Wolves-Hornets trade possibility?

[Wolves2011]

Chris Paul is going to want to get out of New Orleans (see article below for why)

Wolves:
Give: Flynn [$3 m] , Wolves #1 pick lottery [$4 m] , Utah pick [$1 m] and Gomes [$4 m]**
Get: Chris Paul [$13.5 m]

New Orleans
Give Chris Paul
Get: Flynn, Wolves #1 pick, Utah pick and Gomes (partially to match salaries)

trade after the lottery so no dibs on wolves pick by clippers.

** only 1 m per year of Gomes salary is guaranteed, if he is renounced by June 20, 2010.

See article below for why Chris Paul might be traded in the next year.

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Why the wolves do it? - we get a #1 [in Kahns parlance with Jefferson #2 and Love #4] and solve our PG issues.

Why the Hornets do it? Paul will want out and Hornets will want back "inexpensive assets". [See article below for why.] Flynn is cheap and a scorer, who was a good passer in college. Wolves pick should be top 3, Utah pick is another asset, Blount is expiring contract.

Will Paul want to play here? If he sees a potential championship in playing with jefferson & Love, plus we still have assets to further improve: Rubio, Pekovic, and Charlotte pick.

Per wages of wins wins produced:

Paul 29.4 wins produced last season
Jefferson about 10 wins produced in full season, when healthy
Love about 12 wins produced in full season
All star caliber wing gotten for Rubio about 10 wins produced

60 win team......

88888888888888888888888888

Paul’s frustration grows, even as he hides it

By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports

NEW YORK – Never is there a wise time to test the tolerance of the planet’s best point guard, but Rajon Rondo(notes) has that irritating ability to push people’s patience to the brink. The sluggish state of the New Orleans Hornets had Chris Paul(notes) seething on Sunday night, his mood even edgier with a report that Rondo had privately disparaged Paul’s talents within the Boston Celtics’ locker room.

Chris Paul and the Hornets have lost three of their first four games after reaching the West semifinals two seasons ago.
(Getty Images)
Beyond the charming smile and gentlemanly disposition, Paul has a tenacious will and a terrific temper. Beyond it all, he’s downright ferocious.

So, here was Rondo surrounded with an embarrassment of point guard riches – K.G., Paul Pierce(notes) and Ray Allen(notes), a championship banner and a fat, new $55 million contract. Rondo felt emboldened, eager to engage Paul. The procession of trash talk, sources said, pushed into the personal when Rondo was heard to tell Paul, “I’ve got a ring, and you’re never gonna win one.”

As they traded technical fouls at the Boston Garden, as emotions escalated, sources said Rondo declared that Paul wished he could be him, suggesting that his frustration dripped with envy. On the way to the locker room, Hornets coach Byron Scott heard Paul insist that Rondo “is gonna respect me as a man,” and soon Paul started on his way down the corridor to tell the Celtics point guard himself.

Several coaches prevented Paul from getting close to Rondo outside the Celtics’ locker room, but the overriding theme of Paul’s rage was easily understood: Before you talk trash again, feel free to walk a mile in my Brand Jordan’s.

“If Rondo had to trade in K.G., Pierce, Ray and Rasheed for the guys that Chris plays with [in New Orleans], I guarantee that you wouldn’t be seeing Rondo get a $55 million contract,” one Hornets source said.

Twenty-four hours later on Monday night, Paul played brilliantly – 32 points and 13 assists – and still the Hornets lost again. This time, it was to the pitiful New York Knicks, 117-111 at Madison Square Garden. When someone suggested the Hornets could lose contact with contenders like the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference, that the Hornets didn’t want to be a seventh or eighth seed, Paul responded in a most truthful way. “Man,” he said, “we want to get to the playoffs.”

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The Hornets are no longer contending with the elite of the West, but fighting to simply make the playoffs. There’s an arms race of payroll and facilities the Hornets haven’t joined under penny-pinching owner George Shinn. Shinn doesn’t have the resources to chase championships, and never will.

