New Hornets brass already facing crisis with Paul
By Ken Berger

Welcome to the hottest seat in the NBA, Dell Demps. All you have to do is persuade Chris Paul to stay in New Orleans -- an uphill battle that begins now.

When Paul was quoted a few weeks ago as saying he'd be open to a trade if the Hornets aren't committed to building a championship team, it was only a small hint as to the size of the chasm that exists between the franchise and its cornerstone player. Paul, in fact, has put into motion an aggressive exit strategy that will accelerate in the coming weeks, and his clear intention is to be traded before the start of the 2010-11 season, a person with direct knowledge of his plans told CBSSports.com Wednesday.

"He wants out," said the person, who has been briefed on Paul's strategy but spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly. "He wants to play with another superstar. He wants to follow LeBron's model of teaming up with other great players."

Paul's list of preferred destinations consists of the Knicks, Magic and Lakers, and members of his inner circle already have sent word to the Hornets of his desire to be traded to one of those teams, sources say. If Paul has his way, he's played his last game in a Hornets jersey.

"He feels like they haven't put the right pieces together," said the person familiar with the star point guard's plans.

Paul, a three-time All-Star, still has two years before he can become a free agent. But his dissatisfaction with the Hornets' downward spiral, coupled with the coup pulled off by James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami has only accelerated his desire to seek a trade. Sources within the NBA say members of Paul's camp have told them recently, "He's not going to start the season in New Orleans."

In the past year, Paul has publicly expressed mild and measured frustration with the direction of the Hornets, who have spiraled out of contention since they capped a 56-win season in 2007-08 with a loss to the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals. That was followed by a 49-win season that ended with an embarrassing first-round loss to the Nuggets, including a disgraceful 58-point home loss in Game 4. Bryon Scott was fired nine games into the 2009-10 season, and that only seemed to exacerbate Paul's concerns about his future in New Orleans.

Early last season, days before Scott was fired, Paul admitted he was "envious, very envious" of his friends and peers -- James, Wade and Carmelo Anthony -- who had enjoyed far more team success in the early stages of their careers.

"Those guys have been where I want to get to," Paul said. "This is my fifth year in the league and I'm not trying to wait until I'm an old veteran in this league trying to win a championship. We're trying to win now. Whatever we have to do to win, we've got to do now."

The Hornets missed the playoffs for the first time in three years under interim coach Jeff Bower, who was reinstated to his GM post with the hiring of coach Monty Williams and then fired last week. Enter Demps, a respected personnel man who played an important support role in the Spurs' decade of success. Will the duo of Williams and Demps, both having ascended to top NBA jobs for the first time, be enough to get Paul to backtrack from his desire to be traded?

Williams and Hornets president Hugh Weber both told CBSSports.com in the past week that they plan to sit down face-to-face with Paul to sell him on the team's new direction. Paul won't go public with his trade request -- if he did, he'd be subject to a fine under NBA rules -- but those with knowledge of his plans believe his desire to pair up with another superstar (or two) has gained too much momentum to stop.

In late June, Paul, 25, spent several days in Akron, Ohio, with James, who was busy orchestrating his own exit strategy from Cleveland. The two friends and superstars picked each other's brains, with each persuading the other to make significant changes in their branding strategies. For Paul, it was a big step to persuade James to join the social networking phenomenon that is Twitter. For James' part, he finally persuaded Paul to join his Cleveland-based marketing company, LRMR.

Paul's decision to sign with LRMR, headed by James' close friend and advisor, Maverick Carter, was only the first step in his exit plan from New Orleans. Paul officially severed his representation agreement with Octagon earlier this month and will soon officially join the influential stable of clients represented by Creative Artists Agency.

With a stranglehold on the top free-agent talent, CAA dictated the terms, pace and outcome of the monumental free-agent class of 2010. CAA clients James and Bosh agreed to join forces with fellow CAA client Wade in Miami, forming a rare triumvirate through the leverage and friendship of players as opposed to the whim of management.

Paul will be represented by CAA agent Leon Rose, who also represents James and potential 2011 free agents Anthony and Tony Parker. Miami's Big Three haven't even run a layup drill, and yet CAA already has the foundation in place to run the table in the free-agent summer of 2011, as well. But with a lockout looming and superstars Paul, Anthony, and to a lesser degree Parker uneasy about their current situations, those plans already are in motion.

