Report: Chris Paul still wants to be traded

After meeting with New Orleans Hornets brass on Monday, Chris Paul released a statement that said he hopes to represent the city and remain with the team "for many years to come." But CBS Sports' Ken Berger, who has been on top of this story like nobody else, says that we shouldn't believe Paul's words. Paul still wants out, and the statement was merely a smokescreen as Paul continues to try to find a way onto another team.
The developments in New Orleans on Monday had all the hallmarks of modern-day damage control: A rosy statement via Twitter, some positive spin in a media availability session that was noticeably devoid of actual information and apparent reasons for optimism that Chris Paul's desire to be traded will quiet down for a while.
In other words, the smokescreen formed exactly as planned after Paul met for 90 minutes with the Hornets' new basketball decision-making team in New Orleans. This is the united front being portrayed to the outside world. On the inside, little has changed: Yes, Paul wants to win, but realizes that for reasons beyond the control of new GM Dell Demps and new coach Monty Williams, it can't happen in New Orleans. And the organization itself has begun the inevitable process of exploring ways to make this end to everyone's satisfaction.
Berger reports that Paul is putting on a happy face publicly for two reasons. The most obvious one is that the NBA fines players if they make public trade demands, and Paul wants to avoid being fined. However, Berger also reports that the Hornets and Paul agreed to keep the content of Monday's meeting private so the Hornets' negotiating position won't be compromised.
The positive spin emanating from Monday's meeting allows the Hornets to "keep working on it," and puts them in "a better negotiating position to do so," said one of the sources.
"They don't want to let CP3 dictate the teams," the person said. "And they can't look like they are being held hostage by his trade demands."
In order to avoid negative publicity and damage to the Hornets' negotiating position, all parties involved in Monday's meeting agreed to keep the content of the dialogue private, sources say. Paul, evidently, is playing along.
Creative Artists Agency, which also represents LeBron James, is continuing their efforts to find a trade partner for Paul. Orlando, New York, Dallas and Portland are believed to be on Paul's list of preferred destinations. However, one new development is that the Hornets are reportedly beginning to put together their own list of potential places to trade Paul themselves. That list, according to Berger, includes the Magic, Knicks, Nets and Charlotte Bobcats. The Hornets would prefer to send Paul to the Eastern Conference if they had the choice.


All I have to say is if we get him great. If not, we still have a great team.
 

moneyg

Starter
cp3 starts the season for NOH. he wont be trade at least until after december if NOH has a slow start... if i was NOH.. id trade him to the team that gives me the best pacakgfe and that may not be a title contender... unlike kobe when he requested to be trade.. CP3 doen not possess a no trade clause.. kobe did..

he got no leverage.. and im sure that what they told him in the meeting...

"hey chris.... if we trade u we gonna trade you to the team that gives us the best package.. and that may not be a winning team"

:smokin:
 

keyser soze

Benchwarmer
This story isn't going anywhere. He'll be traded sometime before the trading deadline and we'll get plenty of drama in between.
 

nyk_nyk

All Star
This story isn't going anywhere. He'll be traded sometime before the trading deadline and we'll get plenty of drama in between.

I bielieve that meeting was only a formality. Paul wants out of there no matter what. He prefers to play in a different city next to a fellow all-star/superstar.

He has to say things like he wants to be there and they need to show him that they can win so he doesn't look like a complete dick. This is Lebronapalooza all over again.

Remember this little gem from Lebron:

"I won't stop until I bring a championship to Cleveland"

He Stopped!!!! LOL
 

mafra

Legend
I'm at the point where if it happens... cool. BUt I'm not yearning for it to happen. We lose and arm and a leg to get him.

AT LEAST Randolph or Gallo; We forfeit our future cap space (b/c we have to take back Okafor) plus we lose Turiaf & Chandler.

We would have to match almost 20 million in contracts.

NOW, if we doing this deal in late DEC or later, we can get away with Felton-Randolph-Chandler package. I can live with that.

THE ONLY way I give up all our young talent for Paul, is if we keep Curry. This allows NYto sign a max next Summer (Anthony). Get us the big-3 and we have hope. If we have to gut the roster and are forced to take back Okafor.... Gulp!

NOW, I wouldn't be against this. We all know waiting for free agents isn't the best bet. AND, not like Okafor is bad. He would clog the paint and watch STAT's back. But if I'm taking back that contract, then I am keeping Gallo or Randolph.

They get ONE of those 2 players. Curry's expring deal. Felton. Chandler.

