[WWL] Hornets won't promise to keep Paul

This would suck hard...

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The New Orleans Hornets today refused to guarantee fans that super star point guard Chris Paul will be back in a Hornets uniform next season.

General Manager Jeff Bower said he has a responsibility to entertain all offers.

Several teams have reportedly contacted the Hornets inquiring about Paul.

WWL's Kristian Garic reports Bower today would not specifically comment on what he called "rumors" surrounding Chris Paul.

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http://www.wwl.com/Hornets-won-t-pro...p-Paul/7526670

You trade chris paul and this franchise will not be in New Orleans in 3 years

Way to fan the flames, WWL. The less savvy fans could start panicking now. Thinking that we're just saying we aren't actively interested in trading Paul, but are really looking to move him.

This is going to be...interesting to say the least.

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

You trade chris paul and this franchise will not be in New Orleans in 3 years

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Overreact much?

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You trade chris paul and this franchise will not be in New Orleans in 3 years

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that is a dumb statement, as long as Chouest buys the team, they will be here longterm

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

You trade chris paul and this franchise will not be in New Orleans in 3 years

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I wouldn't go that far ... but you are right, if it's possible for the Hornets to drop any further off of the local fans' radar, then trading CP would do it.

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Originally Posted by changchang

that is a dumb statement, as long as Chouest buys the team, they will be here longterm

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Chouest isn't buying the team without CP3. Assets like Paul are hard to come by. They earn by themselves.

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

You trade chris paul and this franchise will not be in New Orleans in 3 years

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A.) If we get a good enough deal you take it, you don't worry about the fans.

B.) Chouest can take the losses.

C.) I'm tired of hearing how Chris Paul is bigger than the franchise, win some playoff series before you can consider yourself in that position.

Is Lebron or Wade or Kobe or Dwight coming in place of Chris Paul? If not...

1. Yes, you do worry about the fans

2. That's exactly what Chouest will take .... losses


3. Unless any of the above players are coming, I don't see the Hornets winning a playoff series no where in the near future so we won't have to worry about that.


That is one reason why this franchise will remain mediocre. We have mediocre fans to match the mediocre franchise. You finally get a star franchise player and you want to give him away for a bag of chips. Talk about bush league. :hihi: Lawd let me go somewhere else.

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Originally Posted by Saints Fan in A

Chouest isn't buying the team without CP3. Assets like Paul are hard to come by. They earn by themselves.

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Oh c'mon man. Seriously. This is the New Orleans Hornets. Not the Chris Paul Hornets.

Assets like Paul are indeed hard to come by, but when the future of your whole franchise hinges on just one player, no matter how good, you're already setting yourself up for disaster.

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Originally Posted by changchang

that is a dumb statement, as long as Chouest buys the team, they will be here longterm

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Who says Chouest will by the team if its main asset (chris paul) is gone?? if he was smart then he wouldnt buy the team. Trading Chris paul is not going to help the hornets what so ever. Whose Jersey are kids wearing at games? who does the common fan come to see? who does the team market as their front man? With Chris gone you loose all of that for a couple of years. With the success of the saints and the other distractions in New Orleans/ Louisiana, the hornets will become a far after thought.

Chouest will buy the team because he loves basketball, not because he wants to watch Chris Paul play for two seasons and leave. The Hornets are not a good investment b/c of Paul, they are a good investment ONLY if the NBA crushes the player's union in 2011 and gets the business model on track.

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

You trade chris paul and this franchise will not be in New Orleans in 3 years

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This is not true. The sky will not fall if we trade Chris Paul.

Alot of you don't understand the business of basketball and how to build a team.

You can't seriously compete in the NBA if 3 out of your 4 best players are under 6'4".

Chouest is going to buy the team with or without CP ... his desire to own a team is not predicated on CP being here.

While Chouest can handle the losses it will not be a great position to be in. We are already having attendance issues, without CP it will be worse starting an awful cycle. What do you do?

Well, I would trade CP if and only if we can dump all of our bad contracts and truly remake this franchise over this summer. If not, then keep him and wait for that kind of super deal.

CP is not bigger than the franchise but we all know the NBA is a star driven league. LOTS of fans are here only because of CP, once he is gone we will take a massive hit ... both in the stands and in the press (where it will be brutal).

Think NO is trashed as an NBA city now? Just wait until CP is traded, it will be very brutal.

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

Who says Chouest will by the team if its main asset (chris paul) is gone?? if he was smart then he wouldnt buy the team. Trading Chris paul is not going to help the hornets what so ever. Whose Jersey are kids wearing at games? who does the common fan come to see? who does the team market as their front man? With Chris gone you loose all of that for a couple of years. With the success of the saints and the other distractions in New Orleans/ Louisiana, the hornets will become a far after thought.

