It's been said that the loser in any negotiation is the one who speaks first. With that in mind, do the Blazers wait for the Hornets to contact them first (knowing they probably will anyway if Monday's meeting doesn't go their way)? Or do the Blazers reach out first, trying to gain an advantage over the other teams on CP3's list? Would it be bad form for Cho to even contact the Hornets before Monday's meeting? Do you think all teams on that list have already placed presumtive calls to the Hornets to see what it would potentially take to get Paul on their team?
I would put in a call and make a lowball offer. Joel, Rudy, Bayless, and Batum for just Chris Paul. I'm sure they'd counter offer asking for Oden, OR something that involves us taking back more salary. I would counter with: Rudy, Bayless, Miller, Joel, Batum, and Camby for Paul, Posey, Okafor. They get a ton of youth and substantial expirings. Paul/Johnson/Mills Roy/Williams Matthews/Posey/Babbitt Aldridge/Okafor/Cunningham/Pendergraph Oden/Okafor/Pendergraph
Paul is meeting with New Orleans' management. Supposedly, it will be their last ditch effort to convince him to stay and, if that fails, he'll go on the trading block.
I'd Say wait. NOH's already know we got the best deal out there for CP3 player wise, plus the $$$. Let them come knocking.
If the Blazers get Chris Paul without giving up any of their better players, is there really a loser from the Blazers point of view?
Paul will probably come out of the conference invigorated and "pleased in the direction the team is going".......then demand a trade halfway into the season because the Hornets sit on their asses.
Hopefully Batum doesn't lower his value by then. Or better yet maybe, just somehow Rudy raises his value!
Yeah, that was my reaction when I heard about the meeting. IMO, when a "disgruntled" player agrees to a meeting with management, it means he's not ready to force his way out. Sadness.
And yet, besides blowing smoke up his ass, what the hell are the Hornets going to say that shows substantive plans to significantly improve the team? Name the ideas, cause I am saying they got shit. The substance they have is the same thing they already played: ie, "Paul, we can be a good team if we just have our health. You, Collison, Thorton, West, Okafor, that's a good roster." Paul already knows this. He knows too, that even with perfect health, that is not a contending roster. And they are too far away to think it could be easy or quick to fix. They need a good SF to replace the Peja/Posey disaster. They need one more good big to make a solid big rotation. That is too much to ask for a team that WILL (no matter what) be shedding salary in the upcoming seasons. Maybe Paul comes out of the meeting and gives quotes to the press that says he is going to give the team a chance to make improvements, etc. But then, his agents and "people" will spend a little time trying to figure out what options the Hornets have and what they could pull off given their resources and financial constraints. It won't take long, nor a rocket scientist to come to the conclusion that the anwer is: "Not much".
You'd be surprised how convincing blowing smoke up asses can be. But aside from that, they could "say" they'll actively look to trade Peja's contract for a useful player, or move Collision for a star. Really, there's a ton of things they could say, and like Minstrel mentioned, the fact that Paul is even giving them a chance means he's not completely ready to ditch the team yet.
I get the feeling Monday's meeting will more of a "let's all get on the same page" meeting. Either the Hornets are going to tell Paul he's not going any where and to shut up and take it. Or they'll try to work with him on a trade, maybe asking him to hold out until the trade deadline, adding more teams to his list, etc. As it's been mentioned in this thread, there's not a whole lot the Hornets can tell Paul that's going to have him optimistic about playing for them next season. The Hornets know this and Paul knows this. This is probably just a good faith effort by both sides to "work together." I also find it interesting no one from the ownership group is going to be present. Does this mean they don't really care either way?
