I strongly believe there will be a season this year eventually. If so this offseason will be very pivotal for the franchise. As many already know Paul isn’t thrilled about playing for a team that’s not a title contender. So it will be a challenge for Demps and the rest of the front office to make sure we’re on that path this offseason.
While a player like Dwight Howard would be a slam dunk(pun intended) acquiring him isn’t a realistic plan. Although I do think out of the 4-5 franchises not Orlando Howard may continue his career NOLA is on that list.
Looking at this offseason there are no FA we can bring in to be that “Robin” to convince Chris to stay. So if we are going to secure that number two players it’s going to be via a trade(with the exception of resigning West). I’ve give a list of players that either has been rumored to be on the trading block or there’s a good reason to believe we can trade for them.
I’ll start with the exception. David West- He has a connection with the city and Paul. We pretty much know what we’re getting with D. West unless the knee injury sets him back. Honestly there’s no reason to think as good as West is that he’s a championship level number 2, especially for what it may cost to re-sign him.
Andre Iguodala- He’s rumored to be on the trading block. He’ll fit well with coach Williams defensives scheme, but his inability to be a consistent scorer leaves us without the scoring needed to be a championship team.
Monte Ellis- Also rumored to be up for trade. Monte is a flatout scorer. The problem is he’s undersized and some what of a defensives liability. Also his game clashes with CP3. He is a gambler on D and a guy who tends to dominates the ball.
Rudy Gay- While he’s not rumored to be up for trade, his contract may leave Memphis no choice. I am a huge fan of Rudy. He gives you a decent shooter, great scorer, and a potential lockdown wing defender. The problem here is the same reason he may be up for trade, his contract.
Danny Granger- Another guy not on the trading block, but I’m sure a deal can be made. Granger is a great shooter, I think he fit well with Paul and is a solid defender. I really don’t see any downside to acquiring Danny, maybe his contract which is decent for a number 2.
Micheal Beasley- There are conflicting reports. Minnesota has a ton of players at Beasley position. Playing for us will allow him to play his natural PF position. He has unlimited potential as a scorer, but is under performing every where else. Despite having the phyiscal ability to be good to great at all aspect of the position. If Williams can coach him up could be a huge steal.
Josh Smith- No reason to believe ATL is shopping him, but once again with the right trade we could make it happen. Josh helps us on both ends of the court. His hoops IQ isn’t great and I’m not sold he could be a championship level 2.
11 responses to “Can we find CP3’s running mate this year?”
Love the idea of Granger. I talked about it a while ago here–
http://www.hornets247.com/blog/2010/07/16/danny-granger-to-new-orleans-an-intriguing-possibility/
I really think the new CBA will force Memphis hand with Gay. I’m sure Indiana would gladly move Granger if it meant acquiring Gay and most likely Mayo as well. We could essential have a SF swap with MEM, IND, and us. Ariza is super solid and makes less than half of what Gay makes.
Memphis frees up almost 15million in cap space, they’ll be able to re-sign Gasol and lock Allen up. Indiana gets what I believe is a top 25 player that’s not even in his prime yet and we get Chris his running mate. If I’m Demps I am exploring the possibility of this trade.
I say get Beasley, and D.Granger if not get M.Ellis. they all Are great players, and I think once we get rid of Okafor, we could free up that bad contract for a worth wild contracted.we target beasley for sure if we know we can’t get West back. minnesota will most likely give him up for at least a 1st RDP and another player. I’m sure after trading Okafor we should go after D.Jordan or J.McGee, get a sixth man type, 2 role players, and a bunch of players playing def. we’ll set then.
I often wonder what would’ve happened had the Hornets lost the draft tiebreaker coin flip with the Bobcats back in 2005. They won and got to draft 4th instead of 5th. They did the obvious thing and took Chris Paul.
Had they not won the flip, they probably would’ve chosen between Danny Granger and Ray Felton. Shinn loved going after the local angle so I bet Granger would’ve been the guy. Not only that but Scott liked the long, athletic types and Granger fit the bill.
Fast forwarding 6 years, I just don’t know if we have the horses to get a deal done but if the cost isn’t too high then I’d love to see Granger back here. It’s just that Indy has very little salary tied up so if they’re going to trade Granger, they’re going to want something legit in return. They don’t have to do a firesale.
I personally have no interest in Monta Ellis or Beasley. Monta is inefficient, a poor defender, undersized, and a player that commands control of the ball. Beasley presents poor defensive ability thus far in his career (which is probably only a mindset), he’s also undersized for the four, and he has a poor attitude toward the game. I don’t know if management is crazy about these guys, but best case scenario is Dell and Monty morph them into the type of class-A guys we’ve built on this team (Okafor, Ariza, Jack, and of course CP). Granger, Smith, and Iguodala, on the other hand, would be awesome. I don’t know about Rudy. His contract makes me very uncertain.
I mostly agree I just put together a list of guys who I strongly believe will be available via trade.
As far as Beasley I agree he has been been a liability defensively, but the guy’s 6’10 so he is definitely not undersized.
Depending on the landscape once basketball operation continues. I can see a scenario where we can bring in both Granger and Beasley. I am on the record of not being a fan of our current core. I think West is better as a third wheel not the 2 guy, Okafor’s contract vs his impact is a huge problem as a small market team, and both Jack and Ariza are slightly overpaid for their services which isn’t that big of a deal but an area we can improve.
So Is Green but we still have him and he’s worst than ME8!
I’ve heard that Josh Smith actually IS up for grabs. ATL wants to move Al Horford to the PF which is his natural position and his playing style reflects that. I’ve heard multiple stories of ATL wanting to get a true C, leaving Smith as the odd man out.
As of the new bargaining agreement, you can add Tyson Chandler (only if West leaves, and we manage a sign and trade) to the list as well. (Though it might be at the cost of David West in sign and trade.) It’s harder for the Dallas Mavericks to resign Tyson and the Hornets are still the only other team that could be attractive. Plus with the new CBA, Tyson doesn’t have to be signed for as much and he’s as big of a risk due to a new rule that’s being dubbed the Greg Oden rule.
Chandler takes pressure off of Emeka Okafor to perform at 100% all of the time and gets him open. The threat of an alley-oop means Okafor gets chances at offense (boards and buckets). Also at 7’1 Chandler’s a great defensive menace (which falls right into Monty’s philosophy), and would allow Okafor to not have to take a big that can just plays better offense than him for long stretches of time.
1. S&T – Trade Carl Landry for Wesley Mathews
2. Trade Emeka Okafor for JaVale McGee and Nick Young(S&T)
3. Re-sign David West, Jason Smith
4. Extend Chris Paul
5. Sign Glen Davis, Joel Przybilla or Re-sign Aaron Gray depending on the prices…
McGee/Przybilla or Gray
West/Davis/Smith
Ariza/Pondexter
Young/Mathews/Belinelli
Paul/Jack
I like that idea, but the okafor for NY & J.McGee don’t C it. throw in a draft pick and maybe M.Bellinilli and then they will go for it!