Paul's former representatives at Octagon, Jeff Austin and Lance Young, did not respond to phone calls seeking comment, nor did Rose. William Wesley, CAA's behind-the-scenes operative known as "World Wide Wes," who is now a coaching agent with CAA, declined to comment. Paul's strategy has yet to reach the team level in terms of proposals exchanged, sources say. For one thing, Paul has been mired in the 15-day waiting period to officially hire a new agent after severing ties with Octagon. Also, it has been his desire to be forthright with ownership and management in discussing the matter. Williams, a first-year head coach, was hired last month and plans to meet with Paul extensively in the coming weeks to explain his vision. Demps hasn't even completed his first day on the job yet.

Paul's inclusion of the Magic on his list dovetails with CBSSports.com's report June 30 that star center Dwight Howard has asked Orlando management to pursue a trade for Paul -- although Magic GM Otis Smith said by phone Wednesday that he is unaware of such a plan. The team that has most aggressively positioned itself to reap the benefits of CAA's latest power nexus is the Knicks, who struck out in their pursuit of this summer's Big Three but perhaps didn't whiff permanently.

Team president Donnie Walsh's first step was signing power forward Amar'e Stoudemire to a five-year, $99.9 million deal. The move wasn't successful in swaying James or Wade, but it represents the first piece of a strategy designed to land Paul, Parker or Anthony -- or perhaps, even two of them. According to sources familiar with the Knicks' strategy, part of the reason for orchestrating the sign-and-trade for David Lee -- which yielded young talents Anthony Randolph and Kelenna Azubuike from Golden State -- was to stock the roster with attractive assets that could be used to acquire such marquee players if the opportunities presented themselves.

Since they are not free agents at the same time, sources say Paul, Anthony and Parker won't have the same power that Miami's Big Three wielded this summer. Given that he has two years left on his contract before he can exercise a player option, Paul's desire for a trade will be a test of his leverage. It will also be a test of the Hornets' new duo of decision-makers, Williams and Demps, who will have to determine when Paul's value will be maximized -- if they agree to trade him at all.

Parker already has publicly stated his intention to pass on an extension and become a free agent next summer, while Anthony thus far balked at signing the Nuggets' three-year, $65 million extension offer. With a lockout looming after the season, friends of Anthony believe he is seriously torn between cashing in on what's left of max money as we know it and following his buddy, James, in trying to orchestrate a surefire championship celebration. Earlier this month, empowered by his time spent in Ohio with James, Paul was reported to have toasted the idea of forming "our own Big Three" with Stoudemire and Anthony during Anthony's wedding in New York. That comment, never publicly corroborated by Paul, is directly in line with what sources say has become his overriding strategy for the next step in his career. Call it the Miami Model, the South Beach Effect, or whatever you want. It's the new normal for young NBA superstars looking for a new home and a better chance to win.

"Players want to follow in those footsteps," an NBA front office source said. "They all want to do that. Everyone got excited about it, and it opened up the players' imaginations as to what they could do."

For more from Ken Berger, check him out on Twitter: @KBerg_CBS

I would really love to deal for him, but you know it would take a boatload of assets to acquire him, and i dont think we would be much of contenders in the east if we traded essentially our whole team for Paul.

BlueSeats wrote:I'm not the best at this cap stuff, but I don't see how we could manage Melo and CP. Most FA signings these days are S&Ts, so some combination of Curry, AR and Gallo would probably be required for Melo, leaving what exactly to get CP? Even if Melo came as a FA (not S&T), we'd have to let Eddy expire to do it, leaving which players, with salary to match, to trade for CP?

I just don't see the assets to get this done.

We can get either of Melo or Paul assuming that NO or Denver were willing to play ball... Curry plus some young talent would be enough under the trade exception to get Paul. However, that would mean that we wouldn't have cap space to sign melo outright... so I don't see how you do it without knowing that you have the ability to get Melo via a trade including Felton.

The best plan for the Knicks would be to trade expirings this year (Curry, Chandler, Azubuike (not before 12/8/10)) for a star, or just let them expire and try to sign Melo next year. I guess it comes down to the cost... I would include Douglas or Walker in a deal for Paul this year, but not Randolph or Gallo.

