NBA Trade Rumors: Knicks Have Little To Offer for Chris Paul, but Deal Possible

One day we think that the NBA world is going to be turned on its side due to a possible trade involving Chris Paul going to the New York to play alongside Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony to form their own version of the "Big Three." It was met with a tremendous media frenzy and truly represented the NBA leaving its mark on the sporting world before the season has even begun.

One of the greatest attributes about the NBA is their ability to get just about any trade rumor hyped up. Having names like Chris Paul and Dwight Howard pop up in trade rumors has sparked a great deal of interest in the NBA once again and it's making the lockout seem like it never happened.

Of course, these rumors would go denied by the one who reportedly started them. Paul is now on record as saying that they were purely rumors you couldn't control and that he's happy now that he's back with the New Orleans Hornets. Paul denying the rumors is the equivalent of an NFL player "apologizing" for wrong on-the-field conduct, as it just doesn't seem to be from the heart.

Paul may be denying the rumors, but you have to take into account that he must be a little frustrated with the way things are being handled in New Orleans. He's arguably the best point guard in the league, as well as one of the best overall, and just played for a team that won 46 games and couldn't even make it out of the first round. This comes only three years after Paul had led the team to 56 wins and a Southwest division title.

At first when we hear about Paul going to New York, we immediately think of just how prolific this team would be on the offensive side of the ball. Stoudemire and Anthony had trouble adjusting to each other's presence last season as teammates and it sometimes resulted in the offense going stagnant. With both players either playing with the ball in their hands or in the hands of a point guard, it wasn't surprising to see the two clash in terms of who takes the shots.

With Paul on the team, that doesn't become a concern as he then decides how the offense is run and which of the two will get the ball. Paul drives as much attention to himself as well, which means more open opportunities for his superstar teammates and the myriad of D-League-level players that would be on the roster due to three players tying up over $53 million if CP3 does actually make the move to New York.

That's exactly where the main problem lies in this situation and this trade: how it can actually happen. To obtain Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets were forced to give up Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, three draft picks and $3 million in cash. Chris Paul will come at a similar cost and the Knicks don't have any more pieces, draft picks or excess funds to bring him in on their own.

The most the team could possibly offer as of now would be Chauncey Billups, Toney Douglas and Landry Fields. With Billups in the last year of his contract, as well as in the last years of his career, Douglas being a solid point guard off the bench and Fields showing some promise, there's no way that these three players coupled with a draft pick or two will reel Paul into New York.

Don't forget that New Orleans wants to receive its due compensation if they do end up letting go of Paul. Trading him now may be the best thing to do at this point for the team since it would be wiser for the team to trade him and obtain a few key pieces rather than risk letting him become a free agent and then potentially seeing him walk while the team is left with nothing but some big shoes to fill as the point guard and franchise player.

The Hornets might have held their own with Daren Collison and David West leading the way when Paul was injured, but seasons like that aren't going to keep you floating in the treacherous seas known as the Western Conference. A team in the West needs to have that franchise player to thrive and be successful with the Hornets possessing one of the league's top franchise players to thrive with. If the Hornets were to lose Paul, they'd be devastated and may never recover from the loss.

Honestly, I wouldn't be too concerned about Paul going to the Knicks. It seems that going the route of picking up a solid player in this year's free agency, such as Nene Hilario, and then finding some reliable bench players would be a lot more effective than signing Chris Paul and surrounding those three players with the D-League's best and brightest. If the Dallas Mavericks proved anything in their championship win last year, it's that balance brings victory and three players can't get it done on their own.

For those that want to argue about the Boston Celtics winning in 2008 with their Big Three, don't forget to take note that the team also had one of the deepest benches and still had two quality starters in Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins. If the Knicks were to obtain Paul, you wouldn't know the name of the shooting guard and center because they'd be pick-ups from the minor leagues of the NBA.

It seems that obtaining Paul would do the Knicks more harm than good. We see that they're attempting to match the Miami Heat in terms of a Big Three and talent, but they lack the competitive philosophy on defense and would be severely lacking in the department of a reliable supporting cast since they'd have more than 80 percent of their salary wrapped up in their Big Three.

If the team is truly adamant about bringing in Paul, they're going to have to include a third team as a means to give the Hornets the players that they can't provide. The Hornets know what the Nuggets got in return for Anthony and they want something of an equal or larger value that can compensate for the loss of their franchise player.

With the Hornets organization being threatened to move to a different location, Chris Paul may be the only thing keeping the team in New Orleans, so it's obviously going to take more than three role players and a few draft picks to take him away. This franchise is on the brink and they're going to take every precaution necessary if they do end up trading Paul which is something that they severely do not want to end up doing.

Even money is tight on the New York Knicks due to the fact that they have $40 million tied up in Stoudemire and Anthony. The Knicks really ended up shooting themselves in the foot on the trade that brought 'Melo in as they should have planned out paying him less and then making the notion to him and Amar'e that they'll be attempting to pursue Paul when he becomes a free agent rather than just signing him for $20 million per year.

The only way Paul signs with the Knicks is if he has a starting salary of $13 million. It's good money, but it's not the $20 million that Amar'e and Carmelo are making and it's not the $20 million that he could be making with New Orleans or any other team willing to offer a max deal like the Los Angeles Clippers, who have talent as well as they money to offer.

This deal is possible, but it's going to take a lot of wheeling and dealing out of the Knicks organization in order to make Paul a part of their equation.