ESPN Insider had a post today that mentions New York, Portland and Oklahoma City as potential destinations for CP if he were to be traded this year.
All of the ideas are intriguing. Rich Bucher and Chris Boussard basically say that we would get Amare or Carmelo back from NYK, Russell Westbrook from OKC and unnamed players from Portland (I would think Gerald Wallace, Greg Oden and some picks). Actually, we’d need picks from all of these potential contenders. But here I actually disagree with ESPN, I think the best trade destination for the Hornets and for CP is the Los Angeles Clippers, long one of my favorite teams because after years of being a Saints fan, I can appreciate a long-tortured franchise.
Check out this Three-Teamer I put together yesterday. Think about it from all sides. NOH gets a star defender with Igoudala, prospects like Bledsoe and Aminu, a one-year center and cap relief, plus a draft pick (Maybe Minn’s 2012?). 76ers get a legit center for their run-and-gun game, which is harder to find these days, plus Ryan Gomes to fill in Iggy’s role. Clippers take Nocioni’s ridiculous contract off the 76ers books and get CP. The 76ers would probably want a pick too.
Or a straight up trade like this one, plus draft picks and a smaller player to fill the David Andersen role makes the Hornets deep, young, and would give the Clips a starting 5 of CP3-Foye-Gomes-Griffin-Jordan. That’s a legit contender although they might demand Ariza back (which might require us to take Mo Williams and his god-awful contract or some type of sign-and-trade), but if they sweetened the deal with picks, it could be worth it. Sometimes you have to be bad for a while to be good, (see, e.g. Boston Celtics). It’s unlikely but possible they would take Okafor too, but they’d have to do some sign-and-trades and bring in a third team as shown above to make it work. (Or something like this, perhaps with a Sign-And-Trade of DeAndre Jordan + Randy Foye or Gomes instead of Mo Williams?)
The Clippers have assets. They have expiring contracts, young prospects and draft picks. If we’re going to trade CP, you have to look at their roster and see the best bang for your buck. If the plan is to blow up the team completely, then trading CP when his value is highest to a team with low-cost young players and picks should be the goal.
9 responses to “My Favorite Trade Destination for Paul: the Clippers”
If we were to trade Paul to the Clippers, I would demand that we received Eric Gordon in the deal among another pieces, such as the expiring contract of Kaman, and DRAFT PICKS. With a legit 2 in Gordon, and an abundance of talent in the 2012 and 2013 NBA Draft, we would have a strong chance of fulfilling our backcourt vacancies in an impressive manner. If we were able to rid ourselves of Okafor’s horrid contract in the process, thats a bonus win.
I’m not opposed to Gordon, but I just think the clips might be hesitant to part with him and Griffin. I would think he’s just as highly regarded as DJordan.
go for eric gordon, DeAngre Jordan, and a 1st round draft pick 4 Chris Paul! besides i would never trade CP3 anyway!!! he’ll be just another fan favorite gone away just like “MT5.”
Yeah, I doubt we could pull both Jordan and Gordon off, but I’d rather the latter.
The Clippers have been mentioned before as a possible trade partner and it makes sense because as you have stated they have a stack of young talent and valuable Draft pick. However I dont see Paul signing an extension with the Clippers. Despite moving to a large Market the Clippers ownership is shit house. The trade to the Thunder is more likely because its a match made in heaven and Paul would sign an extension with the Thunder. And you have to remember you never really ever get the true value for a star player back, so we would be looking at Paul for Westbrook(Sign Extension) -Perkins- an exipiring (Probably Nate Robinson). Paul gets his contender, Thunder line-up Paul-Harden-durant-Ibaka-Aldrich. We could probably move Westbrook to SG and now with perkins we can trade Okafor. All this is just my opinion but if we are going to get something back based on were Paul is more likely to sign it would be the Thunder, otherwise we are looking at trading him to a contender in the east and the only team that can give us something back is boston with rondo and jeff green and thats a worse deal then the Thunder deal i mentioned.
Hello Hornets fans. I am a long-suffering Clippers fan from California, who hopes he won’t be suffering much longer. So here’s my opinion on any possible trade involving the two clubs:
The Hornets would have to pry Gordon or Griffin from Donald Sterling’s cold dead fingers. Here’s why: First, Griffin makes money for Sterling. Attendance is up with Griffin, at home and away. And Sterling likes to hobnob with LA celebs. They come to Clippers games to watch Griffin. Second, Clippers see Gordon as not yet having reaching his potential. Part of the reason for trading Baron Davis was because Gordon absolutely hated him. Davis interfered with Gordon’s game, and Gordon was disgusted with Davis’s lack of commitment.
The talk in Clipperland is about Clippers finding players to complement Gordon and Griffin. Their focus now is on finding a legitimate starting forward.
For the writer of this article: you mention CP, Foye, Gomes, Griffin and Jordan as a legitimate contender. Sorry, afraid not. Gomes absolutely sucks, and Foye isn’t much better. I’d much rather have the current starting five of Mo Williams, Gordon, Gomes (I am hoping Aminu will start), Griffin and Jordan.
Well, I could say more, but if my comment is much longer, no one will read it Respond if you want to hear more from me. Thanks for reading.
Should have said that the Clippers’ focus is on finding a legitimate starting SMALL forward. Oops.
right on steve, well said. And yes gomes absolutely sucks. I fele like giving up mo williams with kaman for an iggy or even adding in another piece for cp, is something we need. Neil Oshey (gm) even said “we are a piece away from being a legit contender.” Basically all im saying is there’es no reason to dump our young promising prospects. the team will be focused around gordon and griffin. No secrets there.
Yeah, as a Clippers fan, I don’t want to see Eric Bledsoe go. He must stay. He is our future PG.
Eric Gordon must stay. He is our SG of the present and the future.
I would like to see all our young players stay and grow together. In three years time they will be unstoppable with Griffin, DJ etc