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Adamek: Chris Paul could be a Knick
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Record
Let?s say LeBron James doesn?t come to New York, as Tracy McGrady apparently believes. Or Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Amar?e Stoudemire or even Rudy Gay don?t, either.
How about this alternative: Chris Paul? The game?s most entertaining (and, presumably, non-Vaseline-eating) point guard.
Could happen. This summer.
Could happen because to watch rookie point guard Darren Collison play for the Hornets after Paul underwent midseason knee surgery ? and know how tightly the Hornets pinch pennies ? CP3 could be gettable.
Remember, as Isiah Thomas once said (forgetting Willis Reed and Patrick Ewing), New York is a guard?s town ? even though these parts haven?t exactly produced a Grade A NBA one in years.
Maybe, in a package deal, it could become Teaneck native David West?s town, too. CP3 and D-West running the pick-and-roll would look a damn sight better than Chris Duhon and David Lee running it, don?t you think?
Agreed, this sounds a lot like some inane squawk-radio trade proposal (We?ll give them Eddy Curry for LeBron ? if the Cavs throw in Mo Williams, too). And we still think Ricky Rubio could be a Knick by 2011.
But we throw Paul out there because we know, for sure, this is an alternate scenario on Donnie Walsh?s radar: a wildebeest team (i.e. Clippers, Grizzlies, Kings, Hornets) on which the ravenous Knicks can pounce in lieu of the free agent pool.
It?s how the Knicks got Larry Johnson for Anthony Mason and Brad Lohaus 13 years ago.
It?s how some other team willing to pay Paul the next two seasons could land him this summer, too.
True, any salary beyond next season could run into the NBA?s reworked labor agreement following the anticipated 2011 lockout. A hard or less-flexible salary cap (the latter more likely) could hurt teams with big-bucks players beyond next season.
But this is Chris Paul, not Stephon Marbury, and these are the Knicks. Perhaps it?d cost Lee (via a sign-and-trade deal) or Wilson Chandler, for starters, but if there?s a will (and Walsh), there could be a way worth doing.
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/p...knicks/89972612_C__Paul_could_be_a_Knick.html
Here's another article:
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/03/19/chris-paul-too-good-to-not-trade/
I would prefer Paul over Lebron. Anybody and everybody on the Knicks is worth Chris Paul.