Chris Paul: New York Knicks a Foregone Conclusion for His 2012 Destination?

Chris Paul's name comes up often when discussing the future of the New York Knicks.

Long before the team acquired Carmelo Anthony in a mega-deal with the Denver Nuggets, Paul's name has been on the radar for a long-term solution to the club's point guard dilemma.

And even prior to that, it's been speculated that Paul could wind up under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.

When Anthony married LaLa Vazquez in the summer of 2010 (the same summer where the Knicks signed Stoudemire to a five-year, $100 million deal), Paul was a guest at the wedding and delivered an infamous toast that had Knicks fans feeling very good about the team's future.

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According to a person who spoke with wedding attendee Amar'e Stoudemire, Paul made the reference during a speech of a potential union of himself, Stoudemire and Anthony, saying, "We'll form our own Big 3," Paul allegedly said.

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At this point, the Knicks have brought two-thirds of a potential big three to town, and the club could very well be angling to make an enormous splash in the loaded 2012 free agent class.

Looking beyond the upcoming season, the Knicks currently have just over $41 million committed to three players: Amar'e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and Renaldo Balkman.

The team isn't expected to extend Chauncey Billups after the 2011-12 season, but the above figure doesn't take into account a team option ($2.067 million) on Toney Douglass, doesn't reflect an extension for surprise contributor Landry Fields and also doesn't include a potential re-signing of Ronny Turiaf.

Additionally, New York is going to have to sign first-round pick Iman Shumpert, is expected to bring former second-round pick Jerome Jordan stateside, nor does it include any other potential free agent additions before the 2012-13 season begins.

The largest challenge that the Knicks are going to have in bringing aboard Paul is undoubtedly centered around the financial implications of a deal.

A new collective bargaining agreement is definitely going to bring a tighter set of restrictions on the spending of every team in the league, and it's going to be interesting to see how the structure of contracts are impacted as a result.

Owners are clearly angling for shorter length of contracts, as well as the general reduction of money earned over the length of any deal, and both of those items work directly against Paul landing in New York.

Having said that, it's entirely possible that Paul takes a reduction in salary in an effort to make the "big three" come to fruition in New York, but it's going to be a behemoth pay cut from what he could potentially earn with another team.

There's no doubt that a core of Paul, Anthony and Stoudemire would provide for a fearsome three-headed monster and would shift the balance of power in the Eastern Conference, but the Knicks would have a lot of other open holes on the roster as a result of sinking sizable investments into the players mentioned above.

In 2010-11, the Miami Heat showed the NBA that it's certainly not impossible to win with a less than desirable reserve unit, but the club had two key reserves in Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem. The Knicks wouldn't be able to sign anyone to the type of deals that either received if the CBA imposes the expected restrictions, and the team's bench would presumably be a rather weak one.

While Paul landing in New York might look tantalizing on paper, it's tough to predict what the landscape of the NBA might look like after the lockout subsides and transactions can resume.

There are going to be a number of teams that plan to court Paul, and the Knicks will certainly not be alone in the pursuit of the prized point guard.

In a free agent class that also includes fellow point guards Deron Williams, Kirk Hinrich, D.J. Augustin, Baron Davis, Jason Kidd, Andre Miller, Jameer Nelson and Raymond Felton, the Knicks will certainly have other options in the group should they fail to unite Paul with Anthony and Stoudemire.

New York needs to use the lockout to assess the future of the team and make a realistic determination as to what direction the front office plans to take moving forward if they're serious about returning the team to past prominence.