We end up with PAUL-SG-Gallo-STAT-Okafor.

Anyway. I believe it when I see it. Good news is DEMPS used to work with NY, and has ties here. I'm sure if they're going to deal Paul we have the best shot.

POR has enticing package.... SURE used to be there and he likes Batum. But they want to banish Paul to the EASTERN Conference. This is where Demps comes in and hooks his former employer up (Like Mchale & West did).

We are lucky b/c we can absorb Okafor's contract and have a cheap, young asset to offer. Not many teams in East can do that. AND, with all things sort of equal.... Demps-NY connection can only help.
 

keyser soze

Benchwarmer
THE ONLY way I give up all our young talent for Paul, is if we keep Curry. This allows NYto sign a max next Summer (Anthony).

Yeah, I've been thinking a lot about it, and I totally agree. Basically, the way I look at it is, we have 3 exceedingly valuable assets:

1) Danillo Gallinari
2) Anthony Randolph
3) Eddy Curry's 11 million dollar expiring contract

Simply put, there is no way I give up all three for Chris Paul, provided that I also have to take back Okafor's contract (which is a definite because salaries would have to match and the hornets would insist on throwing Okafor in any CP3 deal). It's just too much because it leaves us without our two best young players AND with no realistic shot to land Melo next offseason. In short, I'd only be willing to give up two of the above three assets (along with other minor pieces, of course). This means either Danillo and Eddy Curry, AR and Eddy Curry, OR Danillo and AR (again each combo can be combined with several smaller assets like Tony Douglas, Wilson Chandler, Ronny Turiaf, kelenna azubuike, etc, etc) Again, because the hornets would insist on moving Okafor's contract, they would NEED Eddy Curry's 11 million dollars in the deal. This fact essentially eliminates the possibility of trading both AR and Danillo (something that I would hate doing, anyway) provided that you agree with me on not giving up all three of our most valuable trading assets. Thus, in my opinion, the most any NY-CP3 deal should involve is either:


A) Danillo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Tony Douglas, Eddy Curry (with possibly Ronny Turiaf and kelenna azubuike thrown in), and some assortment of draft picks (possibly 2 2nds and a 1st)

OR

B) Anthony Randolph, Wilson Chandler, Tony Douglas, Eddy Curry (with possibly Ronny Turiaf and kelenna azubuike thrown in), and some assortment of draft picks (possibly 2 2nds and a 1st)

(Obviously, in both deals we would definately be taking back AT LEAST Okafor)

As much as I would love to see CP3 rocking a Knicks uniform, if it takes anything more than A OR B, I'm simply not interested.
 

keyser soze

Benchwarmer
I just realized I forgot to explain why I didn't include Felton in either proposed package. (As we all know, Felton can't possibly be dealt until December 15nth but I'm assuming that we wouldn't be making a deal for CP3 until the trade deadline anyway, so that had nothing to do with why he isn't included in either trade proposal). There are two reasons why I don't think Felton is a realistic trading asset for us to consider in a CP3 deal:

1) The hornets have Darren Collison. He stepped in for CP3 last year and put up excellent numbers. Supposedly, they think he is a star point guard in the making himself. IF they do decide to eventually trade CP3, Collison is almost definately going to be their starting point guard. Thus, I doubt they would be very interested in trading for Felton, clearly an above average starting point guard in his own right, when they have Collison waiting in the wings as they do. Add to that the fact that Felton is making 8 million dollars a year for 2 years and it becomes clear that Felton makes little sense for them. Why would they look to fill their backup point guard role by trading for an above average point guard with a 2 year, 16 million dollar deal coming his way? That would be like if we traded for CP3 on and THEN signed Felton to a 2 year, 16 million dollar deal. It would make no sense.

2) IF we ever did trade for CP3, we would still need to hang on to a young, valuable trading asset of some kind. Why? Because even if we brought CP3 and Okafor to the Knicks, we would STILL need a legit shooting guard to make our team complete. With our salary cap maxed out on Paul, Amare, and Okafor, Felton (via trade) would be our only way of obtaining a legitimate shooting guard.
 
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mafra

Legend
I agree. NO WAY I would deal all 3 of those assets. They could have Curry plus either Randolph or Gallo.

The package would be built around two things:

1- Salary relief (we take Okafor)
2- A young, cheap promising player with loads of potential (Gallo or AR)

From there, Turiaf (4 mil) would have to be thrown in b/c we have to match salaries here. Curry (11 mil). Randolph (2).

