Chris Paul Trade Rumors: 8 Very Good Reasons the NBA Should Say Goodbye to NOLA

The NBA, and particularly David Stern, have quite possibly never looked so devilish as they do right now. They continue to nix trade after trade for Chris Paul to exit New Orleans, after deeming it "more valuable" to keep the talented point guard with the Hornets. Valuable to whom? Stern didn't specify...

The entire dictatorial Chris Paul trade saga centers around the NBA's desire for the Hornets to be a part of New Orleans' future. The NBA wants the Hornets to stay as valuable as possible so they can be sold at a high price to a New Orleans-based owner.

Their only previous owner, George Shinn, seriously mismanaged his investments (and dealt with sexual harassment cases to boot). When he could no longer afford to run the team effectively, he began this very complicated, drawn-out process by selling his majority shares to the National Basketball Association.

It was the NBA's intention to sell the team to a buyer who would keep it local, rather than packing it off to his or her preferred destination—I like to call it "pulling a Clay Bennett." David Stern probably thinks it would be in poor taste to allow the Hornets to vacate a fanbase that has seen so much loss in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

At the same time the Hornets as an organization was collapsing and had to be put on NBA life support, the Hornets as a team were going through tough times of their own. Chris Paul carried a thin roster to an unexpectedly good record last season, despite dealing with a left knee injury throughout the year. They managed 46 wins and a matchup with the defending champion Lakers, where they expectedly fell in six games.

Needless to say, Chris Paul is tired of not contending, and has requested an out. He has been linked to the Knicks, Celtics, Thunder, Warriors, Clippers and Lakers. But none of those trade scenarios has come to fruition.

Scratch that, two deals did go through, and then the NBA overlords chopped them down.

All of this drama could be avoided if the NBA would abandon its mandate to keep the team on the Gulf. Here are eight very good reasons the NBA should reverse its position and consider selling the team to an owner who would end up moving it.

1. The Hornets Have Moved Before

The Charlotte Bobcats aren't the only bad to team to have made its home in North Carolina. The Hornets resided in Charlotte from 1988 to 2002, before George Shinn decided it would be a cool idea to move the team to New Orleans.

In 14 years in Charlotte, the Hornets posted a win percentage just below .500 and qualified for the playoffs seven times. They boasted such players as Muggsy Bogues, Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson and Baron Davis. They enjoyed some modicum of commercial success as well.

However, Shinn, who is the third-worst recent NBA owner—ahead of only former Warriors owner Chris Cohan and current Clippers owner Donald Sterling—wore out his welcome in Charlotte with some high-profile scandals, and the Hornets attendance suffered accordingly. The team moved to NOLA in 2002, less than a decade ago.

As it did not originate in New Orleans, the legacy of the team is more transient than it is rooted in the Gulf city. Moving the team again would not detract from its short legacy.

2. There Was Another Failed NOLA Team

There's a reason the name 'Utah Jazz' has never made much sense. The first NBA team in New Orleans included such Hall-of-Famers as Pete Maravich and Gail Goodrich. They didn't do much winning, and are better known for letting future NBA Champion and HOFers Moses Malone and Magic Johnson slip through their fingers in bad draft trades.

Despite a healthy following, the team moved to Salt Lake in 1979 after failing to attract much local corporate support. It would be more than two decades before New Orleans had their very own team again. By that time, the sports fans of NOLA had plenty of time to adopt other sports outlets.

Which brings me to my next point...

3. New Orleans Is a Football Town

When the Jazz bolted, the New Orleans Saints were a relatively new expansion team, and the Superdome had been open for only four years. The long-suffering Saints fanbase was one of the very best in the NFL even before Drew Brees helped turned the team into a champion after Hurricane Katrina. They're rabid in the best possible way, and over the years the Saints have become a New Orleans institution much like Mardi Gras and the French Quarter.

The Hornets could never hope to garner the kind of support the Saints have. Last year, their average attendance was in the bottom five in the NBA, at a little over 14,700 fans per game. And that's with Chris Paul, who's considered one of the most exciting draws in the league. New Orleans has never embraced the Hornets. Ironically, the most fervent fan love they've received was during their temporary stint in Oklahoma City after Katrina.

