NBA Trade Speculation: 7 Reasons New Orleans Hornets May Have To Deal Chris Paul

With Chris Paul set to become a free agent at the end of the 2011-2012 NBA season, the New Orleans Hornets are going to be faced with a very interesting dilemma.

One of the more recent trends in the NBA is a team dealing their superstar player away for good spare parts, draft picks and young players.  In other words, trading a dollar in for two quarters, three dimes, three nickles and five pennies.

Sometimes it may seem that the team is being brash in dealing away their best player, and it may anger the fans, but when they see that it will be good for the team in the long run, they realize that it is what's best for the team, and therefore them as fans.

While there are some fans that it may alienate, as they may see it as the team giving up and living to fight another day, most will realize that it is the smartest thing they could do.

If the trade deadline starts nearing and the Hornets haven't secured Paul at least for the next few years, it will probably be in their best interest to deal the talented point guard away.

7. Chris Paul May Have Been Trying To Drop Subtle Hints

With the ability to opt out of his contract looming, Chris Paul said at a charity golf event last year that he wanted the Hornets to be committed to winning and would love for the team to be active in free agency.

During the interview, he said, "I just want to make sure we're committed to winning...I love everything about the city, but at the end of the day, I want to win and I don't want to win years from now. I want to win now."

There is one thing you get from Paul when you see him speak on television, he seems to be putting everything out there for you to see and always seems truthful.

When Paul says that he wants the team to be active in the free-agent market, basically he is saying that they need to upgrade their roster or it's going to be downgraded when he opts out in 2012 and leaves via free agency.

6. Their Future Is Uncertain

Last season, the four best players on the Hornets at one point or another were Chris Paul, David West, Emeka Okafor and Carl Landry.

At the end of the 2011 season,  Landry became a free agent and West opted out of his contract to become a free agent, making the future of two of their four best players in question.

Now, let's pretend they do re-sign West while Landry goes off and signs with another team.  What does that leave them?

They now have three above-average players in Paul, West (who is coming off knee surgery) and Okafor, one underachiever in Trevor Ariza and a young, slightly promising Marco Belinelli and scraps.

Now, is that team (plus maybe one good free agent this year or next, which will put them around the salary cap) good enough to compete with the elite in the Western Conference?  And if so, for how long will they be competitive?

More importantly, does Paul think this would be enough to be a top-four team in the West?

It seems to me that that isn't a terrible team, but it isn't one that is going to win you a championship.

5. Planning for the Future

It might be painful, but sometimes trading in a dollar for change is the best thing for a team to do, especially if they think they are going to lose that dollar if they keep it too long.

Trading away Chris Paul could make the rebuilding process in New Orleans not just quicker, but much less painful as well.

With the team slowly gaining more support from their community, if they are able to put the message across that trading Paul is for the good of the team, then their fans will be able to endure a two-year rebuild period rather than a four or five-year rebuild period.

Basically they will set themselves up like the Nuggets did after trading Carmelo Anthony instead of setting themselves up like the Toronto Raptors or Cleveland Cavaliers, who both got next-to-nothing for their departing stars.

4. Chris Paul Can't Wait Forever

There once was a time where loyalty in the NBA was held in the most positive light, that every player should be loyal to their team and their fans, but the importance of loyalty is becoming less and less these days.

The days of players like Kevin Garnett carrying mediocre teams to the playoffs for 11 years, including the best of his career, are over, and the days of instant gratification are here.

Superstars moving has become so commonplace now that it is seen as just another part of the game, and not as much as a betrayal of the city that loved you (unless of course, your name is LeBron James and you execute the whole deal on live television, that's still a no-no).

Deep down, I really think that Chris Paul is a loyal man, but if this season starts off at a relatively reasonable time and the Hornets struggle going into January or February, he may already have one foot out the door.

3. A Swing and a Miss Could Kill the Team

Okay, so let's say that the trade deadline comes and goes, the Hornets don't trade Chris Paul and instead insist that they are going to attempt to re-sign him at the end of the season.

Paul hears them out in their offer, but ultimately decides it's best for him and his legacy to leave for another team in another city.

Then what? What are the Hornets left with after Paul leaves for greener pastures?

Well they would have a roster where the best player in mardi gras gold is Emeka Okafor or David West, making the team about as desirable as a pig wearing lipstick.

If that happens, fans will start to bail left and right after they spent all of this time, money and effort on getting the people of New Orleans dedicated and committed to this team.  It could be the demise of the franchise if they go out on a whim and decide to try to keep him and fail.

2. New Orleans Ownership

Right now, one of the biggest bargaining tools that the NBA owners have for the current lockout that doesn't pertain to factual information about the league's finances is the New Orleans Hornets.

They can wave the fact that they can easily cut costs of player salaries by shutting down the Hornets, thereby firing a dozen players in the process.

Even if they are going to make it through this lockout without threatening to shut the team down (which would kill the fan base as well), what do they have planned afterward.

Sure, David Stern has come out and said that they have four or five people who want to buy the Hornets, but the issue on the forefront of his, and the mind of every other owner in the league is the lockout.

So, once the lockout ends and the league quickly shifts to a period of free agency as the NFL did earlier this summer, what is New Orleans going to do?

They know much less about how much they are allowed to spend as per the judgment of 29 other owners, David Stern and who knows how many other people, and even more dangerous, they won't want to step on any team's toes in the trade market.

This all could make for some very timid moves by the team when they should be working around the clock on ways to improve the team the most to keep Chris Paul.

1. It Could Make Them Better Faster

There is an idea floating around out there that the New Orleans Hornets could get a younger point guard out of trading Chris Paul, with names like Rajon Rondo and Russell Westbrook floating around.

The idea that makes the most sense to me would be nabbing Westbrook from the Oklahoma City Thunder for Paul.

A package deal, including Westbrook, Nate Robinson's expiring contract, a young player like Cole Aldrich or Thabo Sefolosha and possibly a draft pick would be tantalizing for the Hornets, especially with what little someone like New York has to offer at this point.

Why would New Orleans pass up on getting Westbrook whom they can re-sign for two or three years after his contract expires (he will be a restricted free agent after this season), and a few things that help them out, and why would Oklahoma City pass up an upgrade at point guard?

There aren't many win-win trades in basketball, but this one is pretty close.

If you are one of those twitterers, you can follow me at @JDorsey33.