul/Brooks Martin/Taylor Granger/Posey Yao/Okafor Scola/Patterson No other team can offer New Orleans what we can for Paul that gives them maximum salary cap relief, plus plenty of building blocks for the future.
If Paul is to get traded, we should do it soon. Word is the new ownership is not gonna trade him, while Shinn might trade him before he sells the team.
I will first say that this could have one in the not so official random trades thread. Second, the proposed buyer, Gary Chouest, of the Hornets has already said he will only buy the team if Paul is on the Team. Unfortunately, his business is involved in the oil business (shipping and transporting crude from rigs to refineries), and as a result he is not sure he can provide the money to buy the team. If Shinn wants to sell the team to him though, the one thing he cannot do is trade Chris Paul. Not to mention, the Hornets are already pretty much an afterthought in New Orleans given the past season in which Paul was injured, where the Saints and the LSU Tigers rule the roost. Trading Paul would only ensure that Shinn would lose even more money as fewer people would care to see the Hornets play. Basically, I would find it extremely hard to see them trading Paul anytime soon, especially because I think they are actually under the salary cap now. Paul asking for a trade is an entirely different issue, but I would not see that being an issue for 2 more seasons (or 1.25 when you include next years inevitable lockout). Third, Larry Bird is a horrible GM when it comes to trades. It is one of the reasons the Pacers have floundered since that Reggie Miller team. He obscenely overvalues his own players, and will only expect what he feels is a king's ransom for them. Having said that, there is no way that he trades their best player for Lowry and Ariza. The Rockets would would have to blow them out of the water, which would mean something in the nature of Brooks, Ariza, and the 2011 Knicks Pick swap. On top of that, the Pacers have nearly 25+ million dollars in expiring contracts next year, which means they are more likely to be trying to steal someone from another team then give up what they have. The biggest problem lies though in making the money work. Granger falls into the BYC category and as a result it becomes really difficult to get the salaries to match. I know the ESPN trade machine is not perfect, but after BimaThug reminded me that you cannot combine a trade exception and a player in a trade, I spent nearly an hour trying to get some combination of salaries for a trade to be accepted. They do not have the new rookies salaries on the site, so those may help, but the only trade that worked was a combination of sending Brooks, Ariza, and Battier for Granger, Rush, and if I remember correctly McRoberts.
I don't think they'll trade him, unless he asks to be traded. Plus, we don't need him. We have two guys names Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry. I'll take that combination of scoring, defense and hustle any day over a star. Paul needs the ball in his hands at all times. That's not what RA's offense is designed for. That's one reason why T-mac was sent out. Just my opinion, but I don't want him, especially for all that we would have to give up for him. THey won't just take our scrubs. This isn't a Kwame Brown/Pau Gasol type of potential deal.
Granger is a top 5 small foward in the league. If you have a chance of aquiring him, Morey better not wait and pounce on it. My list: 1. LeBron James 2. Kevin Durant 3. Carmelo Anthony 4. Paul Pierce 5. Danny Granger
Funny. I wrote about this on The Dream Shake this morning. http://www.thedreamshake.com/2010/7/9/1560881/after-striking-out-on-bosh-would Going to be talking about it on Sports Radio 610 tomorrow around noon, if any of you are bored and wanna listen.
We need to increase our expirings contracts by about $1 million. I would expect this to be accomplished by either: 1. waiving Johnson and using the trade exception to acquire an expiring contract or 2. trading one or several of our expiring contracts for another teams expiring (s) that saves the other team a couple million. For instance the Chandler trade where we are taking on a million to 2 million additional expiring salary. Our roster spots are all taken with Patterson signing and Johnson so we really can't really sign anybody outright without either dropping Johnson or sending out more players than we are getting back. I still think the Chandler trade could go down to save Charlotte a few dollars. Morey is waiting to see what develops with Lowry and Scola. And then I expect a small trade or roster adjustment to be made, either the Chandler deal or something similiar or waiving Johnson and signing an aged veteran to a vet minimum deal. I also believe New Orleans is holding out for a homerun deal with Houston. If we take both Okafor and Posey off their hands, hand them expirings and Brooks, Hill, and Budinger, they can't top that deal, especially if we throw in the Knicks 2012 first rounder. And if we can get a bidding war started for our youngsters and picks and expirings with another team such as Indiana or Philadelphia or God only knows who and New Orleans sees their chances walking away of maximizing value for Paul, I think they do the deal. If they don't, then when he does decide to walk (which is the key thing here), they won't get hardly anything. All Paul has to do is let it be known he wants out and New Orleans CANNOT take the risk of not moving him and getting hardly anything back. Paul/Lowry Martin/Taylor Ariza/Posey Yao/Okafor Scola/Patterson in that deal, New Orleans has to buy out Battier and Hayes so we can sign them back for the playoffs. Paul, Martin, Yao, Lowry..........that's a lot of free throws. Bring on My Hami.
do they have any 1st round picks for this year or next? What if we took Collison and Okafor for some of our expirings plus 1st rounders (switch 2012 and give us 2011). Then we use Collison as a trade or trade bait. Or maybe even trade Brooks or Lowry and keep him. We would be stacked on picks. It would have to be Jared, David and Shane though, something to take us out of LT. We are in the LT arent we? By little? Collison is a good player, he held up the PG when Chris went down. But do not want Posey. Ariza will prove to be better once Yao is back. IMO.
Think three teams; New Orleans already has a PG on a rookie contract. Brooks would have to be sent elsewhere - Indiana, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Memphis, Atlanta, Cleveland - with value taken from them and going back to New Orleans.
I noticed you said NO-HOU would play each other 6 times a year because they're in the same division. The NBA is the one league where divisions don't mean much - If I'm not mistaken, division rivals play each other 4 times, as opposed to playing the rest of their conference 3 or 4 times.
Paul is perfect.But I don't want AB leave.His youth, his vigour, his speed, just what rocket need. I believe he will reach a new high in the future.
I am Nigerian and love it when Nigerians play for Houston teams. That being said, I'm say no to taking on Okafor's contract.
