Chris Paul Trade Rumors: Why the Los Angeles Cippers Are CP3's Best Option

With the surprising and abrupt news the Los Angeles Lakers have pulled out of the trade talks for Chris Paul, the question now becomes, where will Paul end up? The Warriors, Clippers and Knicks have all shown interest. 

It is evident that the NBA is not going to, and have pretty much put themselves into a place where they can't, accept anything less than youth for the New Orleans Hornets star point guard. We can rule out anything that's essentially a give-away. 

There are a couple of possible targets, but it would seem that the best trade offer could be put together by the Los Angeles Clippers. The Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks would also presumably try to get back in the hunt. 

The Knicks could offer up a trade for Paul consisting of a package built around Amar'e Stoudemire, the Warriors around Stephen Curry and the Clippers around Eric Gordon. Of these three, the most attractive to the Hornets and conceivably the best for Paul would be the package the Clippers could assemble. 

The Warriors could offer Curry along with draft picks or perhaps a young player for Paul. That would certainly fulfill David Stern's directive of youth. The problem would be whether Paul would be willing to sign an extension. 

There's not much attractive to Paul to sticking around there. He'd have some good, but not great, players to play with. He doesn't have any friends, and that appears to be important to him. Golden State is going to pursue it, and might have the best single piece, but it's hard to believe they'd surrender Curry without a promise of an extension, and I don't see that happening. 

The next stop is the Knicks, who, according to the New York Post, have offered Stoudemire in exchange for Paul and been rejected. The reason was that Soudemire's contract is uninsurable. 

It doesn't seem likely that the Knicks are going to be able to do anything about that. While it's obvious that the star point guard would readily sign an extension to the Knicks, it's improbable at this point that the Hornets are going to give a nod to a deal. 

It's not impossible, but it is improbable. Paul could force the deal by simply not agreeing to extend anywhere else. Even then the Warriors are willing to ship Monta Ellis without a promise, according the Post article, and that could seem more desirable than Stoudemire's uninsurable contract. 

The other team on the table is the Clippers, who seem to have both the ability to make a trade and could remain attractive enough to Paul. 

The Clippers could offer a deal built around Gordon and Minnesota's first-round pick, along with Mo Williams or Chris Kaman to make the money work. The Hornets would have the youth they need to build a new nucleus around and that, again, appears to be what Stern is after. 

Paul would have Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan to throw ridiculous lobs to. He would also have the newly acquired Caron Butler to kick out to. The Clippers with Paul immediately would be a contender for the crown, that would be an incentive for Paul to stick around. 

Even if the Knicks trade were to go through, Paul would have more challenges in New York. He's an elite pick-and-roll point guard, and with Tyson Chandler he does have some history, but Chandler is not an elite offensive player. He's certainly no Blake Griffin. 

Additionally, Paul would still be playing in LA, and anchoring the city's "other" team he could really make himself a superstar if he embraced the challenge to make the Clippers better than the Lakers. 

The Clippers would be the best trade partner for New Orleans. They would also be the best landing spot for Paul if he wants to win a championship. It remains to be seen if he'll end up there, though.