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Clippers Reject Most Recent Hornets Deal

Published: December 12, 2011

Update at 7:38 CT (the only time zone that matters in America)- The Clippers claimed Chauncey Billups off the amnesty waiver wire by outbidding other teams. Despite that, ESPN is now saying that there is now a renewed push to get the deal done, possibly as soon as tomorrow.

Yahoo reported earlier that it was Eric Bledsoe, oddly enough, that was the breaking point for the Clippers. There has been no additional clarification on whether or not they would have accepted the deal sans Bledsoe, but with Gordon, the pick, etc.

Insanity. Insanity. Insanity. It was not that long ago that people did not receive news about wars they were fighting until months and months after it happened.

According to ESPN, the Clippers have rejected the Hornets most recent offer which would have sent Chris Paul to LA. The Hornets supposed asking price which included both Eric Gordon AND the 2012 Minnesota first round draft pick, along with Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Bledosoe, and Chris Kaman’s expiring deal. It was was simply too much for LA’s second team, and they said that.

If I were the Hornets I’d totally drop Eric Gordon from the deal since he’s going to want a huge contract next year and it’s not quite clear if he will ever develop into a true superstar, and instead ask for additional future picks. Also on the table is the possibility to drop the 2012 Minnesota pick from the deal and to keep Gordon in it.

Either one of those would be enough of a concession by the Hornets to get the deal done. Plus it ensures the Hornets are bad enough this year that they would almost certainly wind up with a high lottery pick.

Oh, and it allows us to actually start building a team for this year. According to Monty Williams, who yesterday said they were looking at plans G and H, the Hornets are right now in the pre-planning stage again.

65 comments

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Jo D

Lakers still trying to ship us Gasol. In search of third team to get us young talent. Clips talking to us about adding Ariza and Mo williams to trade.

Trey

wouldnt it just make sense to get the deal we had with the rockets/lakers instead of lakers/clippers ? rockets can still get gasol and hornets get the previous 3 guys we were suppose to get and lakers get cp3. We didnt realy need odom anyway.

Jo D

No, because that gives us no future help. Unless we were able to pry chase lowry and patterson. And the rockets simply wont do it. The situation we are in sucks, but it really is in our best interest to wait it out. Someone will eventually want Paul bad enough. Probably will end up being the Lakers. They had a taste in their mouth for Chris and Dwight. They have neither. Eventually they will move heaven and earth(minus Kobe) to get one or the other. Think about it. How often are Lakers left empty handed when they REALLY WANT something.

Jo D

Clips and Hornets still talking. Lakers back on the trail for CP. Meanwhile Chris, Hornets, and fanbase still being held hostage.

Trey

Can we just trade for rondo please! he's a proven pg who may not have the best shot for a pg (okay he has no shot) but at least he's a great leader AND we would have him for 4 years. Thats plenty of time to put a good team around him!

Jo D

I'm still against this trade. I hate every aspect of this trade. But if it happens I'll be ok with it because this whole ordeal will be over. Some say CP3 is being held hostage, but so are we the fans. So is the Franchise. The NBA has all three parties hostage. If this happens, hope and pray a third team is involved to shed Mek and Ariza to give us a clean slate to build a foundation on.

Dmoney

Well Aron Afflao is still available, Nene available, Crawford Available. Landry Available. Well i guess the nba doesn't care about signing free agents they just want to get rid of Paul even if its a Dream trade smh...

HiMyNameisSteven

By the way CP3 clippers trade talks are done. Told you guys once they got Chauncey we would likely not get a deal done with them. Once again David Stern is screwing over this team. I am questioning whether I can even be a fan anymore.

Jason Calmes

They may be done, they may not be. They were done before, too. The question is what changed in the offer or the asking. The fact id they stopped, got Billups, then re-started. That could be a mere coincidence or more. May be asking for 2 first rounders.

HiMyNameisSteven

Your right, the story keeps changing to much to make any comments about it. Until I actual see him traded or someone say we are keeping him, it is pointless to keep making comments about the possibilities or lack there of. New hot topic: Should we resign Landry.....shit we cant decide that either until chris paul gets settled. But I say yes either way as long as we can offer around 7 mil at most

Andrew Smith

http://youtu.be/Dntsig8RcAA David Stern's message for Cp3

hornetsfreak

I really don't understand why the hornets didn't take the initial offer that included Gordon and the pick. Gordon is going to be an all star very soon and we'd have a top pick from the t wolves. Bledsoe isn't even a Proven player,stern needs to let demPs do his thing so we can stop having our hearts Played with by all this trade drama. Good luck Chris wherever you end up just get out of here so we can move on!

