NBA Rumors: Is Chris Paul Likely To Stay With Four Team Deal Completed?

ESPN reports that a four team deal between the Hornets, Nets, Rockets, and Pacers has been completed.

“Four NBA teams have agreed to a five-player trade that will send Trevor Ariza to the New Orleans Hornets and Darren Collison to the Indiana Pacers, two league sources said. In the proposed deal, the Houston Rockets will send Ariza to the Hornets, who in turn will send Collison and James Posey to the Pacers. The Pacers will send Troy Murphy to the New Jersey Nets. And the Nets will send Courtney Lee to the Rockets. According to the sources, the Rockets, Hornets, Pacers and Nets have agreed to the details of the trade and are awaiting a trade call with the league this afternoon to make it official.” -ESPN

This deal is important for a lot of different reasons, but I would like to focus on what affect this will have on the Chris Paul situation in New Orleans.

So, is it enough? I believe the answer is absolutely not. They had a rare, great young franchise point guard, and they trade him for Trevor Ariza. Don't get me wrong Ariza is a solid player, but when he is your second option you are in trouble. 

Before last season, Trevor Ariza signed a six year 30 million dollar deal with the Rockets after a good season with the Lakers. Last season, He averaged 15 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game, as well as two steals a game. Ariza is solid offensively, but he is excellent on defense.

Ariza is only 25 years old, and has a good future ahead of him. Surrounding Chris Paul with young talent is a good thing, but it's going to take more than Ariza.

The Hornets were able to dump the contract of James Posey, but they weren't able to rid themselves of Emeka Okafor's toxic contract. I wish the Hornets would have gotten more for Collison, even if it meant giving up someone else as well. They really need a true second option, and as of right now Ariza is not a second option.

The winners of this trade are no doubt the Pacers. They were in the market for a point guard, and they picked up Darren Collison for an expiring contract. They did have to take back James Posey and his deal, but they still saved money, and picked up a franchise point guard. Why not?

This trade is a good first step for the Hornets, but they will have to do more if they really want to keep Chris Paul. Think about it. Would you rather play with Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor, or Amare Stoudemire and potentially Carmelo Anthony in NYC? If Carmelo ends up in New York after this season, the Hornets will have to do better if they want a chance at resigning Paul.

If I were the Hornets, I probably would have traded Paul and kept Collison. Just hear me out. If the Hornets build a decent team around him, and he leaves for New York, they will be in a situation similar to that of Toronto and Cleveland. The western conference is very strong, and if the Hornets were to lose Paul, rebuilding would be extremely difficult.

If an opportunity to trade Paul as well as dump the contracts of both James Posey and Emeka Okafor came across I think that may have been a good option. If they were to trade Paul, they could get a nice package of picks, as well as a few talented young players. When you have a player like Darren Collison, trading Paul becomes less ridiculous. Ending up like the Raptors is the worst possible situation, and although they would struggle after the trade, they would have a ton of roster flexibility and a good young core.

At this point, keeping Paul seems like a long shot, but the Hornets took the first step towards keeping him by trading for Ariza. How the Hornets perform this season will be a big indicator as to whether or not Paul will stay with the team or not. Keep an eye out for a reaction from Chris Paul over the next few days.

For the Spurs perspective on all this, click here.