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Or how about this? Maybe that's why the sale really hasn't gone through yet because they're too busy trying to trade Chris Paul. Forget about the idea that Chouest is trying to find minority partners. They're too busy trying to trade Chris Paul. That must be it.

We were soft as toilet paper in the middle of our defense last year, and if we were to make some moves to strngthen our interior, and improve the athleticism of our wing men I think we could make some noise this year without CP.

While I do think we could compete without CP... I really don't want to see him leave.

Chouest wouldn't be the person I thought he was if he was buying a local team just because of ONE player that could very well walk in two years anyway.

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Originally Posted by NYKF Hornet

Chouest is going to buy the team with or without CP ... his desire to own a team is not predicated on CP being here.

While Chouest can handle the losses it will not be a great position to be in. We are already having attendance issues, without CP it will be worse starting an awful cycle. What do you do?

Well, I would trade CP if and only if we can dump all of our bad contracts and truly remake this franchise over this summer. If not, then keep him and wait for that kind of super deal.

CP is not bigger than the franchise but we all know the NBA is a star driven league. LOTS of fans are here only because of CP, once he is gone we will take a massive hit ... both in the stands and in the press (where it will be brutal).

Think NO is trashed as an NBA city now? Just wait until CP is traded, it will be very brutal.

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I already couldn't stand watching ESPN this season because of our atrocious season. I watched NFL Live on ESPN and that was it.

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Originally Posted by NIH

A.) If we get a good enough deal you take it, you don't worry about the fans.

B.) Chouest can take the losses.

C.) I'm tired of hearing how Chris Paul is bigger than the franchise, win some playoff series before you can consider yourself in that position.

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What deal have you seen that the "common fan" would care about? The reason I talked about the common fan here is because the "common fan" is the people that are buying the most tickets. I dont think the common fan would know or care who Devin harris or Yi or Lopez is. all the "common fan" will see that the hornets trade chris paul for players to a team that had the worst record last year.

WHo says chouest will buy the team??

NBA fans are fickle all they care about is superstars. so to most fans this is chris pauls team.

This isn't the Cleveland LeBrons.....like NIH said if the deal is good enough you take it and don't worry about the fans at all.

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

Chouest wouldn't be the person I thought he was if he was buying a local team just because of ONE player that could very well walk in two years anyway.

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He'd be like a mega creepy fan boy or something.

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Originally Posted by NIH

Chouest will buy the team because he loves basketball, not because he wants to watch Chris Paul play for two seasons and leave. The Hornets are not a good investment b/c of Paul, they are a good investment ONLY if the NBA crushes the player's union in 2011 and gets the business model on track.

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so hes going to drop 200 mil for team that is sub-par and has just traded away a top 5 player just because he loves basketball?

I could really care less what ESPN thinks..

It would be stupid not to do a trade that will make us better RIGHT NOW and in the future. Just to keep ONE star player who probably will be walking out the door in 2 years anyway.

Two years from now when CP is leaving, and we got nothing for him we are going to look like the dumb ones.

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Originally Posted by HunnyB

I already couldn't stand watching ESPN this season because of our atrocious season. I watched NFL Live on ESPN and that was it.

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Every critic will come out of the woodwork telling the world how NO is a failed NBA market that cannot hold onto stars. I'm sure Shinn will take some heat as well, but I expect the city to draw more negative attention from a deal.

That's why it's so important that Chouest owns the team and we re-brand. We all need a new start, I'm tired of Shinn's rep and lack of money staining our city. It's almost as bad as it was with Benson in his heyday ... back when the media was saying NO was perfect for a Super Bowl but horrible at supporting the NFL. That's the kind of issues you can have when your owner is a poor fool.

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

You trade chris paul and this franchise will not be in New Orleans in 3 years

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Would you rather we wait for him to leave at the end of his contract and get nothing out of it?

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

What deal have you seen that the "common fan" would care about? The reason I talked about the common fan here is because the "common fan" is the people that are buying the most tickets. I dont think the common fan would know or care who Devin harris or Yi or Lopez is. all the "common fan" will see that the hornets trade chris paul for players to a team that had the worst record last year.

WHo says chouest will buy the team??

NBA fans are fickle all they care about is superstars. so to most fans this is chris pauls team.

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The common fan cares if the team wins and is exciting to watch.

If you have a roster of:

Collison
MT5
11th pick
West/Favors/Cousin
Lopez

You can bet that roster will be winning and fun to watch. Winning sells tickets, remember in 2007/08 the fans didn't show up until the AS Break when it was CLEAR that the Hornets were contenders. Chris Paul had been having an MVP type season since November but the fans didn't come until early February. Why is that? They started buying tickets to see a winner, not Chris Paul. You make a trade that aquires a high pick, a young all star, and another role player and we will be in a position to win again.