MaskedTalent

Ladies and Gentlemen..... This makes me SICK SICK SICK TO MY STOMACH! http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7345461/sources-nba-officials-renew-chris-paul-los-angeles-clippers-push I want to headbutt WEST,PAUL, AND BOWERS! First Off, Monty and Demps ARE NOT BOWERS! Things were going in a BETTER DIRECTION! Second, I understand, YES WE SHOULD OF GOTTEN PARGO AND KEPT CHANDLER! Third, West and Paul should of SPOKEN UP AND NOT BE SO QUIET OFF THE COURT I am hurt....sad.....PISSED

David

Talk about a nightmare, if we keep Paul and he bolts at the end of the year, guess where he will end up? In our division, playing for Mark Cuban in Dallas. Lakers, Clips, Knicks will have little to no cap room to make a competitive offer, but guess who will? the Mavs. Dayum that would be terrible.

The trade talks are back on

HiMyNameisSteven

Even more bad news. Clippers just calimed billups off of waivers. He cannot be traded due to amnesty rules. Seems even more unlikely that we will get a trade with the Clippers now. Definitly one of the worst days to be a Hornets fan. I'm coming to the realization we will have another mediocre year. Get the 13th or 14th draft pick and then lose CP3 to FA. Offseason could not have gotten much worse. David Stern is to blame.

HiMyNameisSteven

Also clips only had 3 million or so in cap space so they used it all up and likely won't be able to add more pieces

Jo D

From a salary cap standpoint, if the trade is consummated, then the clips actually take back about 4 mil less than it sends out. That is if CP is the only outgoing hornet. Thus putting them in a better position financially to bring in more help. And don't forget that Billups is very good off the ball. Also CP3 is used to being on court with another pg. Claxton. Pargo. Jackson. Collison. One more thought. If they absolutely need cap space to sign help, there is little to no need for Mo Williams. Amnesty?

504ever

So Steven, having a 35 year old Chauncy at $2M/year for two years equals the Clips having a 26 year old Chris, rather than equals having Chris's back-up? I don't think so. And Jo D, it's nice to hear someone call 42 his proper name.

Jason Calmes

A cheap chauncy wouldn't make for ahooy chauncy in playing with chris and make bledsoe more expendable? It would also mean you have a short term pg fix, but i think chancy for a year doesn't cure the chris paul itch.

Jo D

As I said, Mek has much more value than just a toss in for a salary. dump. We can dump him to a center needy team, ala Denver, Cleveland, Detroit, Or philly and get young talent or a draft pick for him. And as much as you might think it isn't, Mek in the trade is a deal breaker for the Clips. 40mil over three years. That means they would have 70mil locked up in their center position for the next three years. And there is no way LA wants that.(unless Jeff Bower becomes their gm overnight)... There are plenty of young centers LA can sign as a a back up. Thus they are not desperate. There is no need to attach Mek to any CP3 deal. If we did, he would become virtually untradeable. Also don't forget, we are talking about the Clippers who have already stepped away from the table once. They would laugh at Mek being included.

HiMyNameisSteven

well trading kaman they would need a back up big, which mek would be for them. yes it is expensive but its a desperate need for them. and i agree i wouldnt want to put mek in the trade but i have heard the NBA (stern) wants to dump our big salaries to give us more flexability going forward. this means putting mek into any cp3 deal i dont like the idea of it but from the looks of things i think it might happen

Jo D

I just mentioned the Mo amnesty idea below. And if we add Mek to trade they Must amnesty Mo. But taking back Mek restricts them from getting more help to fill out roster(your point from earlier) Meks 12mil salary kills that idea as it puts them in tax paying territory. Also don't forget they just signed DJ to a 10mil a year deal. I seriously doubt they want two centers on their roster making 10mil+ And from a hornets perspective, why throw Mek in trade???? If they aren't asking for him, and they won't, why give him away. He is still a valuable asset we could flip to a center needy team to help full our needs. Or just a pick.

