The CP3 Saga: the Beginning
Yesterday came the report that a source close to Chris Paul indicated that he will implore an aggressive exit strategy and force his way off of the New Orleans Hornets basketball team. "CP3" as he is nicknamed has seemed to have grown increasingly frustrated over the last couple of years with the direction that the team has gone in and he does not want to be part of any impending rebuilding project that may result from the team's current roster. It seems that the recent joining of super powers in Miami has caused Paul to yearn for his own formation of all star players as it has been reported that he wants to be traded to a team with at least one all star.
Is it fair for the Hornets to even have to contemplate a trade of the face of their franchise with two years still left on his contract? I would say no, but that is the world that we live in and the athlete that we have to deal with in our world today. So barring an ability to get Paul to buy into the new coaching staff and general manager that will be taking over in New Orleans this year, trading him may be the reality that they are faced with. Keeping him happy is possible as the team is about to be sold and is just waiting for that transaction to be finalized, and much of CP3's frustrations seem to be with the team's previous management. The maniacal George Shinn will no longer be running the team, and maybe the new ownership will not be as worried about the bottom line as he has been.
If the team does decide that there is no way that the can keep Paul as a happy and productive player, then they may decide that it is better for them to trade him and get value for him while it is at its peak rather than having a disgruntled employee that does nothing but decrease that value throughout the regular season.
So where might he end up? It's been reported that his wish list includes New York, Orlando, Portland, and Dallas. If it becomes apparent that New Orleans has decided to indeed move on from the Chris Paul era, I am sure that there will be more teams that will try to get into the mix. You see although he has a wish list, he does not have a no trade inclusion to his contract, so the Hornets could trade him to whatever team gives them the offer that they feel best benefits their franchise. As far as I'm concerned, they owe him nothing more than that. What they will have to determine is what direction that they want to go in so that it can be determined which trade offer is the one that will suit the franchise the best. If they are looking for a deal that offers pure salary relief going forward, then the Knicks have the contracts (the expiring Eddy Curry contract to name one) to make that happen. If they want some talent back to help rebuild on the fly, then a team like Dallas or Portland might have parts that appeal to them. My guess is that if they do trade Paul, then they will try to package him with another one of their hefty salaried players such as Omeka Okafur, Peja Stojakavic or James Posey to help out their salary structure. Many teams will be willing to take on one of these contracts for the benefit of having Chris Paul come along as well. He is that good and team that is in win now mode may be willing to take on extra players that could still be useful to them even if they are overpaid at this point in their career. The problem with the Hornets is not whether or not they have been willing to spend over the last couple of years, but rather the problem has been what they have spent their money on. Right now they have a team that is getting older and becoming drastically overpaid. In their efforts to bring in free agents to build a winner around Chris Paul, they took a win today approach and gave players contracts that made sense at the time, but no longer make any sense at all. It appears that the easiest way for them to get out of their salary cap mess would be to package Paul along with one or more of those contracts, but the question is not even can they do it but will they do it? Does there new owner want to come into a situation in which his star player has just been sent out of town? My guess is no, but he also may have no choice.
Is it fair for the Hornets to even have to contemplate a trade of the face of their franchise with two years still left on his contract? I would say no, but that is the world that we live in and the athlete that we have to deal with in our world today. So barring an ability to get Paul to buy into the new coaching staff and general manager that will be taking over in New Orleans this year, trading him may be the reality that they are faced with. Keeping him happy is possible as the team is about to be sold and is just waiting for that transaction to be finalized, and much of CP3's frustrations seem to be with the team's previous management. The maniacal George Shinn will no longer be running the team, and maybe the new ownership will not be as worried about the bottom line as he has been.
If the team does decide that there is no way that the can keep Paul as a happy and productive player, then they may decide that it is better for them to trade him and get value for him while it is at its peak rather than having a disgruntled employee that does nothing but decrease that value throughout the regular season.
So where might he end up? It's been reported that his wish list includes New York, Orlando, Portland, and Dallas. If it becomes apparent that New Orleans has decided to indeed move on from the Chris Paul era, I am sure that there will be more teams that will try to get into the mix. You see although he has a wish list, he does not have a no trade inclusion to his contract, so the Hornets could trade him to whatever team gives them the offer that they feel best benefits their franchise. As far as I'm concerned, they owe him nothing more than that. What they will have to determine is what direction that they want to go in so that it can be determined which trade offer is the one that will suit the franchise the best. If they are looking for a deal that offers pure salary relief going forward, then the Knicks have the contracts (the expiring Eddy Curry contract to name one) to make that happen. If they want some talent back to help rebuild on the fly, then a team like Dallas or Portland might have parts that appeal to them. My guess is that if they do trade Paul, then they will try to package him with another one of their hefty salaried players such as Omeka Okafur, Peja Stojakavic or James Posey to help out their salary structure. Many teams will be willing to take on one of these contracts for the benefit of having Chris Paul come along as well. He is that good and team that is in win now mode may be willing to take on extra players that could still be useful to them even if they are overpaid at this point in their career. The problem with the Hornets is not whether or not they have been willing to spend over the last couple of years, but rather the problem has been what they have spent their money on. Right now they have a team that is getting older and becoming drastically overpaid. In their efforts to bring in free agents to build a winner around Chris Paul, they took a win today approach and gave players contracts that made sense at the time, but no longer make any sense at all. It appears that the easiest way for them to get out of their salary cap mess would be to package Paul along with one or more of those contracts, but the question is not even can they do it but will they do it? Does there new owner want to come into a situation in which his star player has just been sent out of town? My guess is no, but he also may have no choice.
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