This brings us to 17 mil. We could send them 3 mil in trade exemp b/c we're under the cap.... But we still need to come up with another 4 mil or so. Ths means either Chandler or Azubuike.

Even this might be too much! I'm sure we prefer to get deal done without taking back Okafor.... But this would mean tah-tah to Gallo and Randolph.

HOWEVER, you would have to do it. It would send a clear message to MELO (DO NOT SIGN EXTENSION). We would also have a chip in Felton, which we could trade for something valuable. We could swing Chandler to POR for Rudy Fernandez.

Paul
Fernandez
Melo
STAT
Okafor

Douglas, Walker, Fields, Mozgov, Ewing Jr., Rautins, Jordan.

PLUS, we also would have a piece we pick up when we deal Felton; along with the mid-level exemp (if w have a big-3, we would attract a vet or 2).

I could live with this team, no?

Paul-STAT run the pick-n-roll, and kick out to wing player Melo, who can then drive to hoop from opposite side, or kick out to Rudy tp bang down the 3.

BUT.... we have to remember.... if we play our cards right, and Melo and Parker pull a Bosh-Wade-Lebron (take a few less bucks).... we could end up with:

Parker
Gallo
Melo
STAT
Randolph

Chandler, Douglas, Fields, Mozgov, Ewing Jr., Rautins, Jordan.
 

SSj4Wingzero

All Star
Parker is a scoring PG and I don't think he's the facilitator the D'Antoni system needs to succeed...Felton is better for that, I think. That and to get Parker we'd have to give up some valuable trade assets...screw that...watch Felton average 9 assists/game in this system...
 

keyser soze

Benchwarmer
After finally taking a look at our salary cap numbers and that of NO, I'm fairly confident this deal will happen eventually. It will ofcourse have to involve Okafor.

Being in a rebuilding mode, they will want to get his salary off their books badly. We will have to do the Curry swap w Oka, then piece together the players to make the salaries match up. They need to get what they can for Paul since he wants out and we have the right mix of players to help them create cap space and rebuild.

Do I think Paul is worth Gallo, Randolph and Curry? Yes.. Will we need to give them that combo of players to make the deal happen? Maybe. As bad as it sounds to most of you guys, when all of the chips are down, if this is what NO wants for Paul, Donnie will give it to them.

If we gave them:

Curry
AR
Gallo
Azzy
Douglas
..and cash

Our starting lineup would look something like this:

Paul
Walker
Chandler
STAT
Okafor

Bench: Felton, Fields, Rautins, Mozgof, Ewing Jr. and Jordan

Remember there is no guarantee either Gallo and AR will be as good as we all hope. Paul is already great. We'd still be pretty darn good and very athletic without Gallo and AR. Start getting ready, cause a deal involving both of the beloveds might actually happen.

I have to say, I admire your relentless enthusiasm for purusing CP3. I have a few questions though.

1) Wouldn't that be the worst bench in the NBA? Or, at least the most unproven bench in the NBA? What if we get an injury or two? What about depth?

2) Obviously, we'd be reducing the size, shotblocking, and rebounding of our lineup, considerably. Would we honestly be able to rebound enough to win consistently with that lineup? Would we adequately be able to defend the paint?

3) What about our weakness at shooting guard? This proposed trade depletes that position even further with the loss of Azubuike. I guess we'd trade Felton for one sometime on or after September 15nth? Could we afford to do that with only Tony Douglas left on the roster as a potential backup Point Guard?

4) Out of curiosity, what makes you "fairly confident" we are landing CP3? Why isn't it at least equally as likely that he ends up in either Portland, Dallas, New Jersey, Charlotte, or even Orlando (I actually don't buy Orlando but what the heck)?
 
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ronoranina

Fundamentally Sound
I have to say, I admire your relentless enthusiasm for purusing CP3. I have a few questions though.

1) Wouldn't that be the worst bench in the NBA? Or, at least the most unproven bench in the NBA? What if we get an injury or two? What about depth?

2) Obviously, we'd be reducing the size, shotblocking, and rebounding of our lineup, considerably. Would we honestly be able to rebound enough to win consistently with that lineup? Would we adequately be able to defend the paint?

3) What about our weakness at shooting guard? This proposed trade depletes that position even further with the loss of Azubuike. I guess we'd trade Felton for one sometime on or after September 15nth? Could we afford to do that with only Tony Douglas left on the roster as a potential backup Point Guard?

