Hornets Exec: "No Deals for Paul"

Why would you find it confusing?

One posts brilliance. The other, not so much.

 

You are just so smart aren't you? How you don't have an executive position on an NBA team is beyond me.

 

I don't consider this (what was posted in the original post) to be usable information. I'm not going to speculate on whether the Hornets are posturing for leverage; I simply think that regardless of their intentions, this is what they'd say. If they weren't going to trade Paul, of course they'd say they're not trading Paul. If they are going to trade Paul, it's in their interests to seem like they're uninterested in doing so, to reduce the sense that they're eager to (even if they are). Not to mention that there will be a shitstorm among New Orleans fans when he's traded and season ticket sales will end on that day, so why would they telegraph it prior to it happening?

Note, again, this is not an argument that they really do want to trade Paul. I have no idea. This is an argument that the Hornets saying they are uninterested in trading Paul tells us little, if anything, about their true intentions.

 

Yes, this is a great point. Offshore oil drilling moratorium and related events might have more impact on whether we get Paul then adding Batum in the mix!

 

Most teams aren't at capacity. Being 8th in the league is pretty impressive. The Hornets weren't exactly great that year either, they made the playoffs as the 7th seed. What happens once they start losing WITHOUT their star player? Do they drop to 30th?

 

I already brought this up this weekend, but seems folks don't pay attention.

Yes, New Orleans wasn't selling tickets anywho. That is WITH Chris Paul.

New Orleans is a very strange sports town. Very tiny population. Crap stadium in a wierd spot. Locals really only support football. Lukewarm on basketball in general.

Then, the other issue that some forget, some of the best NBA players are not huge draws at the box office. And Point Guards in recent history have not sold a lot of tickets - Jason Kidd for example. SuperStar wings that dunk sell tickets. Shaq sold tickets. Winning teams sell tickets. Well run franchises in cities that support basketball sell tickets.

 

Actually, that's what the lockout is going to be about. The owners want control of the league back. They're tired of being held hostage by players on guaranteed contracts who decide to stop trying. They want to try to prevent the collusion like what happened with James, Bosh and Wade and what Stoudemire, Anthony and Paul would like to do. And they want the shit Paul is pulling to come to an end.

The players need their paychecks more than the owners need the players.

 

LOL, actually I think you both post well. You're just a bit less testy. I'm more like B-Roy in that regard hence why we cross swords (keyboards) so often. Both of you guys are great posters though I tend to agree with you more often as it happens.

 

You need to look at revenue. They give away a lot of tickets.

 

Maybe. They just have to decide, from a financial perspective, whether they'd rather be last in attendance with a much lower payroll or near the bottom in attendance with a more expensive payroll. It's not a slam dunk that higher attendance is better, if it costs them too much to attain it.

By and large, I don't believe in "blowing it all up to get better." I think you get better by building on success, step by step. So I think New Orleans, purely from a team-building standpoint, would be smart to hang onto Paul, West and Okafor and only trade them for equivalent talent. But the hope is that they're not looking at this purely from a team-building standpoint, that money is a big factor too. Or that they're not the most rational front office and think razing the team down to its foundations and rebuilding with draft picks and cap space is a good idea. Or a combination of both.

 

This jibes with what my brother and sister--both huge basketball fans and residents of The Big Easy--tell me.

 

I agree with this, but it won't save the Hornets. In fact it will just make Paul's camp push harder.

 

I agree.

 

Yeah, I was going to post something similar, but you beat me to it.

No matter what, this is exactly what New Orleans would say at this point in time. Thus, we learn nothing about their current state of mind and position. And, until their meeting with Paul, I don't think they are even worried about their exact position. Why should they when they are going into the meeting with the hope they can talk Paul off the ledge.

 

Hold on to them until what? A better offer comes a long I presume? Or they can swing Peja for Carmelo? Seriously, how does their bargaining position to acquire talent increase over time?

I still haven't seen a good argument for how NOH improves either money OR team wise by not dealing Paul now. They are locked in with their contracts and have almost no movable assets. How do they get better by waiting and risking injury to any of those players, not to mention Maxiep's point about lockout etc. I find it odd that people were concerned about us having Paul as a one year rental due to lockout, yet folks don't see how the reverse is also true, that Paul's trade value decreases over time.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5410152

This from Mark Stein, where he opines that a case can be made that New Orleans would be best served by trading Paul sooner rather than later.

 

I've thought about how I would rebuild the Hornets if I were the GM. I would take the OKC/POR approach by getting young talent, getting below the cap and building through the draft. Here would be my four step plan:

1. Trade Paul along with Okafor and/or Posey (if possible). Get promising players on rookie contracts, expiring deals and as many draft picks as you can get.

2. Trade West with Posey if he's not moved with Paul. West is a hell of a player who has real value on his own. Get the same type of package as you got for Paul.

3. Trade Peja's expiring deal for an impact player or the same type of package you got for Paul and West. In other words, use Paul and West to get under the cap and Peja to come back up a bit.

4. Make a consolidation trade out of the assets you picked up from the top three deals. Hope you get lucky in the draft and the players you acquired come into their own.

Even with the current team playing up to their abilities, they're still most likely a lower seed and a first round exit. They're bumping up against the luxury tax and don't have much flexibility. The best move, IMO, is to burn it down and start over. It would be great if Paul were willing to spearhead that rebuilding effort, but he's not. Therefore, the smart thing to do is to trade him.

 

Awesome post and that is exactly what I've been thinking. Awesome post Maxiep! Repped.

 

If the owners gamble on a lockout I think they lose in a big way, because fans are going to migrate elsewhere. The problem with a lockout in the modern world is that there are far too many options for the consumer in terms of entertainment. You and I will always be there until we die, but they need the casual fan to really make money. I agree that the players need a paycheck, but I will tell you this right now, LBJ will make a traveling all-star team and span the globe making MILLIONS while the owners get nothing. I bet they could put together a 100 million dollar three month Asian tour tomorrow if they wanted. That could all be done internationally with no taxes, and they could easily generate more revenue in marketing. The players have transcended the owners because of the star power globally, not just within the US. It is a different landscape now, and without the players you have nothing. Without the owners there will still be basketball going on somewhere, and being broadcast somewhere. There are so many high end sports facilities now world-wide that the players could literally write their own tickets in terms of setting up an exhibition.

Now will that happen, probably not. I say that because I don't think there will be a lockout. The owners will put up a fight, but in the end a deal will be made. If for no other reason the Lakers & Celtics will see that their ability to win is almost gone. The shit teams that have been losing money will understand that the lockout might actually break them due to the terrible economy for the last six years. On top of that the NBA WILL NOT lose the marketing opportunity that is the La-ami Heat, because the interest in that team on a global scale will be like nothing the world has ever seen. I guess I am saying that the NBA cannot afford a lockout.

 

We'll agree to disagree.