As predicted, the second that this new deal was announced, Hornets fans started wondering what it’s impact would be on the future of Chris Paul. Of course, national writers haven’t made it any easier as they make allusions to what the allowance of extend-and-trade deals will mean for Chris Paul and Dwight Howard, but that is besides the point. The fact is that nobody can predict exactly what will happen between now and July 1, 2012 when Paul is scheduled to become a free agent, but with the details of the new CBA leaking out, there are a couple of things that we can surely be thankful for this weekend.
1.) The Hornets will remain in New Orleans for the forseeable future and they will have a new owner.
Come on, this one is huge and yet we always seem to put it on the back burner. As great as Paul is, players come and go. If this team was relocated or contracted, that would have been the end of professional basketball in New Orleans. The league would have never given the city a third chance.
This new CBA, combined with the excellent work that the Hornets have done in the past eight months selling tickets and securing sponsorships, will ensure that there will be several viable offers to keep the Hornets in New Orleans. Expect several possible ownership groups to emerge in the next week or two, and the NBA to sell the team before the ball drops on New Year’s Day.
2. A Better Deal for Small Market Teams
Okay, let’s get this out of the way. Is this new CBA ideal? No. Is it better for the Hornets than what existed previously? Without question. I know some fans were hoping for the owners to break the union and push for a hard cap, a franchise tag, etc. but that would have required at least a season or two of no basketball and even then it was still unlikely. Remember, the small market owners were not only up against the union, they were up against other owners when it came to several of those issues.
NBA fans always point to the NFL when it comes to parity, but I have yet to hear one solution that would create true parity in a league where there are only five guys on the court and one person can be the difference between a 66 win Eastern Conference finalist and a 19 win team that gets the first pick in the draft. The fact is that those two sports are so different in so many ways that it is an injustice to try and compare the two.
The Lakers, Knicks, Mavericks, and Celtics will still have a competitive advantage because of the markets they are in, their television contracts, and their owners, but the gap has been narrowed. Because of tighter tax penalties and the implementation of a higher salary floor, you will never again see the Lakers spending 250% more in payroll than another NBA franchise (as we saw with the Kings last year). What we probably will still see is mega-stars flocking to the big cities to collect huge endorsement bonuses and to increase their exposure for their post-NBA careers- but what deal was ever going to stop that from happening?
3. We don’t have to become NASCAR, or baseball, or soccer fans.
Honestly, this is what I am most thankful for. Right now I am doing just fine because there is NFL or college football on practically every day, but what were we all planning to do starting February 6th? Hockey has never done it for me, and hearing about pitchers and catchers report to spring training does not exactly get my juices flowing. Instead, on February 6th, WE WILL HAVE BASKETBALL!!!
Who cares if it’s Chris Paul starting at the point, if it’s Russell Westbrook, or even Jarrett Jack. Doesn’t matter to me. I lived through the Dan Dickau era and I will live through whomever our next floor general is should CP3 leave. What I couldn’t have lived with is watching another episode of Bones on TNT when Kenny and Chuck are supposed to be on or pretending that I cared about NCAA basketball prior to the rush of filling out my bracket.
The NBA is back, and before we look ahead to forecast gloom and doom, let’s just stop for a second to say, “Thank you!”
19 responses to “Be happy about the deal today; worry about Paul tomorrow”
I agree with the title of this.
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And it’s already starting…
ESPNChrisPalmer chris palmer
The 2012 MVP is Kevin Durant’s to lose.
This is what I mean when I say the media already knows who they’ll be touting for MVP before the season even begins.
Well, I hear that … take a moment to be thankful for the season … but, my excitement cannot hide my anxiousness for these teams to ‘wheel-n-deal’!
Just for the record: I’m all for a Chris Paul to Portland for Raymond Felton, Wesley Matthews, and Nicolas Batum trade (along w/ potential draft picks and/or cash)! The amount in contracts total about the same!
HORNETS:
F-West, F-Batum, C-Okafor, G-Matthews, G-Felton
BLAZERS:
F-Aldridge, F-Wallace, C-Oden, G-Roy, G-Paul
EVERYBODY WINS!
L_REAZY
Paul with Roy and Oden? Estimate how many games they’d actually play together.
^Good Point haha
Look see.
http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=8630
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-iah3_eT8k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX54zNjcpXc
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo!!!
The Hornets trade CP3 and Okafor to the Clippers for Griffin,Kaman,Mo Williams and Eric Bledsoe.I know this would not happen but if this would have been a reality you would have Kaman contract off the books after this season sign Dwright Howard and Deron Williams in the summer of 2012 just a thought.But i hope Demps have CP3 in a long term contract because this team don’t need no drama this season.
I could go with that. Realistically though, that trade would be:
Chris Paul & Emeka Okafor for Kaman, Mo Williams, Aminu, Gomes, & draft picks.
Another decent trade would be CP3 & Ariza for Rudy Gay, Conley, & draft picks.
I think the Hornets get the most back with the Trailblazers trade of Wesley, Batum, & Felton for CP3. The Hornets could also send Okafor’s 3-year deal to the Blazers in return for Camby’s expiring deal to really sweeten the whole thing!
Teams like the Knicks, Magic, Thunder, and even the Lakers can’t really offer more than what the Blazers can.
L_REAZY
If the Hornets extened CP3 contract and Dwest goes elsewhere here are some things that can happened
Re sign Landry,Green and Gray
Sign free agents Patty Mills (PG),Solomon Jones (C),Glen Davis(PF),Leon Powe,Nick Young(SG),Delonte West(SG) and And James Jones (SF)
The Lineup
C Okafor-Gray-Solomon Jones
PF Davis-Landry-Powe
SF Ariza-James Jones-Pondexter
SG Young-Green-Delonte West
PG Paul-Jack-Mills
That team lacks too much size!
Assume the Hornets do the Blazers trade I proposed, and they also added Okafor for Camby too. If they let David West walk via free agency like you stated then the Hornets could spend more money on Nene!
F-Camby, F-Batum, C-Nene, G-Matthews, G-Felton
L_REAZY
i bet big baby would LOVE playing here
AMEN Brother!
Rashard Lewis would be a good addition in the PF rotation if west leaves and get LA native Glen Davis and re sign Landry our front court will be better and bigger.Can it be possible the Hornets trade Okafor and sign Tyson chandler?
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I don’t care OTHER than
1) Get A HOT shooting guard.
IMO, this is the one missing link that will make Paul so much better he would stay and 2nd,
Allow for Okafor and Gray to be threats inside. Both would be outstanding with a REAL threat outside.
Aren’t all you folks tired of every team we play be killers outside?
It seems everybody we played was hot outside! It’s about time we got somebody who could toss up a 3 in a nano second and get it every time.
2) Get Gray back.
I am simply a Gray guy and will always be one.
I LOVE size. Never enough naturally BIG men on my team.
The Clippers won’t bid against themselves. They know they could make the best offer without offering Eric Gordon or Deandre Jordan. Let say the Clippers make an offer of Kaman/Foye/Bledsoe/Aminu/Minny pick for CP3 and Ariza.
Here is how it looks on the trade machine…
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=6pjmorl
The Hornets would receive two young players, a top five pick, and cap relief as the Clippers take on Ariza’s contract. The offer isn’t ideal, but it still blows away anything that the Knicks or Magic can offer.