–The Prelude–

Hey guys I was thinking of a possible trade scenario between the Hornets and Clippers that would make both parties happy. I found that the only way to do that was to include a third team – The Houston Rockets. I thought up a deal that makes sense for all three teams.

 

–The Trade–

Hornets get: E.Gordon, C.Kaman, A.Aminu, E.Bledsoe, Minnessota’s 1st rd pick, and possibly another pick

Clippers get: C.Paul, K.Martin

Rockets get: E.Okafor

 

–The Reasons–

Hornets: The league wants the Hornets to get those 5 or 6 pieces I mentioned in exchange for Paul, and would also love it if they could dump Mek’s contract. This is satisfying all of the leagues requests.

Clippers: Supposedly, BOTH Gordon AND Minny’s pick were included in monday’s proposal, but the Clippers were still a bit hesitant. It was also reported that Bledsoe was the dealbreaker, not Gordon and the pick. Well in either case, this deal would help the Clippers let go of all three of them in the trade. The Clippers signed Chauncey Billups, so that likely makes Bledsoe more expendable, and in aquiring Kevin Martin from this deal, it’ll make them more willing to let go of Gordon since they’ll still have a high scoring shooting guard who Chris Paul can rely on to score.

Rockets: Obviously, the Rockets are willing to trade Kevin Martin in order to aquire a big man. This deal would basically be a Martin – Okafor swap in Houston’s perspective. I know it doesnt sound like a great offer for them, but with their roster how it is now, it seems like a pretty smart trade. They need a center bad, and I really dont think Nene is going to sign with them. Okafor is better than any free agent center still available other than Nene, and outside of offense, Okafor is actually better than Nene. Okafor is way better defensively and a better rebounder. I mean, Nene only averaged 7.6 rebounds per game last year, with his career high for a season being 7.8 per game. They’ll still have a pretty decent and young shooting guard duo, with Courtney Lee and Terrence Williams (true small forward but he can play sg as well).

 

—The Predicted Rosters–

          Hornets                          Clippers                              Rockets

PG  Jack/Bledsoe                 Paul/Williams/Billups/Warren        Lowry/Flynn/Dragic

SG  Gordon/Belinelli                 Martin/Foye/Leslie                  Lee/Williams

SF  Ariza/Q-Pon/Aminu            Butler/Gomes                        Budinger/Parsons

PF  ??/??                                Griffin/Thompkins          Scola/Patterson/Morris/…

C   Kaman/??                            ??/??                                 Okafor/Thabeeeeet

 

–The Trade Machine Link–

**Does Not Include Draft Picks**

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=6mltpkl

 

Please leave comments and tell me what you think.