Allow me to just state this openly before I get into anything else: I am a big fan of Chris Paul. I think he is the best point guard in the league and one of the top five players in the NBA today. But I am not a fan of his more recent comments in which it seems that he is demanding a trade from the New Orleans Hornets because he believes that the team is not doing enough to try and win in 2010-2011.
The era of entitlement in the NBA has been one that has driven a fair few casual fans away from the sport. Star players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade etc. have done little to dispel that theory during any points of their careers. James felt like the Cavaliers were not doing enough for him and he left to sign with the Miami Heat. Bryant at one point during his career with the Lakers seemed like he was on his way out of Los Angeles after suffering through a few title-less seasons without having a second star to help him. And we all have witnessed the tractor beam of 'awesome' that is Dwayne Wade pulling in stars like James and Chris Bosh to South Beach.
The supporting cast has become the excuse for any NBA star player to decide to leave a team. Now that the phrase 'supporting cast' has become so ingrained in NBA culture and punditry, so much so that it deserves a place in a Websters dictionary, it is never the star players fault that his team has not won. Which is ironic because much of the blame for a team's failure or praise for its successes is usually for its one big name player. Perhaps basketball is becoming more of a team sport? But as my fellow scribe Phil Fortuna pointed out in his letter to the editor, that does not seem to be the case.
First, let us examine Paul's supporting cast in New Orleans and see how it stacks up against the teams that he said he'd like to join (for those keeping score at home, they are the New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks and the Orlando Magic). And I think using the Miami Heat template for the SuperFriends playing basketball together is a good way to evaluate it.
Paul's implications about the state of the Hornets seem to be off for a few reasons. The first of which is that he actually does have some talented players around him. How all of a sudden David West became a second rate player is beyond me. West averaged 19.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game last season. Those numbers are on par with those of Amar'e Stoudemire (23, 8.9 and 1) and Chris Bosh (24, 10.8, and 2), the top two free agents in this year's free agent class.
Not only is David West a pretty good player, but the Hornets also had a rookie of the year candidate in Marcus Thornton last season. Thornton, a small forward, averaged 14.5 points, 2.9 boards and 1.6 assists in 73 games last season. Hornets center Emeka Okafor was no slouch either last season with 10.4 points per game and almost two blocks per game. The Hornets lack of success last season was down to poor coaching and Paul's injury. Luckily they had Darren Collison, who had a breakout year in the absence of Chris Paul.
Looking at the rosters of the supposed approved teams, Paul's supporting cast does not look to improve all that drastically. The only way I see him having a greatly improved SC is if he is traded to Orlando. Just imagining how many alley-oops Paul would be able to create for Dwight Howard is mind-boggling. If Paul really does want to leave, if I was Orlando I'd do anything to get him on that roster. Jameer Nelson is a good point guard, but let's be real, he's no Chris Paul.
I also think that the Trail Blazers would be a good fit for Paul. Brandon Roy is often overlooked because of where he plays but he is one of the top 10 or 15 best players in the Association. LeMarcus Aldridge is a rising star and if Paul were to join the Blazers he would be able to elevate them into a top three or four team in that conference. But I don't know if the Blazers would be willing to meet the Hornets demands, which ought to be very high.
And on to that. The Hornets ought to demand basically the world for Chris Paul. And I'm not just saying that because he is one of my favorite players. He actually is that good. From what I've been reading and hearing about this whole situation, Paul does not seem to be dead set on leaving New Orleans. What he really needs is some good convincing. And with a new coach and GM (and possibly a lame duck president), I highly doubt any of them want to be responsible for trading one of the franchise's best all-time players. Paul has two years left on his deal. If they cannot build a winner by that time, then he will have every right as a free agent to leave the Hornets. Whether or not the players around him continue to develop (Thornton and Collison) will have a major impact on that.
I personally do not think that the Knicks will be able to put together a good enough package to get Paul. The Hornets point guard does not have a no-trade clause in his contract so he has minimal say in which teams he could be dealt to. And the Hornets have little incentive to care about where they deal him so long as they get a top notch package in return. I think Orlando has the best shot to do that considering how much depth they have on their roster. If I was the Orlando Magic GM, I would just say to the Hornets "You can have nayone you want that is not Dwight Howard."
But for anyone thinking that Paul will be dealt before the season opens, I ask you to actually evaluate the situation before coming to such a conclusion. He has two years left on his current deal and I don't think the Hornets will want to give up two years of having him in exchange for whatever package they can get from another team (unless a truly extraordinary offer comes in).
Clearly the impact of this offseason is already being felt around the league. The alliance of the SuperFriends in Miami has given rise to a terrible potential phenomena in the Association. David Stern incentive-ized players to remain with the teams that drafted them by allowing those teams to pay their player a ton more money than he could make by signing with a new one (vis a vis Joe Johnson). It's truly disturbing to see players decide they want out of their current teams so that they can join forces Captain Planet style with another superstar player. I'm just hoping that does not happen, otherwise the NBA will become even less competitive and more banal. And that does not bode well for the Association.
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