The owner runs the Hornets like a mom-and-pop operation, with his son-in-law and son in high-ranking jobs, with the most bare-boned front office and scouting staffs in the NBA. The Hornets have plans for a new practice facility, but currently play in a dumpy community center best suited for the bird and reptile shows that cover most of its calendar. It speaks to Paul’s character, his loyalty, that he signed a three-year extension with New Orleans in 2008.

This is a treacherous time for the 24-year-old Paul, a crossroads for a career that’s at the mercy of circumstances beyond his control. At a time when his twentysomething all-world peers – LeBron James(notes) and Dwyane Wade(notes), Dwight Howard(notes) and Carmelo Anthony(notes) – play for committed organizations with serious owners, the faulty infrastructure of Shinn’s flimsy franchise has undermined Paul’s championship ambitions.

“I’m envious,” Paul said. “I’m very envious. Those guys have been where I want to get to. This is my fifth year in the league, and I’m not trying to wait until I’m an old veteran in this league to win a championship. We’re trying to win now.”

They’re trying, but Paul knows that his general manager, Jeff Bower, has to trim $3 million off the payroll to dodge the luxury tax. The Hornets can’t win a playoff series as constructed, and deep down Paul understands his greatness is born of his passing and playmaking, born of elevating those around him. He can score, but that’ll never be the way the Hornets win with him.

“I’m a point guard,” he said. “I can’t score the ball like Carmelo, LeBron and D-Wade. At the end of the day, it’s always going to be a team thing with us, with me getting guys involved.”

Paul’s unselfishness has always spilled out of the gymnasium. He was raised to honor loyalty and still treats his alma mater, Wake Forest, and that Winston-Salem community with incredible generosity. He believed he had a responsibility to be a part of the rebuilding of New Orleans’ pride, its city.

From an empty arena, Paul saved the New Orleans Hornets the way that LSU’s own Pistol Pete Maravich could never save the New Orleans Jazz. He turned David West(notes) into an All-Star and resurrected Tyson Chandler’s(notes) career. No player – not LeBron, not D-Wade – means more to a team, a franchise.

Shinn is a farce, forever insisting that his moral compass brought the franchise back from exile in Oklahoma City, but truth be told he never wanted to return. The NBA pushed him into New Orleans, understanding it would’ve been a PR nightmare to abandon the post-Katrina city. That’s Shinn, the ultimate front-runner. He now takes bows for the Hornets’ popularity, but it’s laughable.

Every star in the NBA would be crying for help, would be demanding higher payroll and a higher caliber of teammate. Tell Paul about the payroll escalation with San Antonio and Dallas in the Southwest Division and he never, ever bites. There’s enough in this locker room to win, he will tell you, even if deep down he has his own doubts. Yet, he understands he has to convince his teammates that he believes to ever have a chance to get the most out of them.

“Hey, I’m going to be a team guy,” he said. “Anytime something happens, I’m going to have my guys’ backs. …When I talk to Jeff [Bower], it’s all about, ‘What can we do with the guys that we have?’ ”

In every way, this makes him the rarest of franchise players. Paul understands that it’s his responsibility, a burden assumed in good times and bad. It’s noble for him, and, yet sadly, it probably puts him at a competitive disadvantage. Paul’s never made demands on Hornets ownership, that way that LeBron does with Cleveland, the way that Tim Duncan(notes) did with San Antonio.


Chris Paul's recent standoff with Rajon Rondo started when the Celtics point guard told him he won't win a championship.
(NBAE/Getty)
Sometimes, a star has to hold his franchise accountable in public and private. Sometimes, he has to keep the fear of him leaving in free agency – or forcefully demanding a trade – to keep everyone honest and accountable. He has a good GM and a winning coach on his side, but the Hornets need bigger budgets for scouting and assistant coaches. They’re a mid-major trying to compete with BCS powers, and Paul is the star quarterback with too little offensive line protection, too few playmakers to catch the ball.

Outside the visiting locker room on Monday night, on his walk to visit with family on the trip, Paul conceded, “This [franchise] is still a work in progress. We’re still an organization that’s trying to get up … ”

For now, Paul has never been so frustrated. He has no patience for losing. Baseball season still isn’t over and the losing, the non-competitiveness of his team, is taking its toll. He lost his cool with Rondo, and appeared to swipe at Al Harrington’s(notes) head on the floor while chasing a loose ball Monday. Paul had no use for Rondo, but the partial noogie that he gave Harrington, a friend, was clearly a misdemeanor of passion.

