Chris Paul back to New Orleans speculation

SonOfNOLA · 07-09-2012, 03:36 AM

It's officially begun..

Former New Orleans Hornet Chris Paul's whole world is in his hands | NOLA.com

Quote:

Nonetheless, it was just the shred of hope Hornets fans could seize upon, especially after winning the NBA lottery and striking first-round gold in the draft with rookies Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers: could that foundation, along with Eric Gordon, be enough to entice Paul — who wanted out of New Orleans because it was no longer a contender — back to a city he once called home?

“I actually never think about that, you know what I mean?” Paul said, allowing himself a slight chuckle. “It is one of those things where you can say ‘anything is possible.’ I’m definitely not quoting an adidas commercial (Paul is a paid endorser of Jordan Brand shoes and apparel), but I’m happy for the city with the two great draft picks they got.

“People will always speculate this and that. I’m OK (with the speculation). If I would have had the opportunity to sign the extension that I can sign next summer, this summer, then it would probably be a done deal now. But there are different things I can do next summer than I can’t do this summer.”

........

And Paul said he knows that as long as that extension remains on the table — which it likely will through next season — there will be chatter about the possibility of a return to New Orleans, where Paul sees the formation of a team that could be on the rise.

The fact that he was indirectly involved in the Hornets’ recent good fortune isn’t lost.

“Man, they’ve got a young team,” he said, “But I’m happy for them. I actually talked to (Coach) Monty (Williams) a couple days ago, and I talked to him after the draft. I was telling him how happy I was for them because I know Anthony Davis a little bit. I don’t know Austin that well, but if you were going to get two players out of this draft, those are probably the two you wanted.

“I know,” he said, smiling, “me not being there definitely helped that.”

Davis, Anderson, Aminu, Gordon, CP, and Rivers coming off the bench = HOLY ****!!

Who knows what can happen. LAC may end up taking a step back from where they were last year, creating tension in the locker room between the players and Del Negro as a result, while the Hornets young group have a better year and show signs of a championship contender in the near future and have CP saying "**** this, I'm going back to N.O.". Anything's possible like he said

Broadmoor74 · 07-09-2012, 09:58 AM

Lewis' and Jack's contracts come off the books next offseason, setting up enough room to sign another max contract. "Anything is possible."

krushing · 07-09-2012, 10:17 AM

I think he wants to go to a more established team and I think the Bees are looking a little further down the road.

nealkm · 07-09-2012, 10:22 AM

Would be cool, but I'm not holding my breathe.

socbe7 · 07-09-2012, 10:26 AM

I said this when he left, before last season even started. It would be a dream come true.

Blake Griffen is extremely overrated and unless his offensive game improves dramatically this summer, then that team will only win as many games as Chris Paul can win, especially if Chauncey gets hurt again. Even if it's not in New Orleans, I still think Paul may go elsewhere next summer.

If he did come here though, I'm sure we'd either have another center or 3 sign with us next offseason as well and allow Anderson and/or Aminu to be part of the second team.

mister pc · 07-09-2012, 12:25 PM

The hornets would be competing for a championship every year beginning day one if CP3 came back to N.O. It would make a lot of sense too. Hopefully the front office is making room for a max contract in 2013 to give us at chance at this.

SonOfNOLA · 07-09-2012, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krushing

I think he wants to go to a more established team and I think the Bees are looking a little further down the road.

There really isn't any other teams he can go to, besides staying where he's at.

If the Lakers didn't sign Steve Nash to a 3 year deal, then playing with Kobe, Bynum, and Gasol across town would've made a lot of sense. They already have big contracts tied to Kobe, Bynum, and Gasol anyway. Like LA, Miami has too many max contracts to fit a 4th under the salary cap without putting the quality of bench players at risk and paying the luxury tax. Brooklyn has Deron Williams. Re-signing Lin would eliminate the Knicks from signing him. He wouldn't go anywhere in the playoffs with Stoudemire and Anthony anyway.

Here he would be playing with a top 5 SG, when healthy, in Gordon, another legit offensive threat at Guard with tons of upside (Rivers), Anthony Davis, and Ryan Anderson. That's arguably 4 All-Stars, or guys with All-Star upside. Some potentially All-NBA like Davis. CP coming here would put them on Miami's level and better than OKC. That's 5 talented players vs. OKC's 3. There isn't much competition in the West.

What makes it a long shot to happen is when think you about the odds of an elite player being traded and then coming back via Free Agency two seasons later to the team that traded him. The exception here is that Paul still has a good relationship with Monty and Dell and still loves the city. He won't be able to find a better situation of talent than here. Does playing with Griffin, D. Jordan, aging injury prone guys like Billups and Butler give him a better chance of winning a championsip than Davis, Gordon, Rivers, and Anderson?