HiMyNameisSteven

New theory. Clippers are going to amnesty mo Williams this the signing of Billy's and are going to give up Bledsoe aminu Kaman and Gordon ... Or the 1st rounder which I say we chose Gordon since he is proven.... And we are going to attach okafor to the deal Put that in the books

HiMyNameisSteven

Did some research and I change my stance a bit. I still believe this hurts the hornets significantly. While the clips may still be interested and now I still think they will trade for cp3 this now gives them some bargaining power since they are not in as desperate of a need for Chris anymore. I think this could possibly lower what they are willing to give even more. Perhaps to just Karan aminu and Eric Gordon or the pick. I think they keep bill ups for a year and develop Bledsoe so he is ready the next year to take over which means they would not be willng to give Bledsoe in deal. I may be wrong but it seems to me this move is to help along Bledsoe meaning they want to keep him. And the more time the trade takes to get complete the less the clips can offer since no other teams are jumping at the bit to deal with this awful hornets management. Not demps but stern. Either way my main point was and now is that this signing and the delay to get trade done will only lower our package we get in return.

cp3xxnewO

I hope your right about this making bledsoe more expendable, and I have a feeling that you are. I mean, why sign chauncey when you have williams, bledsoe, and willie warren? Unless maybe they got him so he can play backup while bledsoe is injured if he doesn't believe that warren is ready, but I doubt that since warren did see some action last year. Hope we get this done soon. Here's to a (hopefully) good season.

Jo D

Steven, Clips only spent about 2mil on Billups... Knicks have to pay remaining 12mil... Part of the amnesty rules... Thats a very small investment... I share 42s view that this makes Bledsoe slightly more expendable.

HiMyNameisSteven

I normally agree with you 42 but I have to say I disagree here. I have been both a Clippers and Hornets fan for years and the clippers normally do not go spend money on a player unless they want big minutes from him. Also, I think if they had successfully traded for paul they would have used their extra cap money to sign a back-up to Jordan and Griffin since they would lose Kaman and they are not likely to re-sign Craig Smith. They would of used the Chauncy money to perhaps get someone like Dalembert or another FA big. I very sadly think that this signifies their declining interest in Paul. I see very few options for us left as teams are now not only weary that Chris will leave after a year, but they simply just don't want to deal with all the issues the Hornets management (Stern and his buddies) are creating. Why would a team put players names out there if the deal is not going to go through. Its just going to cause animosity amongst the supposedly traded players.

Jason Calmes

That's what makes this fun, dude. Let's wait and find out how we are both wrong, eh?

MaskedTalent

I want to F-ING SCREAM. This is so unbelievably unfair! This is the BEST trade I believe we could EVER get. Gordon,Bledsoe,Kaman and AMINU?!?! PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!!! LETS GO PLEASE STOP SCREWING US OVER! Cp3 wants to go! let him go! Thank God for him keeping us competitive the last four years but its time to let him go be happy! F Him! Sorry Its Time For US To WIN! Our Lineup would be AWESOME! We'd trade Emeka probably for a good piece, MAYBE SIGN NENE OR TRADE FOR BROOKS LOPEZ SOMETHING! Im sorry but this is killing me.

Jo D

Lol there is no way we jersey loses their mind and trades brook to us for mek... Brook has much more value around the league than mek... And nene isn't coming here... He has better offers on better teams... And now is not the time for us to be offering max contracts to ANYONE on this free agent market. In a more reasonable idea, if Denver loses Nene... We could trade Mek to them...maybe try to get sign and trade for Afflalo??? Or maybe get Birdman back in teal?? He maybe be older, but is relatively cheap and still very exciting...and many fans would love to have him back...

Jo D

A relatively cheap back up center who can rebound, block shots, play solid defense and won't take stupid shots. Is a guy fitting that profile not in your recipe to win? It's in mine. And if you can get that while gaining support from the fan base, why not?

MaskedTalent

Nahhhh no birdman, lets get someone who can help us win, not please the fans...sorry but that can't matter at this point

saZam

I say drop the pick and keep gordon and maybe ask for future pick/picks. Just b/c we get Gordon don't mean we'll have a respectable team... who would play pg or pf? We definately would still have a shot at having a crappy record and good pick while having a shot at re-signing a good young player in gordon

chiefyoungblood

where can we write dell or monty ? some words of encouragement of course

Jason Calmes

Write your words here. Make a journal. I'll send the links to someone one the inside that can best communicate the info. Dell reads here when he's less busy. He mentioned stories we'd written that I never told him about. Jac reads too. Many of them.do.