The NBA is investigating the Rondo matter, CBS Sportsline reported, but it’s doubtful anything punitive will come of it. After the game Sunday night, Celtics guard Ray Allen walked into the Hornets’ locker room, witnesses said, and all but expressed his embarrassment for Rondo’s increasingly tired act.

Still, those words from Rondo had to hit Chris Paul like a freight train – You’ll never win a ring – because so much of success in this sport is born out of circumstance and good fortune. Rondo stumbled into the Big 3 in Boston for a championship, and Paul ended up with the Celtics’ leftover sixth man, James Posey(notes), who can barely function on the floor this season.

Chris Paul is the planet’s best point guard and wouldn’t need that staggering array of talent surrounding Rondo to win titles of his own.

When asked how difficult mediocrity could get for him this season, asked how he would ever stand for it, Paul said, “Let me say this: I want to win.”

His eyes were wide now, and he wanted his point understood. “I … want … to … win. Whatever it takes me to do, I’m going to find a way.”

As a leader, that’s his burden. As a pragmatic basketball mind, it’s ultimately unrealistic. He needs more help. He needs a level plane. For now, Chris Paul isn’t chasing championships in New Orleans. He’s chasing windmills. He’s just trying to get back to .500, just trying to make the playoffs. Bring Rondo and his tough-talking mouth to New Orleans, and, well, the $55 million point guard would look like he’s lording over the Sacramento Kings. Before you talk your trash again, feel free to walk a season in Chris Paul’s Brand Jordans.

[funkatron101]

The Wolves can't trade their pick.

[Wolves2011]

The Wolves can't trade their pick.

why not?

if its top 10 we definitely can trade it.... this trade could be done around draft time.

With Love out, jefferson not fully healthy, and the team "learning the triangle" a top 5 is more likely...

[Esohny]

The Wolves can't trade their pick.

why not?

The Clippers have dibs.

However, assuming a trade was done after the Wolves definitely had a pick (and they had at least one of the Utah/Charlotte picks), NOH would at a minimum require us to take a bad contract as well as give them young talent/picks.

[dunkonu21]

Oh my wow. You are retarded if u think you can get CP3. That seriously is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. Flynn is so overrated right now, I mean he doesn't know how to run an offense and has turnover issues. I haven't even seen him dunk yet this year, where is that crazy athleticism everyone is talking about!?

CP3 is 40 times better than Jonny Flynn.

Plus a true Wolves fan wouldn't beg for someones premier player with what we had to deal with in the KG situation. And as that situation showed, even if Hornets did trade CP3 they r gonna get 100 cents.

[john2jer]

1. The trade would have to be done after we made the pick, thus trading the player's rights. The level of player that New Orleans would want from that pick to complete the trade would possibly make me re-think wanting to make that trade.

2. When we'd be eligible to trade the pick, we wouldn't be able to trade Blount. The closest we could come in this scenario is make the selction for them, then wait a week until after July 1st, then trade cap space away in the place of Blount. Risky to do all of that due to timing of the draft and when the trade would be legal.

3. Chris Paul isn't a triangle point guard, thus ruining the logic of trading Flynn away in the first place.

[Wolves2011]

Oh my wow. You are retarded if u think you can get CP3. That seriously is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. The dude is so overrated right now, I mean he doesn't know how to run an offense and has turnover issues. I haven't even seen him dunk yet this year, where is that crazy athleticism everyone is talking about!?

CP3 is 40 times better than Jonny Flynn.

ESPN has Flynn ranked #4 among rookies, as we speak. [Behind Griffin, Dejuan Blair and Evans]
His is also #4 among rookies in PER - he has 20.35 and #1 has 21.2
He will be a well thought of rookie by the end of the season. Rambis is teaching him how to run and offense.

Our #1 pick should be top 3 and could be #1 or #2, with jefferson not healthy and Love out for 6 weeks to 2 months and wolves "learning the triangle".

We got Jefferson, Love and Gomes for KG. Its a similar type of trade without as much filler.