4) Out of curiosity, what makes you "fairly confident" we are landing CP3? Why isn't it at least equally as likely that he ends up in either Portland, Dallas, New Jersey, Charlotte, or even Orlando (I actually don't buy Orlando but what the heck)?

On the bench we have some depth at back-up point guard. Fields looks like he'll be serviceable. I'll admit though it is a bit thin.

Okafor is 6'10 and a very good (averages 10.3 for his career) rebounder and defender. Amare is Amare. He's a scorer and his rebounding (career-8.9) numbers are fine too.

At the 2 I really don't have much to tell you. We would have to hope Walker can handle it. I think CP3 would make life a whole lot easier for him. Coach doesn't demand much from his 2 anyway- spot up for 3, run and defend basically.

Lastly, I commented in one of the early threads about the prospect of getting Paul w out much explanation on why I'm confident. Honestly it's really just a feeling I have. I think Walsh feels that in order for us to be a perennial contender we have to get Paul. I happen to agree w him. Here's my previous comment:

With Paul making noise like he is, and he is being quite flamboyant, I'd say New Orleans is probably gonna have to trade him. They are a team that needs to rebuild and Paul knows this.

All of the Karma is pointing towards him eventually teaming with Amare, unlike with Lebron. With LBJ it was exciting, but I always felt like it just wasn't going to happen one way or another.

These CP3 rumblings are very exciting to me, but in a more relaxed kind of way because I'm more confident it will actually happen. Go Knicks!!


We'll see what happens!
 

keyser soze

Benchwarmer
On the bench we have some depth at back-up point guard. Fields looks like he'll be serviceable. I'll admit though it is a bit thin.

Okafor is 6'10 and a very good (averages 10.3 for his career) rebounder and defender. Amare is Amare. He's a scorer and his rebounding (career-8.9) numbers are fine too.

At the 2 I really don't have much to tell you. We would have to hope Walker can handle it. I think CP3 would make life a whole lot easier for him. Coach doesn't demand much from his 2 anyway- spot up for 3, run and defend basically.

Lastly, I commented in one of the early threads about the prospect of getting Paul w out much explanation on why I'm confident. Honestly it's really just a feeling I have. I think Walsh feels that in order for us to be a perennial contender we have to get Paul. I happen to agree w him. Here's my previous comment:

With Paul making noise like he is, and he is being quite flamboyant, I'd say New Orleans is probably gonna have to trade him. They are a team that needs to rebuild and Paul knows this.

All of the Karma is pointing towards him eventually teaming with Amare, unlike with Lebron. With LBJ it was exciting, but I always felt like it just wasn't going to happen one way or another.

These CP3 rumblings are very exciting to me, but in a more relaxed kind of way because I'm more confident it will actually happen. Go Knicks!!

We'll see what happens!

I have to admit that when I first heard the trade rumors I had a feeling like "it feels right". I wouldn't be shocked at all to see it happen. (Although I sincerely doubt Donnie Walsh would give up anywhere near as much as you are willing to in your trade proposal) I was just curious where your confidence on the matter came from.

As for fields, he's a shooting guard (and maybe even a small forward).

Personally, my biggest issue with your proposal is the lack of depth. We'd be one injury away from peril.

Also, I disagree about Okafor and Amare being adequate on the boards. Okafor is a good rebounder. Amare is a decent one. That's it. Randolph has a chance to be a special rebounder. Gallo is 6'10 would get 4-5 rebounds a game in his sleep. Turiaf is another very solid rebounder. In your trade, we are trading away two 6'10 forwards and one 6'11/7'0 forward (depending on how much Randolph really has grown) and getting back a 6'0 guard and a 6'10 forward (disregarding the other guards your proposed trade). I don't know . . . what ever happened to not trading bigs for smalls?

And our shotblocking is nonexistant in your proposed lineup. Neither Amare or Okafor are shotblockers. Randolph and Turiaf are both among the best shotblockers in the league per minutes played. Randolph has a chance to be the best shotblocker in the league for the next 10 years. Last year, I think we were the single worst shotblocking team in the league. (Or we may have been the second worst. The point is we were awful)

The bottom line is, even disregarding the argument of whether or not Gallo or Randolph (or both) can develop into perennial all-stars, I think you are overlooking major areas of concern in your haste for the Knicks to land another star player. We'll see what happens and arguments can and will continue to be made both ways, but I don't think that your proposed trade for Chris Paul would be in the best interest of the Knicks. Either way, let's just hope our team can finally put a contending team on the court again really soon.
 
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