Cubancaniac

Unless we get a top 7pick we wont have our own pick. We traded it away for Jerryd Bayless! Right? At least thats what this is reporting! http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5720436

Jo D

Blazers(or whoever ended up with it after trades) got this past years pick. 2011 protected 1-7... We made the playoffs, thus we had a set pick not in lottery. So we forfeited it... Next draft will be 2012... I don't believe we traded any rights to it.

saZam

I was wondering the same thing, but i think charlotte ended up using that pick... http://www.mynbadraft.com/NBA-Draft-Results/

chiefyoungblood

either way with a roster of jack/bledsoe marco ? / terrico white ? ariza /pondexter landry ? / aminu ( sf by the way ) okafor /butch ? *note all those question marks .... we're gonna at the very least have a top 7 pick.

Schmide234

Maybe CP3 doesnt wanna leave and is just waiting for free agency so that he and Dwight can sign with the Hornets....

David

The hornets had support in 2002 up until Katrina when they first got here, and again in 07 when they were playing well and the population was coming back. The problem is that the true fan base, like season ticket holders, can only stomach incompetent management decisions like signing guys like James Posey, Morris Peterson, Peja Stojakovic, etc. to big money deals, drafting guys like Julian Wright, JR Smith, Hilton Armstrong, Cedric Simmons, selling off productive draft picks like Darrell Arthur and Cole Aldrich for financial reasons, and trading away guys like Tyson Chandler, Jamal Mashburn, and Baron Davis (and get almost nothing in return) to cut costs for so long. Not to mention they have the worst local TV contract in the league, where half of the Metro area can't even get the games on TV, and you will have issues. When you have an owner and management who completely F up just about every management decision for almost a decade, it is really amazing they have been as competitive as they have been and gotten as much support as they have. Now that we have a GM and Coach who know what they are doing, a new lease with the state in the works, a new owner on the way, 10,000 season ticket holders, and 4 more 7 figure sponsors on board, the NBA completely screws us over. I feel like we have been lied to, told that the NBA would let us field a competitive team by allowing Dell Demps to do his job and effectively swindling people into buying season tickets. We will have a disgruntled star point guard and a bunch of D-League All Stars lacing em up at the arena on the 28th vs. Boston. Happy New Year to us, let us enjoy our ass kicking Stern. You Jerk. This is a nightmare. Gordon-Aminu-kaman-2012 Minny pick was a sweet deal. We blew it. or should I say, the Angel of Stern blew it.

chiefyoungblood

well lets just take the pick , aminu , bledsoe and kaman and move on ( if we can ever really move on from this precedent set by stern ) more importantly will someone please explain what this report is saying the hornets front office is rendered " inoperable". When are we finally gonna hit rock bottom ? dell and monty walking ? las vegas gamblin' hornets ? I've always assumed none of these things were feasible , but who knows now . feelin' real low and mean

The trade is on hold not dead the source is ESPN

Justafan

And yet I'm still paying 4 grand a year to watch this crap. Stern is killing this team and my interest in being a season ticket holder.

pschafer

The deal breaker was not Bledsoe (that just doesn't make sense), but as is now being reported, that the Clippers did not want to include both the #1 and Gordon.

Dave

I am so tired of fans of teams hoping their team loses enough games that they are certain to get a high draft pick. What is wrong with a team that plays hard and wins more than they lose? Isn't that better than losing 75% of your games and then hoping that you draft Tim Duncan? I understand young players instead of veterans, but if those young players are losers what's the use?

Mikey

I wonder when CP3 just says, "F*** it, NBA. Tell you what, don't trade me. I'll just play this year out and leave. I'll leave this franchise with nothing because of YOUR stubbornness with stupidity." That moment is rapidly approaching. Stern has got to go.

I've this trade Bucks,Celtics and Hornets The Hornets get Jeff Green,JaJuan Johnson,Brandon Jennings,Carlos Delfino and Elyasova.Plue the Celtics 2012 & 13 1st rd picks The Buck get Rondo and the Celtics 2012 2d rd pick The Hornets get CP3

Jo D

Celtics first round picks don't interest me right now unless it's 2014 or later...and that is a long time to wait... Also they can't trade jajuan johnson as he just signed his contract... 30 day wait I believe... And the rest of that package has no appeal to me..a bunch of so so players plus a bad attitude(jennings)

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