Knixkik wrote:

scoshin wrote:

TMS wrote:

scoshin wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:Odds are we arent getting CP3 by trade unless Randolph becomes Garnett or Gallo becomes Dirk Nowitski.

No we aren't getting him now, but the way NOH is playing may be good for us in the long term. Obviously NO is content not trading Paul and trying to build this thing around him. They are playing well, but clearly are a good regular season team but not a contender by any means. If they keep playing well, Paul will be content riding out his contract. At the end of the contract if they still don't look like a championship team he will up and leave them for a better situation. Hopefully that situation involves Amare, Melo, Gallo, Fields, Moz, Douglas and so forth. We may not be able to retain Chandler or Randolph along the way but our dream lineup is this in 2 years.

C Mozgov, draft pick or FA big
PF Stoudemire, draft pick
SF Melo, Fields
SG Gallo, Rautins
PG Paul, Douglas

A couple rebounding backup bigs makes us a championship team.

To sign Paul and have Melo/Amare on the team, we'd have to renounce our rights to pretty much our entire team, which includes Gallo/Mozgov, etc.

who cares? i'd give up everyone on this team other than Amare to get CP3 to NY... u put him next to Amare & Melo will follow... the rest of the roster u put together with minimum salary guys that take less to play on a championship contender like they did with Miami, or with 2nd round pick selections or D League filler... i don't care... just getting 3 superstars together on the same team like that would be huge for NY.

I'm not disagreeing. I'm just pointing out that the fantasy of having Amare, Melo, and Paul can't include Gallo and Mozgov in it. Douglas is cheap and may be able to be squeezed in. Same with Fields, but we only have Fields on a 2-yr contract, and if he continues to play this well, he'll probably required $3M or so to resign.

What if Paul decides to come here for much less money and Amare and Melo give him the difference out of pocket? If we are calling this a fantasy then we can think whatever we want. I think most would have said up until a few days before it actually happened that Lebron, Wade, and Bosh was a major fantasy.

It's a lot less money though. Amare will make $20M in 2012. Melo, if extended, is poised to make the same. Even if we assume Melo takes a small paycut, and the salary cap goes up, we'd still have roster cap holds. If we don't renounce Gallo and Mozgov (who combined would take up another $7M or so in cap space), at most, we can offer Paul something in the ballpark of $8M, which he most definitely will not accept. And I'm pretty sure it'd be considered CBA circumvention to have players promise to give a portion of their salary to get another player to sign.

The only real way to get Amare/Melo/Cp3, whether in FA or by trade, is to completely clear the decks and gut the entire roster. It's the only way we can have room. The ideal scenario, which is what the OP proposed, is to trade for Paul now, centered around a Felton/Turiaf package with ALL our young assets and whatever picks it would take. We'd be left with no team, but as soon as Curry/'Buike expire, we can then sign Melo in 2011. And you know he'd be willing to wait if we had CP3 on board. This is a pipe dream though since NOH's hot start. There is no way I see the Hornets trading him this season.

scoshin wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

scoshin wrote:

TMS wrote:

scoshin wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:Odds are we arent getting CP3 by trade unless Randolph becomes Garnett or Gallo becomes Dirk Nowitski.

No we aren't getting him now, but the way NOH is playing may be good for us in the long term. Obviously NO is content not trading Paul and trying to build this thing around him. They are playing well, but clearly are a good regular season team but not a contender by any means. If they keep playing well, Paul will be content riding out his contract. At the end of the contract if they still don't look like a championship team he will up and leave them for a better situation. Hopefully that situation involves Amare, Melo, Gallo, Fields, Moz, Douglas and so forth. We may not be able to retain Chandler or Randolph along the way but our dream lineup is this in 2 years.

C Mozgov, draft pick or FA big
PF Stoudemire, draft pick
SF Melo, Fields
SG Gallo, Rautins
PG Paul, Douglas

A couple rebounding backup bigs makes us a championship team.

To sign Paul and have Melo/Amare on the team, we'd have to renounce our rights to pretty much our entire team, which includes Gallo/Mozgov, etc.

who cares? i'd give up everyone on this team other than Amare to get CP3 to NY... u put him next to Amare & Melo will follow... the rest of the roster u put together with minimum salary guys that take less to play on a championship contender like they did with Miami, or with 2nd round pick selections or D League filler... i don't care... just getting 3 superstars together on the same team like that would be huge for NY.

I'm not disagreeing. I'm just pointing out that the fantasy of having Amare, Melo, and Paul can't include Gallo and Mozgov in it. Douglas is cheap and may be able to be squeezed in. Same with Fields, but we only have Fields on a 2-yr contract, and if he continues to play this well, he'll probably required $3M or so to resign.

What if Paul decides to come here for much less money and Amare and Melo give him the difference out of pocket? If we are calling this a fantasy then we can think whatever we want. I think most would have said up until a few days before it actually happened that Lebron, Wade, and Bosh was a major fantasy.

It's a lot less money though. Amare will make $20M in 2012. Melo, if extended, is poised to make the same. Even if we assume Melo takes a small paycut, and the salary cap goes up, we'd still have roster cap holds. If we don't renounce Gallo and Mozgov (who combined would take up another $7M or so in cap space), at most, we can offer Paul something in the ballpark of $8M, which he most definitely will not accept. And I'm pretty sure it'd be considered CBA circumvention to have players promise to give a portion of their salary to get another player to sign.

The only real way to get Amare/Melo/Cp3, whether in FA or by trade, is to completely clear the decks and gut the entire roster. It's the only way we can have room. The ideal scenario, which is what the OP proposed, is to trade for Paul now, centered around a Felton/Turiaf package with ALL our young assets and whatever picks it would take. We'd be left with no team, but as soon as Curry/'Buike expire, we can then sign Melo in 2011. And you know he'd be willing to wait if we had CP3 on board. This is a pipe dream though since NOH's hot start. There is no way I see the Hornets trading him this season.

Realistically its not going to happen, but you never know what changes can come about along the way.

TMS wrote:

jazz74 wrote:i just wanted to know where are all those people who were angry this summer of the notion of us trading for paul. i was one of the people who said trade ANYBODY but amare to get him and want him more than anyone else, including lebron but people said i was nuts. well, there you go.

they really have nothing to say... CP3 has pretty much dispelled any notion that he couldn't play up to his old level anymore... this guy is the perfect complement to Amare's game... other than Steve Nash, who i would be willing to go after also, i don't see a better match for Amare, this coach & this system.

I dont remember anyone being angry, just that they wanted to see CP3 perform and make sure his knee was AOK.