EwingsGlass wrote:

BlueSeats wrote:I'm not the best at this cap stuff, but I don't see how we could manage Melo and CP. Most FA signings these days are S&Ts, so some combination of Curry, AR and Gallo would probably be required for Melo, leaving what exactly to get CP? Even if Melo came as a FA (not S&T), we'd have to let Eddy expire to do it, leaving which players, with salary to match, to trade for CP?

I just don't see the assets to get this done.

We can get either of Melo or Paul assuming that NO or Denver were willing to play ball... Curry plus some young talent would be enough under the trade exception to get Paul. However, that would mean that we wouldn't have cap space to sign melo outright... so I don't see how you do it without knowing that you have the ability to get Melo via a trade including Felton.

The best plan for the Knicks would be to trade expirings this year (Curry, Chandler, Azubuike (not before 12/8/10)) for a star, or just let them expire and try to sign Melo next year. I guess it comes down to the cost... I would include Douglas or Walker in a deal for Paul this year, but not Randolph or Gallo.

If I read you correctly, you're saying we (theoretically) have the assets for either of CP or Melo, but not both.

Maybe if we do a real reclamation job on Felton, he + a resigned Gallo could net CP (optimistic assumption,) and Curry/AR/Chandler/Azubuike could net Melo. I suspect some 1st rd draft picks would need to be sprinkled in here and there as well.

I guess it's possible, but we'd need to be real lucky, like KG to Boston, or Gasol to LA, kind of lucky.

1) Even though Paul provides a list of teams he'd want to go to, he doesn't really have that much leverage here. He still has 2 years on his contract, so nearly every team (except those who already have a stud PG like Utah or Chicago) will be offering a package to NOH. He doesn't have a no-trade clause if NOH would rather send him to Minnesota for example.

2) The Knicks would've had the assets for a Paul trade if they didn't sign Felton. With Felton, it complicates matters, cause the biggest thing we could've offered was our ability to give instant cap relief in exchange for taking on Okafor's 4 year contract. Trust me, with the new owner-friendly CBA coming, getting rid of Okafor is going to be a requirement in any Paul trade and we're one of the few teams who can help New Orleans in that regard. We also have promising young assets in Chandler, Gallo, and Randolph (although we shouldn't give up all three).

However, since we have Felton signed, a package for Paul/Okafor can't be made until Dec 15, and even then, it'd be a tough sell to NOH to take on 2 years of Felton's deal, when they already have Collison as their replacement point. Another option would be to just include a bunch of spare parts like Turiaf/Azubuike/Mozgov for Okafor, and Curry/Chandler/Randolph for Paul. A 6 for 2 player deal is pretty unheard of though, but it gives them the salary relief they'd want + young prospects.

scoshin wrote:If Paul is really demanding out, that's great news cause that's really the only way Knicks would have a chance of trading for him.

1) Even though Paul provides a list of teams he'd want to go to, he doesn't really have that much leverage here. He still has 2 years on his contract, so nearly every team (except those who already have a stud PG like Utah or Chicago) will be offering a package to NOH. He doesn't have a no-trade clause if NOH would rather send him to Minnesota for example.

2) The Knicks would've had the assets for a Paul trade if they didn't sign Felton. With Felton, it complicates matters, cause the biggest thing we could've offered was our ability to give instant cap relief in exchange for taking on Okafor's 4 year contract. Trust me, with the new owner-friendly CBA coming, getting rid of Okafor is going to be a requirement in any Paul trade and we're one of the few teams who can help New Orleans in that regard. We also have promising young assets in Chandler, Gallo, and Randolph (although we shouldn't give up all three).

However, since we have Felton signed, a package for Paul/Okafor can't be made until Dec 15, and even then, it'd be a tough sell to NOH to take on 2 years of Felton's deal, when they already have Collison as their replacement point. Another option would be to just include a bunch of spare parts like Turiaf/Azubuike/Mozgov for Okafor, and Curry/Chandler/Randolph for Paul. A 6 for 2 player deal is pretty unheard of though, but it gives them the salary relief they'd want + young prospects.

You give up 2 centers and sg in that deal leaving us with chandler, curry and ok4er.

Not good, your other 2 points are good, and it looks like a 3rd team would have to get involve

Elite wrote:when can we trade Felton??? lol

60 days

C - Turiaf
PF - Amare
SF - Gallo
SG - Azabuike
PG - CP3

that's a playoff starting 5 w/o a doubt & you have 2 superstars to build around... i'd do it.