Two top 5 picks and a late round pick isn't a bad exchange. Flynn

[Dr.Krapinsky]

We'll see. If they somehow miss the playoffs this year and attendance really starts waning then maybe they'll look to move Paul. Shrink has some good arguments for this buried in the archives somewhere. I think to outbid other teams for the clear 4th best player in the league we would have give up more than Flynn and a #1. A third team might have to be involved that would get either Rubio if N.O. would take Flynn or vice versa. Flynn has a long ways to go though before he's the centerpiece in a Paul deal. Judging by the start of the season it's possible he might be only the fourth best PG in this draft, as Jennings, Curry, and Lawson have all got off to great starts.

[Wolves2011]

1. The trade would have to be done after we made the pick, thus trading the player's rights. The level of player that New Orleans would want from that pick to complete the trade would possibly make me re-think wanting to make that trade.

2. When we'd be eligible to trade the pick, we wouldn't be able to trade Blount. The closest we could come in this scenario is make the selction for them, then wait a week until after July 1st, then trade cap space away in the place of Blount. Risky to do all of that due to timing of the draft and when the trade would be legal.

3. Chris Paul isn't a triangle point guard, thus ruining the logic of trading Flynn away in the first place.

The guys at the very top of the draft board are power forwards and point guards ... who are unproven in the NBA, a familiar theme for wolves fans.

Do we want another PG - Wall, who is an unproven rookie or Chris Paul?

How about Favors or Aldrich vs Chris Paul. Chris Paul is arguably one of the top 3 or 4 players in the NBA.

We are giving the Hornets good value [a potential top 3 pick, a #6 pick (Flynn), Gomes and a late first round pick] , but also getting back good value. Its good for both teams.

[dunkonu21]

Dr. Krapinsky, don't get sucked into the Lawson hype. He looks pretty good, but he's on a great team he has no pressure on him besides to earn minutes.

[john2jer]

1. The trade would have to be done after we made the pick, thus trading the player's rights. The level of player that New Orleans would want from that pick to complete the trade would possibly make me re-think wanting to make that trade.

2. When we'd be eligible to trade the pick, we wouldn't be able to trade Blount. The closest we could come in this scenario is make the selction for them, then wait a week until after July 1st, then trade cap space away in the place of Blount. Risky to do all of that due to timing of the draft and when the trade would be legal.

3. Chris Paul isn't a triangle point guard, thus ruining the logic of trading Flynn away in the first place.

The guys at the very top of the draft board are power forwards and point guards ... who are unproven in the NBA, a familiar theme for wolves fans.

Do we want another PG - Wall, who is an unproven rookie or Chris Paul?

How about Favors or Aldrich vs Chris Paul. Chris Paul is arguably one of the top 3 or 4 players in the NBA.

We are giving the Hornets good value [a potential top 3 pick a #6 pick, Gomes and a late first round pick] , but also getting back good value. Its good for both teams.

You quoted me, but completely ignored what I said. Bravo!

[dunkonu21]

Wolves we have the same record we had last year at this time. I wouldn't give us a top 3 pick so fast.

[Wolves2011]

We'll see. If they somehow miss the playoffs this year and attendance really starts waning then maybe they'll look to move Paul. Shrink has some good arguments for this buried in the archives somewhere. I think to outbid other teams for the clear 4th best player in the league we would have give up more than Flynn and a #1. A third team might have to be involved that would get either Rubio if N.O. would take Flynn or vice versa. Flynn has a long ways to go though before he's the centerpiece in a Paul deal. Judging by the start of the season it's possible he might be only the fourth best PG in this draft, as Jennings, Curry, and Lawson have all got off to great starts.

The more teams, the more complicated the deal and the 3rd team also has to get value. I also added Gomes (see the initial posting again), more for money reasons than anything, since we couldn't use Blounts contract.

Two top picks in Flynn and this years lottery pick, plus Gomes and Utah pick is fair value... if a team wants to get younger and shed salary.

[mark blunt]

Probably have to take on Peja's contract too for Blount and Cardinal. 15 mil in savings for them next year.

[NO-KG-AI]

The Hornets aren't going to trade Paul. If they trade Chris Paul they are going to lose so much money, Shinn will have to sell it. Good luck with your wet dream though.