He could've simply said I plan on re-signing with LAC next summer, but he left the door completely open surprisingly by saying anything's possible and that "he can do things next summer that he can't do this summer". Either he just really feels like ******* with the media or there's actually a chance he could come back. Those quotes should have Clipper fans and their FO worried, IMO. I know it would definitely have our fanbase worried sick and going crazy if we were in their shoes in that situation.

Chinny · 07-09-2012, 01:16 PM

I -really- thought he was going to the Lakeshow. They kind of shot themselves in the foot by signing Nash. I can't see a scenario where the Lakers werent the front runners in the CP3 sweepstakes.

Now it looks like it'll be us.

Born_A_Saint · 07-09-2012, 02:15 PM

Chris Paul to Anthony Davis for the ally? Yes, please.

It would be extremely fun to watch these guys defensively in Monty's system as well.

jrdbrn · 07-09-2012, 10:46 PM

He isn't coming back.

Gordon is like 1/3 of Paul and he doesn't even want to be here. The owners need to start kissing players *** and make this place appealing to get big names. Sadly, this sport is going downhill with the "superstars" all joining forces.

insidejob · 07-09-2012, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrdbrn

He isn't coming back.

Gordon is like 1/3 of Paul and he doesn't even want to be here. The owners need to start kissing players *** and make this place appealing to get big names. Sadly, this sport is going downhill with the "superstars" all joining forces.

Exactly. Gordon wants to be the man wherever he goes and that's gonna be nowhere that is gonna win.

mister pc · 07-10-2012, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrdbrn

He isn't coming back.

Gordon is like 1/3 of Paul and he doesn't even want to be here. The owners need to start kissing players *** and make this place appealing to get big names. Sadly, this sport is going downhill with the "superstars" all joining forces.

There's an interview floating around youtube from when CP3 was still a Hornet and we played the Clippers, and Eric Gordon was lighting us up. After the game CP kind of went out of his way to be complimentary of Gordon, said he'd been following him closely since college and liked the way he played the game... It seemed like CP3 would find the opportunity to team up with Gordon very attractive.

Saintsi · 07-10-2012, 05:36 PM

Gordon doesn't want to be here, because he wants to be the show/spotlight. That's why he wanted to leave here after the draft, and why he picked Phoenix after Nash left and why he didn't pick Indiana when all signs pointed that's where he would end up. If he really wants to win he'll stay here and play with a team that actually has potential.

Broadmoor74 · 07-10-2012, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saints!

Gordon doesn't want to be here, because he wants to be the show/spotlight. That's why he wanted to leave here after the draft, and why he picked Phoenix after Nash left and why he didn't pick Indiana when all signs pointed that's where he would end up. If he really wants to win he'll stay here and play with a team that actually has potential.

He didn't pick Indiana because Indiana didn't offer him a max contract.

SonOfNOLA · 07-10-2012, 09:16 PM

It looks like it'll be more difficult for LAC to keep CP since they've just re-signed Griffin to a 5 year/$95 million deal. DeAndre Jordan was given a 4 year/$40 million just last year, have $16 million tied to Caron Butler for this season and next combined, and Jamal Crawford agreed to a 4 year/$20 million with them last week. That's about $43 million tied to only 4 players going into the '13-'14 season so where does that leave room for Chris Paul to sign a 5 year/$108 million deal? Re-signing him would make it $64 mil tied to those 5 players with no bench. Eric Bledsoe is suppose to make $1.7 million this season and has a team option at 2.6 mil for the 2013 season. He'd probably command $8-10 million per year in a new deal if they wanted to keep him in case Paul leaves. They won't be able to afford to have both.

Besides the Hornets, the only other teams I could see being attractive options for him next offseason are the Mavs and Bulls. The Bulls could sign him and have Rose move to SG, but they'd have to do something with Boozer, Noah, and Deng's salaries to make room. Cuban has plenty of cap space to get him since Dirk, Brendan Haywood, and Shawn Marion are the only players they have with yearly salaries over $8 million ($36 million between the 3 combined). Everyone else has 3 mil or less or will be FA's. Only problem is that Dirk would be the only elite player he would be playing with. Dallas would have to hope Monta Ellis or Igoudala opt out their contracts early to become FAs to intrigue Paul. The other decent FAs for 2013 are Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Josh Smith, Brandon Jennings, John Wall, and David West, but I'm sure most of 'em will probably re-sign with their teams.

The Hornets won't have to worry about any of that. The available cap space will already be there waiting to sign him. I don't see what else could be better than playing with 4 young potential All-Stars, 2 possibly being All-NBA (Gordon & Davis). Plus, coming back to the team he started out with and having the chance to both win a championship and his jersey being retired to go along with that.