Obviously some of these wouldn't just be for Chris Paul, they'd be for Chris Paul and contracts (some of them pretty good players - e.g. Okafor) NO wants to dump.
I would say anybody but GO and B-Roy, But CP3 said himself he would want to play with LMA so can't argue with that Anyone but the big three Get it done Cho sen One
Gutting the team to get Paul makes no sense - on several levels. The ideal scenario, would be for them to overvalue someone ("cough" Oden "cough") that the team has already learned to live without.
Anyone but Roy or Oden. Not that Paul isn't better than either of them, and I would, say, trade Oden to get Paul if that was the only way....but I wouldn't consider that to be a championship-winning move, so the goal is to hold onto Roy and Oden.
I love losing in the 2nd round or WCF every year to superior length. Or in a best case scenario we could get swept by South Beach every year due to having no way of taking advantage of their weak spot (read center). Brilliant!
First option: Batum + a grab bag of goodies including eat Okafor contract Second option: eat Posey contract as well, and gut depth of team Third option: trade Aldridge for a piece they value more as a rebuilding team than Batum, pull Batum back Fourth option: Oden + Bayless - no Batum It is all about the mix. The more talent they want, they less in contracts we eat, etc. I am thinking that they really want Batum. Peja and Posey are done. They could really use him right now and I think Monty would like to feature him more in the offense. Bayless would be a plus for them. Rudy I am not sure if there is mutual interest. I don't know if they place a ton of value on Oden. Maybe they do. Maybe they see him as an injury risk and a guy they would be afraid to pay market rate to extend and keep.
Masbee mentions him, but not to trade for... but I think its a fore gone conclusion, it does no good to trade for Peja. He is a large expiring contract. Which is suuposedly what they want anyways.
I don't think CP3 comes here with no Roy. But I'd give up Roy to get CP3 as he is a superstar that the offense can run through and Brandon is just a star that the offense can run through. That said, I wouldn't give up Oden for CP3, even straight up if the dollars worked. Franchise centers that can dominate the paint like Oden only come once a decade and most have rings.
Keep in mind that CP3, when healthy, is the best PG in the NBA and is only 25 years old. Anybody outside Roy. The goal should be to pair CP3 with Roy.
Not sure about that Oden + Paul I think = more then Roy + Paul. Really though we want Roy/Paul/Oden for the reasons ESPNhalloffamer mentioned above.
If there's only one "pair up" goal, my goal would be Paul and Oden. While I'm not convinced that Roy and Paul can both optimize their abilities together, I think that not only can Paul and Oden optimize their abilities together, there would actually be synergy and they'd make each other better. Of course, the big risk is Oden's health. Anyway, what I really want is Paul, Oden AND Roy. Any players Portland has beyond those three are basically just gravy to me.