My thing is 2 years is awhile away. We have expiring contracts up at the end of this year so I would rather wait and see what we can do this upcoming summer then freaking out and trading away chris paul.

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

so hes going to drop 200 mil for team that is sub-par and has just traded away a top 5 player just because he loves basketball?

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The team can improve by trading Paul, and we were already sup-par with him. Two playoff appearances in five years isn't exactly HOF worthy.

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Originally Posted by NYKF Hornet

Every critic will come out of the woodwork telling the world how NO is a failed NBA market that cannot hold onto stars. I'm sure Shinn will take some heat as well, but I expect the city to draw more negative attention from a deal.

That's why it's so important that Chouest owns the team and we re-brand. We all need a new start, I'm tired of Shinn's rep and lack of money staining our city. It's almost as bad as it was with Benson in his heyday ... back when the media was saying NO was perfect for a Super Bowl but horrible at supporting the NFL. That's the kind of issues you can have when your owner is a poor fool.

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They're already doing this. :hihi: So imagine if this were to happen. One doesn't have to be the biggest Chris Paul fan, you don't have to like him at all, but you'd have to be crazy to think it wouldn't affect anything, both with the franchise and with the perception of the franchise in the city of New Orleans.

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

My thing is 2 years is awhile away. We have expiring contracts up at the end of this year so I would rather wait and see what we can do this upcoming summer then freaking out and trading away chris paul.

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We're heading into a lockout and a new CBA. No one knows what those contracts will be worth.

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Originally Posted by NIH

The common fan cares if the team wins and is exciting to watch.

If you have a roster of:

Collison
MT5
11th pick
West/Favors/Cousin
Lopez

You can bet that roster will be winning and fun to watch. Winning sells tickets, remember in 2007/08 the fans didn't show up until the AS Break when it was CLEAR that the Hornets were contenders. Chris Paul had been having an MVP type season since November but the fans didn't come until early February. Why is that? They started buying tickets to see a winner, not Chris Paul. You make a trade that aquires a high pick, a young all star, and another role player and we will be in a position to win again.

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Sure that looks like a good roster on paper but what if favors/ cousin is a huge bust what if Lopez is not as good in the west as he was in the east what if you 11 pick is a bust? Draft picks arent guaranteed like we all know.

Bower isn't saying anything at all. Of course he would listen to every offer.

That's his job.

I get offers all day from people trying to settle cases. Sometimes, I try and get some business done. And sometimes I laugh my behind off and tell them to cram it.

That's how things work.

Sometimes you are better off trading a great player for a chance at 3-4 really good ones. That being said, you can't trade Paul without getting a young, emerging star, a starter, and a lottery pick. The team also has to take Okafor. You are going to take your lumps at first, but you could come out smelling a lot better than losing CP3 to injury for long stretches of time ala Tracey McGrady, which is what I fear CP3 is headed for.

I'd love to see what teams are offering for CP.

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Originally Posted by NIH

We're heading into a lockout and a new CBA. No one knows what those contracts will be worth.

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Correct me if im wrong but didnt they say this NFL season was going to be a lockout?

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Originally Posted by NIH

The team can improve by trading Paul, and we were already sup-par with him. Two playoff appearances in five years isn't exactly HOF worthy.

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One (2009-10)when he was injured and two because he was too busy helping the team get out of the gutter from 18 wins. The first 2 we had to crawl before we walked after 18 wins and the 3rd the injury was just too much. You know we are a .500 and above team with Chris Paul. You know that. If we're sub-par with him what the heck were we this season without him? I know you're not a CP fan but some of the things you say trip me out.

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Originally Posted by NIH

You make a trade that aquires a high pick, a young all star, and another role player and we will be in a position to win again.

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Couldn't agree more with your post ... but I'm highly skeptical that the Hornets could do what I quoted.

I see us getting picks and expiring contracts for CP. And that's the kind of thing that drives fans away.

It's abundantly clear many fans are frustrated to the point of either not caring ... or caring too much. Either way, the Hornets are not coming out of any of this in a positive light. You have the Saints winning a Super Bowl and giving the city a great image, on the other side you have the Hornets that appear to be falling apart and give our city a terrible image. It's not like fans were packing the arena, attendance is down all over the league, but it's more glaring here and it's actually reported more here as well.

Giving away BD was addition by subtraction, trading CP is not nearly the same kind of thing. Not at all. Fans are going to care if he is traded.

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

Sure that looks like a good roster on paper but what if favors/ cousin is a huge bust what if Lopez is not as good in the west as he was in the east what if you 11 pick is a bust? Draft picks arent guaranteed like we all know.

