NBA Trade Speculation: Hornets Must Deal Chris Paul Before Season Begins
As ESPN's Chris Broussard and Marc Stein reported on Monday, the New Orleans Hornets may look to trade All-Star point guard Chris Paul before the start of the 2011-12 NBA season if he refuses to sign an extension with the team.
In other words, Hornets GM Dell Demps better be on the phone, day and night, during the coming weeks to get a deal done, lest he watch his owner-less organization shrink beneath CP3's shadow amidst a chaotic campaign, much like the Denver Nuggets did last season during the Carmelo Anthony circus.
All indications are that Demps has been doing just that, with everyone from the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Atlanta Hawks, the Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics and the Houston Rockets getting in on the action.
Paul apparently wants to join the New York Knicks so he can combine his powers with those of Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire to summon Captain Planet win NBA championships.
That isn't likely to happen, not after the Knicks gave up pretty much all of their tradable assets to snag Anthony from the Nuggets. New York GM Glen Grunwald would likely have to loop in a third team, perhaps the Minnesota Timberwolves, to put together a package to whet Demps' appetite.
And it's not as though the Knicks are the only team with which he could win a title, nor even the most likely. He could join Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in exchange for Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and/or Lamar Odom.
The Clippers, with Blake Griffin up front, could offer young players like DeAndre Jordan, Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe, along with Minnesota's first-round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, to get Paul, who, according to Broussard, would be open to staying in the City of Angels long-term.
Wherever Demps ultimately decides to send him, he must make sure that he does so as soon as possible, preferably before the season starts on Christmas Day. Everyone and their mother is aware of the turmoil wrought by trade speculation on the Nuggets last season.
Denver languished with a distracted 'Melo until he was dealt to the Big Apple, after which point the team took off, sparked as much by the infectious energy of its new roster as by the removal of Anthony's burden.
Basketball in the Big Easy isn't likely to be any good this season, with or without CP3, but at least the organization will be able to move forward with the rebuilding process sooner, before Paul wears out his teammates and the remaining fans while dodging questions and dogging it on the court.
Of course, the Hornets can't completely start over until it finds a new owner. The franchise is currently under the NBA's control after the league bought it from George Shinn and Gary Chouest last December.
Regardless, with teams lining up around the block to entertain trade talks for Paul, the ball is firmly in the Hornets' court to get a deal done before the situation spirals out of control.
