Chris Paul and LeBron together? (Probably Not.)
2010-06-21Well, the rumors are out there. CP3 and LeBron together. It’s a possibility, and worth dreaming about, but certainly not worth holding our collective breaths for.
Wojnarowski’s original article is here: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-paulhornets062110
My ProBasketballTalk thoughts on the rumor and William Wesley playing rain-maker are here: http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/06/wojnarowski-worldwide-wes-trying-to-sell-lebron-cp3-as-package-deal.php
Enjoy.
Of course, I tend to look at things a little bit more from the players’ perspective. So I could be underestimating management’s willingness to live with a frustrated Chris Paul.
But Rich, no one wants Okafor. Even if they manage to find a taker for him, they’re still stuck with a bunch of nobodies and a disgruntled Chris Paul. Paul is worth the cost if you can use him to achieve some reasonable level of team success. If not, then keeping him is not worth his salary or the other big salaries you could unload if you traded him. If I’m the Hornets management, I’m either going all in with Paul (which entails adding or maintaining salary), or nuking my roster by packaging Chris Paul with every other big deal… Read more »
The way I see it, the Hornets have to make a trade with either Paul or Collison, otherwise they are wasting a huge asset. And the ownership/financial situation will have a huge impact on how they do that. I heard recently that they are shopping Collison to teams willing to take more salary back in the deal. But, there’s no way that should work, since Collison is exactly the kind of cheap young player you want to keep on a cost-cutting team, and what is the point of even having Chris Paul if you’re just going to cut costs around… Read more »
You don’t leverage a top 5 player in the league. You leverage the bums on the team who are eating cap space. Do we trade LeBron’s monster contract…or instead do we trade Jamison’s monster contract. It’s the same thing in New Orleans people. You don’t trade Paul. He is worth the money. You trade Okafor.
Reports are saying that the Hornets passed up on the Nets offer of Devin harris and the number 3 pick for Paul. Cavs can’t approach that type of offer. He isn’t getting moved for anything short of Dwight HOward/ LeBron/ Wade/ Durant. Thats it.
Rich, I agree that Collison isn’t Paul, but not too far off either. Plus there are still questions as to if Paul is 100% healthy or 100% to his pre-injury self. Hornets are trying to shed cap space and improve the talent of the team and trading away Paul isn’t going to diminish the value of the team If they can get two up and coming players consisting of potential all-star talent. Collison has a lot of support in the city and if they could add some players around him, they will be a much better team. The only way… Read more »
Crap, broken link
Rich, I haven’t ever pimped my own stuff around here, as its still in its nascent stages, but I think this graph I put together is pertinent to the discussion. My idea is to define different NBA player prototypes with key statistics those guys would exhibit. One of the prototypes I defined in this way is the <a href="distributor. When you click through, you’ll find Collison right where the red lines intersect. Chris Paul isn’t in there because he didn’t meet my game minimum (50 games), but he would be directly to the right of Rondo on the 2.8 line.… Read more »
Jimmy, you’re hopeless. I’d hate to live the black and white world you live in where everything is always one way all the time. I seriously can’t imagine the Hornets trading Paul. You don’t just trade away a top 5 player in the league simply because you like to save money. You also like to make money. You need people in the seats and that isn’t happening w/o Chris Paul there. I know Collison is a solid player, but Chris Paul he is not. And, can I add, if all of you guys think he is sort of as good… Read more »
Some journalist out there should write an article about how you don’t really give up that much by keeping Collison and trading Paul. At least that will get Mr. Rich to start saying loudly the people will start buying into that if its written about even if he himself sees some grey area in the situation.
horrible analogy Rich…Collison is better than you think…he surprised many his rookie year with his play and did some good things….he’ll be a solid point in the league…he’s quick and fast and has a decent shot….it wasnt as horrible with him in place of Paul as you might think…I wouldnt be surprised if the Hornets decided to stick with him instead of Paul…especialy if Paul wants to go to better team (like Cavs!)
Remember when Collison and Thorton destroyed the Cavs this year? Man, those guys can shoot!
Heck, why don’t we just trade LeBron right now. Jawad is ready to step in to that spot.
And yes, I’m saying the gap between Jawad and LeBron is something similar to that between Collison and Paul. Collison is a solid player, who can start for some teams around the league, but he isn’t/will not be in Chris Pauls universe.
KJ, I’m sorry but Collison isn’t even in Chris Paul’s realm. Paul isn’t some old guy. He can sign a max contract today and play the full thing out as the best PG in the league the whole way through. That’s all that you look at when thinking of age. Can this guy play an entire contract out at a top level. Paul can. Just look at that fairly proven replacement. Basically, you replace Paul with Collison and the team is a bad team. Put Paul on the team, and they win like 50 games. And the spend-thrift owner is… Read more »
@rich
really? it makes no sense to trade a older, more expensive player when you have his cheaper, younger, fairly-proven replacement already on the team? that makes no sense to a spendthrift owner? come on, you’re wayyyy smarter than that! i’m not saying it’s likely but shite, it does make some sense in the scenario i and the seven dwarfs laid out.
@frank
you underestimate hickson’s value. if he came out his year, he would be a top 10 pick. probably top 6. the kid has a LOT of skills…
They only trade Paul for a young stud or potential stud. Think DeMarcus Cousins or Al Jefferson, not JJ Hickson.
Paul is the face of the franchise and a franchise player. You don’t give that up for JJ Hickson and Anderson Varejao. Shaq and Ilgauskus would have to agree to a sign and trade. They probably won’t. Even so, why trade Paul instead of Collison? Makes no sense to me.
The way Collison has been playing makes him a good ‘replacement’ for CP3. It’s almost a waist to keep them both as they don’t work well on the court with each other. They can get some nice additons for CP3 maybe the Cavs could give up West or Mo and JJ or Andy (who all have some all seem to have some star potential). Shaq or Z contracts can be thrown in for the financial aspect and maybe that’s not a bad deal for either side. I doubt the Cavs can keep LBJ without going even further over the luxury… Read more »
the seven dwarfs is more right that wrong. if shinn is still the owner in a month or two, paul will be available. i’m sure of that. but it’s still up in the air whether there will be new ownership or not but never underestimate what owners will do to cut costs. another reason to be thankful that, at least for now, we have an owner who will spend whatever is necessary…
But Darren Collison is not Chris Paul. I know that sounds basic, but even if Collison played at an extremely high level (which he did) he did not and probably could not play at Chris Paul’s level. Collison is definitely more tradable at this point, but they would have a very high asking price. I personally would love to see Paul in Cleveland. But how would that ever happen? Shaq + JJ + Mo? Boobie + Z + Moon? Parker? West? and we dont have draft picks. They would no doubt expect Mo and JJ, but what else can we… Read more »
I don’t know. Collison was really solid while Paul was hurt. They know both of them and Paul’s health level best. So if they feel that Collison could come close to replacing Paul while being younger, healthier and cheaper why not trade Paul for one or two good to great pieces at other positions? It’s not like Paul was getting them anywhere this year or ever could get them anywhere by himself.
“They get to control the narrative, and whether it’s fair/true or not doesn’t change the fact that they are doing it.”
This quote right here should make people much more interested in the world around themselves than just basketball. The fourth estate has many heads and they are all whispering to you in different tongues.
I liked this Worldwide Wes character more when he was unknown. Next he’ll be talking about how he’s working on a deal to get Melo, Durant, Kobe, and Jesus on the same team with Lebron.
Omg, Jim, get a clue bro. I even painted a picture for you last time I mentioned it. I NEVER SAID I BELIEVED THAT THE MEDIA WAS CORRECT ABOUT IT RUINING LEBRONS LEGACY!!! (maybe all caps will allow you to read it more clearly, I dunno). I ONLY said that they were saying it. My god dude, it isn’t that tough to comprehend. The media is saying it. They get to control the narrative, and whether it’s fair/true or not doesn’t change the fact that they are doing it. Also, like ben said a few threads ago, there is a… Read more »
This is just getting silly. The Hornets are trying to cut cap, but they need an All-Star and a future All-Star back? All-Stars cost a lot of money because they are All-Stars. You’re not going to get a deal on that market. I’d say it’s close to impossible to get fair market value for Paul. Just enjoy having one of the best PGs in the game on your team. WWW is just making stuff up. I honestly think he asks LeBron what he wants and LeBron tells him he wants to play with his buddy Paul. WWW puts it out… Read more »
“Clearly, very clearly, the sports media is honestly just making things up at this point w/ zero actual evidence. They will try to justify it all they want, but it truly is a travesty.”
But they are so very accurate that Lebron’s legacy is completely done should he switch teams. Clearly. Very Clearly. Right Rich? Nice to have evidence that you pick and choose what to believe from the media.
Would you expect anything else? I knew this summer would be ridiculous. Thank God for the World Cup (never thought I’d say that in my life).
Ah another one of these worldwide wes rumors. I wonder if this will get as far as the whole Calipari+LeBron package deal. Not only is this probably not true, it doesn’t even make sense if they aren’t trading Paul. MIght as well sell LeBron +Larry Bird as a packaged deal.
Soooo tired of the rumors. Clearly, very clearly, the sports media is honestly just making things up at this point w/ zero actual evidence. They will try to justify it all they want, but it truly is a travesty.