If Chris Paul Goes to the Knicks, Can They Beat the Miami Heat?

And the plot thickens. After word came in last night that the Boston Celtics reportedly offered Rajon Rondo to the New Orleans Hornets for Chris Paul, it turns out that Paul jetting New Orleans and joining the New York Knicks is becoming even more of a possibility with reports that Paul has gone the route of requesting a trade to the Knicks.

Paul may be requesting a trade from New Orleans to New York, but it still seems to be out of the question as the Hornets are going to ask for significant compensation in return which the Knicks don't have. The only quality players that New York could possibly offer in return is Chauncey Billups who is only signed for the rest of the 2011-'12 campaign. Toney Douglas and Landy Fields would not be nearly enough for the Hornets to give up Paul.

Considering that the Knicks traded away a number of role players far more capable than those three, it's going to take more than an aging veteran, a second-year shooting guard and a solid backup point guard for the Hornets to give up their franchise. With teams like the Los Angeles Lakers offering more in return to acquire Paul, the Knicks are either going to have to wait until free agency to pick him up.

Paul would also only be making $13 million per year in his first season with the Knicks which is $7 million less than what Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony are making at the moment. If Stoudemire and/or Anthony restructure their contracts over the next two years, the Knicks could then sign Paul to a solid deal worth $15 million and then acquire some role players much like how the Miami Heat did.

Speaking of the Heat, take note that the New York Knicks are creating this team for the sole purpose of getting to the top of the Eastern Conference and defeating the South Beach trio. They're attempting to match the Heat's Big Three with a big three of their own and are now extremely close to doing so with Chris Paul becoming more and more adamant about joining the Knicks.

If Paul is willing to take $7 million less than what he would be making in New Orleans or on a number of other teams, then the Knicks would get their big three. The only problem is that they'd be then spending $63 million on three players and wouldn't have much when it comes to signing a suitable roster to surround the latest big three. Even with the pay cut that Paul would be taking, the Knicks would be in trouble when signing their role players.

The team has a number of free agents this season with Shawne Williams and Roger Mason being the only ones worth keeping around. They'll then have to deal with Billups, Fields, Andy Rautins, Bill Walker and Rony Turiaf becoming free agents next season.

Understand that the Knicks will be able to attract free agents with their big three, but money is going to have to come from some unknown source in order for the team to have a quality roster to surround  them. Even with a big three that would arguably be more efficient than that of the Heat's, they'd still struggle because they don't have the pieces to help out Anthony, Stoudemire and Paul.

If you do compare both big threes, it seems that the Knicks actually contain the advantage. While the Heat have arguably the league's two best players and the benefit of getting the head start of a year to play together, they lack the pure point guard that New York would have. Paul is an excellent offensive facilitator and can make a team with two pure scorers work because of his ability to create shots for himself and for his teammates.

There's no doubt that this would be a high-powered offense as well. All three players are terrific scorers that can score inside and outside and Paul actually makes the offense develop a rhythm. In the few games that Amar'e and Carmelo played together last season, the offense was somewhat stagnant and limited because of two teammates who were not comfortable playing off the ball.

Having Paul eases that problem as he can control the ball, dictate the flow of the offense and determine who gets the ball. He sets the tone for the Knicks and would be the most important figure on the floor at all times as he represents the team's facilitator on offense as well as their main defensive threat on the perimeter.

When matched up with the Heat, it's extremely close but Miami would still come out on top because of their overall commitment to defense and the fact that they have the role players that the Knicks won't be able to afford if they do obtain Paul. The fact that the Knicks have a coach like Mike D'Antoni should raise concerns as the team will continue with a reckless abandon style of play that prides itself on offense and leaves defense for later.

Either way, a move like this shakes up the top of the Eastern Conference as the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics now have a new threat to worry about. Even without quality role players, the fact that a point guard like Chris Paul is set to lead an offense with Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony as his teammates should be one of the scariest things that an opposing teams will hear.

Competing with the Heat is still a long shot, but give this team some role players and the Knicks suddenly look a lot better than just about every team in the NBA.