This really shouldn't be big news. Why? Because we've known Paul has been asking for talent in New Orleans so that they can be a contender. He wants to play alongside another star, aka not David West. He's been saying this for a while, just because someone else that claims to have knowledge of the situation comes out and says the exact same thing does not mean we're any closer to a deal.
If anything, we should look at it this way: Kobe Bryant. A couple years ago, Kobe Bryant was in the same position in the summer. He was frustrated, his team sucked and no one was doing anything about it. Well, the day was full of drama as people reported that the Lakers organization was scrambling to make some kind of deal happen and that Kobe was well on his way out. No. That was all stupid. By the end of the day, Kobe said he wanted to be a Laker for life and that he was just frustrated by the lack of help on the court.
Flash forward to now. CP3 has not even SAID anything outright like Kobe did and we're all freaking out. The Hornets don't want to trade Paul at all, but at this point, I think it's bound to happen.
The Man With Two First Names is now determined to leave NO. The Hornets can make something happen and I think it will actually make them better. For instance, they could package Emeka Okafor's mega-contract with the star PG and clear up some cap room, get a solid young player AND create playing time for Darren Collison. Sound good? Huh? Well, good enough for a situation like this. I mean, go back to that Kobe situation. It led the Lakers to begin intense negotiations and eventually get Pau Gasol. Now people usually like to point out that it was a steal for the Lakers. Yes, yes it was. But look at the Grizz now, solid young core. A decent young point guard in Mike Conley, great young SG in OJ Mayo, a potential All-Star at SF in Rudy Gay, Z-BO Randolph playing amazing at the 4 and Mar Gasol is an amazingly efficient center. If the Grizz were in the East, they are a 4 seed. So yes, they gave up Gasol, but now they are playing at the highest level in franchise history with room to improve.
Back to Paul, Chris. He's looking at a few teams right now, but I think the Knicks are going to be the number one team. Amare Stoudemire wants him there, the Knicks want him there, let's make a deal. I mean, even with Okafor, the Knicks would win in this trade. Say they send newly acquired Raymond Felton to NO. They have CP3, maybe Wilson Chandler at the 2, Gallinari at the 3, STAT at the 4 and Okafor at the 5. Not bad, not bad at all.
Interesting thing is, CP3 had his meniscus removed last season if I'm not mistaken. Pretty sure most doctors said that would cause some sort of future problems. Well, we shall see.
