Sorry to re-hash Chris Paul talk, but I have a contract question. He has a player option for '12-'13, which essentially means he has two years left on his current contract. If, and I know it's a big if, we were to trade for him, would we take him as is and risk losing him in two seasons or would we insist on New Orleans signing him to an extension before making a deal? And if we risk taking his contract as is, is it a risk worth taking?
Portland would be able to offer him the largest deal when he became a free agent, which is usually decisive, especially when the team is winning. It wouldn't be much of a risk, but technically there is the chance Portland could lose him in two years. But it's definitely worth the risk and Portland would definitely get two seasons from him.
And Paul would have to agree to the extension when coming over. That's something he might not be willing to do.
It's a very good point, RR. We currently have 2 max players (for all intents) and Oden will be 3 if he plays in 50 games. Paul will command a max deal as well. I'm not so sure we want to have 4 players at or near the max. So my thinking is that we'd have to jettison someone. Also, if Portland management, ie, Al Davis II and Vulcan continue to be dysfunctional some of our stars may want out. But let's keep this to CP3 and say he just opts out to go play with 'Mello as they are very close friends. In essence, we'd be trading most likely 2 large expiring contracts and Batum for a rent-a-PG for a couple of seasons. Is losing Batum, who the majority of the posters here feel he's some sort of top 10 player in NBA history, worth having CP3 for a couple of seasons. To me, the answer is yes, so long as we have a definitive plan to either procure or grow a PG for the next 6-8 years. But if we're just going to reant CP3 for 2 seasons and then cast ourselves adrift, it isn't worth it.
I know I said this in two other Paul threads......but my opinion is yes he is worth the risk as long as the guy we traded to get CP3 is not BROY as was mentioned a few times on talk shows.
LA is not quite max. But the question of when should we negotiate Greg's extension is interesting. Right now he's not max. A year from now, maybe still not but would be more expensive than his cost right now. And that's what we hope right? that he'd play great this season. IF we somehow get CP3 w/o parting with Roy/Aldridge/Oden this summer, we almost need to negotiate GOs extension this summer, while he's nowhere near the max. How much? The GM can make that call.
Love your NWO stuff. I wonder if Stern is part of the REAL NWO and pulled illuminati strings to put that team of evil together..? Hmm, let me put on my tin foil...ah yes. It's so clear now, he raises the salary cap just in time for LeBron to go to Miami. This combined with satellites and Extremely Low Frequency devices and HAARP technology will melt the minds of average Americans allowing a Godless/Communist/Nazi/Ayn Rand Objectivist/Devout Muslim/Satanic/Socialist conspiracy to unfold. All they need to do is take LeBron to the underground base in Antartica to install Hitler's brain. A very little known fact is that the Fuhrer's basketball IQ was off the charts!