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Every trade is a risk, but I'd rather take the risk of 3-4 players than put all of my eggs into the basket of a guy who could leave us with nothing in a few years.

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Originally Posted by Hornetfan23

Sometimes you are better off trading a great player for a chance at 3-4 really good ones. That being said, you can't trade Paul without getting a young, emerging star, a starter, and a lottery pick. The team also has to take Okafor. You are going to take your lumps at first, but you could come out smelling a lot better than losing CP3 to injury for long stretches of time ala Tracey McGrady, which is what I fear CP3 is headed for.

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That's the thing though. Everyone wants to hold onto their star players while trying to rob the Hornets of their's. They're trying to make their team better at winning games while they're trying to make the Hornets better by relieving them of salary. :hihi: Get outta here. :hihi:

This is no longer the subject for me. I'll stick to draft talk for now.

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Originally Posted by NYKF Hornet

Couldn't agree more with your post ... but I'm highly skeptical that the Hornets could do what I quoted.

I see us getting picks and expiring contracts for CP. And that's the kind of thing that drives fans away.

It's abundantly clear many fans are frustrated to the point of either not caring ... or caring too much. Either way, the Hornets are not coming out of any of this in a positive light. You have the Saints winning a Super Bowl and giving the city a great image, on the other side you have the Hornets that appear to be falling apart and give our city a terrible image. It's not like fans were packing the arena, attendance is down all over the league, but it's more glaring here and it's actually reported more here as well.

Giving away BD was addition by subtraction, trading CP is not nearly the same kind of thing. Not at all. Fans are going to care if he is traded.

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I see what you're saying but Baron was a quasi-all star, Chris is by most accounts the top PG in the game. The value we can get in return will be much greater than BD who was a headcase with injury problems.

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

Correct me if im wrong but didnt they say this NFL season was going to be a lockout?

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No, this year was always going to be an uncapped year if no new CBA.

Next season (11-12) will be a lockout in both the NFL and NBA.

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Originally Posted by Smirk

No, this year was always going to be an uncapped year if no new CBA.

Next season (11-12) will be a lockout in both the NFL and NBA.

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Alright thanks.

The Hornets need to do whats right for the sake of rebuilding the organization properly. When they returned to New Orleans from YHT, they built the team with the idea of marketing to the casual fan. I say rebuild properly, whether it's popular or not...and if you do it right, you reap long term success rather than a quick window that will slam shut again and leave us in cap hell.

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Originally Posted by NIH

Every trade is a risk, but I'd rather take the risk of 3-4 players than put all of my eggs into the basket of a guy who could leave us with nothing in a few years.

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Its a huge risk but I think the better risk is to wait a year or two and see what happens with this team. No one except Paul knows what he is going to do in 2 years. People can speculate all they want but know one really knows. Ask ESPN they are the kings at speculation.

That's the smartest statement by Bower I've seen yet!

It's not a risk to rebuild a team around a player who won't be here in two years...it's suicide.

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Originally Posted by chubbs91

Its a huge risk but I think the better risk is to wait a year or two and see what happens with this team. No one except Paul knows what he is going to do in 2 years. People can speculate all they want but know one really knows. Ask ESPN they are the kings at speculation.

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With our cap situation and draft history the bigger risk is to stand pat and let Chris decide if he wants to play for a non-contender or not.

You can trade Paul this summer and get major value, or you can trade him in February 2013 when he's all but gone and teams know it so they'll low ball us.

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

Oh c'mon man. Seriously. This is the New Orleans Hornets. Not the Chris Paul Hornets.

Assets like Paul are indeed hard to come by, but when the future of your whole franchise hinges on just one player, no matter how good, you're already setting yourself up for disaster.

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How valuable were the Cavs before they drafted LeBron? Or the Heat before Dwayne Wade? A company is only as valuable as its assets. Chris Paul is the Hornets primary asset. They don't sell on their own. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

They should deal Paul if they got a great deal. For example, the Harris, #3, Lopez for Okafor, Paul would have to be considered. Another good thing about being willing to trade Paul is it shows teams how much we trust in put Collison and maybe boosts his value.

would choest still buy the team without chris paul on it??

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Originally Posted by Saints Fan in A

How valuable were the Cavs before they drafted LeBron? Or the Heat before Dwayne Wade? A company is only as valuable as its assets. Chris Paul is the Hornets primary asset. They don't sell on their own. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

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Everyone knows this -- they also know the Hornets don't even sell with Paul and, as NIH mentioned above, his trade value is only going to plummet. The Hornets are not going to attract any big name free agents this year or next.

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Originally Posted by CP4MVP

would choest still buy the team without chris paul on it??

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Are you joking? :idoh: