hell no that would never happen…i like how our players are developing and getting chemistry with each other right now and for the kind of team we have right now i think our roster is semi perfect.

but I’d be lying if this hadn’t crossed my mind. Right now, Paul is looking more and more like Garnett did in Minnesota – clearly one of the best players in the game (Paul is, I think pretty obviously, behind only Lebron right now. He’s that good), but surrounded by players who are utter crap. New Orleans has two other players who might be considered “above average” starters on a playoff-caliber team: West and Okafor. These aren’t all-star worthy talents, simply good ones. Okafor is vastly overpaid for what he does, and the same goes for so many of the Hornets. Paul has every reason to be pissed at his situation.

The Hornets won’t be trading Paul on their own. They’d be stupid to give him away for anything but Lebron. So the only way Paul’s going to leave NOLA in the short term is by demanding a trade. And I’m not sure he would do that. The Garnett comparison seems pretty apt to me: both are hot-headed players on the court, but both are also spectacularly (stupidly) loyal to their teams. It just seems so unlikely that Chris Paul would force a trade.

Still, the Rockets are clearly in the best position to capitalize on such a possibility. Lowry, Scola, and Landry weren’t offered extensions, so there are plenty of short-term contracts to deal out to a struggling team. Virtually everyone but Cook can contribute in some way to a good team. These are good assets to have when looking for a good trade.

Okay, so let’s assume that Chris Paul goes to the Hornets in January and demands a trade. What would a “fair” deal (I’m going to put this bluntly: virtually no offer can come close to a fair deal for CP3) look like?

The Rockets would have to take on the worst of the Hornets’ contracts: Peja and Posey are the obvious ones. A smarter Hornets FO might also want to get rid of Okafor, but I doubt they’d try it. So Paul, Peja, and Posey come to Houston. That’s about $33 million.

McGrady goes to NOLA, as does either Lowry or AB. Landry and Budinger also make sense. I also imagine several draft picks, as well as some international rights would have to change hands. The Rockets would get the best PG in the game, while the Hornets would rid themselves of their worst contracts while netting three quality players. The way I see it, Bud and/or AB are the only things that can make this work, however, and even that just doesn’t seem like it would be enough. Crazier things have happened.

Nevertheless, the Rockets seem like they’re poised for a trade. The FA market next season is basically closed off to us thanks to the Ariza signing, and there are plenty of other young stars on bad teams waiting for a trade. Cross your fingers, I guess.

but no thanks. we’ve got an elite PG putting the last finishing touches in his developing. im stickin with my man brooks.

I doubt the Hornets would want to trade Paul to Houston…

… more likely they try to trade him to a team in the East.

That said, I wouldn’t mind having Paul on Houston. Team him up with Yao. It depends on what exactly it would cost the Rockets to get him.

I am confident that if Daryl Morey makes a trade with them for Paul, the Rockets won’t end up getting screwed badly in the deal.

I am not confident Houston can get Paul without making it a great deal for the Hornets. Perhaps “too good”. I’m not holding my breath on it…