4. There Are Other Basketball Towns Waiting

As we found out recently with Oklahoma City, the NBA is full of untapped markets. The one that comes to mind most readily is the Pacific Northwest. Seattle's wounds are still healing from when the NBA allowed the SuperSonics to be sneakily pilfered away to OKC.

While Seattle and the team had difficulty coming to terms on a new facility to replace KeyArena, the fanbase was as proud and supportive as any in the league—in stark contrast with that of the Hornets. I'm sure they would jump at the chance to host a new SuperSonics team to build on their former team's championship legacy.

Many other scenarios for a New Hornets location have been posited as viable, including Vancouver, Kansas City and San Jose.

5. Billionaire Larry Ellison Is Waiting

The Oracle billionaire's name is the one that has been connected to the Hornets most often. After he lost his bid to buy the Warriors for reasons we still aren't sure of, he made no secret that he wouldn't mind being able to buy the Hornets so he could move them to his home base of Silicon Valley.

The Bay Area is basketball-crazy, and large enough that both the Warriors—who play in Oakland, and could be moving to San Francisco as early as 2018—and the San Jose Ellisons would be able to viably compete while maintaining close proximity. 

Let's be real. I can count the number of people who are richer than Larry Ellison on one hand. He's also hyper-competitive, and as an owner he would be like Mark Cuban on speed. He would spend money as he saw fit, and put all of his resources into turning his team into a contender. The NBA would recoup its investments and then some, if they would only give the billionaire some time to work.

6. Chris Paul Is Gone Anyway

Chris Paul made the decision to leave New Orleans long before his actual trade demand. We can cry collusion all we want, but the simple reality of the post-Decision NBA is that players often talk with their fellow stars about playing together after they've fulfilled their contract obligations. Talks about CP3 heading to the Knicks to play with 'Melo and Amar'e have been swirling since before Anthony donned his orange and blue.

Additionally, Paul is obviously tired of his New Orleans purgatory. He feels as though his prime is being wasted (understandably so), and he wants to play for a winner, whether it be in New York or elsewhere. The NBA can keep him in New Orleans for a season, and after that he's gone in free agency. They might as well get something for him while they can. Clock's ticking.

7. The League Looks Bad

Commissioner Stern was once hailed by many as the best sports commissioner in modern American sports. But lately, he's looked more like a dictator and fool than a man with a savvy sports and business mind.

Following the 149-day, barb-filled lockout, the last thing the NBA front office needed was another public spectacle that made them look like cruel dictators. While they technically have every right to keep Chris Paul in New Orleans, as they own the team, their continued nixing of seemingly agreeable trades reeks of power madness and greed.

The could have played the victim, as anytime a player demands a trade (to a specific team, no less), his approval ratings tend to drop. The general NBA fan loves players who stick it out with their teams. However, the Association has taken that potential goodwill and turned it into continued enmity.

8. The NBA Has Dealt with Bad PR Before

Here's a rundown of the PR gaffes and scandals the NBA has had to deal with in recent history:

-The Pacers-Pistons-fans brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills

-The Knicks-Nuggets fight (aka 'Melo's sucker punch)

-Kobe Bryant's rape trial

-Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittendon bringing guns into the Wizards locker room

-The Tim Donaghy betting scandal

-The Decision

-The dubious end of the Seattle SuperSonics

-Clippers owner Donald Sterling's many lawsuits (involving racism, housing discrimination, sexual harassment and employee health insurance)

-Photos of Greg Oden's sasquatch making their way to the web

-Tim Hardaway saying he hates gay people

-Latrell Sprewell choking PJ Carlesimo 

-Isiah Thomas' sexual harassment lawsuit

-Michael Jordan's disingenuous, insulting, and self-righteous Hall-of-Fame speech, as well as his public gambling problem and infidelities

-The 1998 and 2011 NBA Lockouts

Needless to say, I think the NBA could handle the small and temporary amount of bad PR it will receive from allowing the Hornets to leave NOLA. Could it really be worse than the ill will they're receiving from fans now? Mr. Stern, it's time to let go.