Chris Paul on the Trade Block: Will History Repeat Itself?

SactownSunsFan

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It was December of '96 when the Suns traded Michael Finley, AC Green and Sam Cassell for Tony Dumas, Loren Myer and.... budding superstar Jason Kidd. Kidd was widely considered to be a top 3 Point Guard in the league at the time, but it was a move that did not come without question.

The Suns still had 3-time All-Star and 5-time All-NBA selection Kevin Johnson. Johnson, now 9 seasons into the league, was getting older and his numbers had dipped slightly, but he was still going strong at 18-19 points and 8-9 assists per game. The Suns had also used their 15th pick in the NBA draft the previous summer on promising point guard prospect Steve Nash. To cap off the summer, the Suns added solid veteran Sam Cassell in the Barkely trade who, at age 27, had helped lead the Houston Rockets to 2 World Championships as their primary back-up Point Guard.

Despite the inapparent need for a Point Guard, the trade paid off. The Suns had started the season 0-13, but finished strong winning 20 of their last 26 to make the playoffs as the 7th seed before bowing out to the # 2 seed Sonics three games to two. The following season the Suns finished 56-26, a far cry from the 40-42 record of the previous season.

Now, nearly 14 years later, we find ourselves in a similar situation. The Hornets' Chris Paul, widely considered a top 3 Point Guard, is apparently on the trading block. With 2-time MVP Steve Nash still manning the Point at an elite level, coupled with the flashes of brilliance shown by back-up Goran Dragic, it appears the Suns have no need to trade for a Point Guard... so why do it?

The Trade: (After June 30th, when Paul's BYC expires)

Hornets send: Chris Paul, Emeka Okafor
Suns Send: Jason Richardson, Leandro Barbosa, Earl Clark

Why the Suns do it: Nash is entering his 14th season and will be 37 before the next All-Star game. He is, by all means, close to retirement. Dragic, as brilliant as he's looked at times, is still a bit of a mystery. Adding Chris Paul would solidify our point guard position for the foreseeable future. Despite Paul's height (6'0 on a good day) his quickness and tenacity on defense makes him one of the league's better defenders, and he's led the league in steals 2 of the last 3 seasons. Like with KJ, the Suns could experiment by sliding Nash to the 2-guard spot, allowing him to conserve energy while allowing the younger Paul to handle most of the offensive load. Taking in Okafor means the Suns have a solid defensive Power Foward to step in should Amare decide to walk (and this deal would most assuredly make that happen).

Possible depth chart in this scenario (and assuming we can resign Frye and Lou):

C: Lopez (28) / Frye (20)
PF: Okafor (32) / Amundson (16)
SF: Hill (32) / Dudley (16)
SG: Nash (20) / Dudley (15) / Dragic (13)
PG: Paul (34) / Nash (10) / Dragic (4)

Why the Suns wouldn't do it: While the roster situation is a bit similar, the success of the team is not. The 96-97 Suns were in bad shape when they pulled the trigger on the trade. The 09-10 Suns just came off a surprising run to the WCF's before bowing out to the eventual NBA champions. If it ain't broke, as they say, don't fix it.

Another thing to consider: Nash's reaction to such a trade. Steve is absolutely the leader of this team, and this trade only works if he is receptive to the idea.

Other things that might hold a trade like this back include Sarver's apparent cheapness and, as mentioned previously, this would pretty much seal the deal on Amare's departure.

Why the Hornets do it: Quite simply, the Hornets are in a financial nightmare and must shed salary. Making this trade offers them the ability to shed upwards of $100 million over the life of both Okafor's and Paul's contracts, while also receiving a nice young prospect in Earl Clark.

Why the Hornets wouldn't do it: There will likely be a lot of suitors for Chris Paul, and those suitors may be able to offer much better proposals than the Suns can possibly put together.

Chance of this happening (my guess): 0-15%

In any event, I hope this made for a good read. :D
 
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SactownSunsFan

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exactly. I'd love it if we could grab Paul, but we'd at least need to throw in Dragic for them to even consider.

IDK, they have Darren Collison who I think they feel strongly about. If they wanted another guy to sweeten the deal, I would think they'd target Dudley over Dragic.
 

dreamcastrocks

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IDK, they have Darren Collison who I think they feel strongly about. If they wanted another guy to sweeten the deal, I would think they'd target Dudley over Dragic.

Possibly
 

Suns_fan69

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The Hornets already have their Dudley in James Posey. Not sure what his contract is like though and he is certainly starting to creep up in age.
 

elindholm

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Cassell came over in the Barkley trade, not as a FA.

Okafor has pretty significant negative trade value, so my guess is that if Paul is making a big stink behind closed doors and a trade partner is willing to take on Okafor, you could see something happening. The Suns would have to give up something of value, though. Richardson is an expiring, Barbosa is probably overpaid, and Clark has zero trade value to anyone not wearing purple-and-orange glasses.

Offer Richardson, a re-signed Frye at something like $12M/3yr, and Dragic for Paul and Okafor, and you'd have the Hornets' attention. Maybe Amundson gets included also in order to make the numbers come out. It would be a shame to lose Dragic, but I'm a huge Paul fan, so the Suns would probably be happy if they made that deal.
 

SunsTzu

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There isn't a team in the league that wouldn't soundly outbid the Suns on any of the offers being mentioned.
 
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SactownSunsFan

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Cassell came over in the Barkley trade, not as a FA.

Okafor has pretty significant negative trade value, so my guess is that if Paul is making a big stink behind closed doors and a trade partner is willing to take on Okafor, you could see something happening. The Suns would have to give up something of value, though. Richardson is an expiring, Barbosa is probably overpaid, and Clark has zero trade value to anyone not wearing purple-and-orange glasses.

Offer Richardson, a re-signed Frye at something like $12M/3yr, and Dragic for Paul and Okafor, and you'd have the Hornets' attention. Maybe Amundson gets included also in order to make the numbers come out. It would be a shame to lose Dragic, but I'm a huge Paul fan, so the Suns would probably be happy if they made that deal.

Ah that's right about Cassell, for whatever reason my memory was telling me free agent. I should have fact checked on that. I included Barbosa because his contract expires in 2 years (unless he opts out of his final year, which is unlikely), which may be of more value to a franchise struggling financially than anything else. Maybe it does take a Dragic or a Dudley to get the trade to work, but if I'm the Suns FO, the J-Rich/Barbs/Clark package would be my initial offer.
 

devilalum

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There isn't a team in the league that wouldn't soundly outbid the Suns on any of the offers being mentioned.

The Suns have nothing to offer in the way of a trade for a superstar. Didn't the Nets offer the #3 and a good young player for Paul?

If Amare walks the Suns could use their cap room to make a nice smaller deal with a team that wants to shed some salary.
 

elindholm

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Didn't the Nets offer the #3 and a good young player for Paul?

Not for Paul and Okafor together. Including Okafor brings the price down. I agree that the Suns would still have a hard time being competitive, but the equation would at least change.
 

Suns_fan69

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The Suns have nothing to offer in the way of a trade for a superstar. Didn't the Nets offer the #3 and a good young player for Paul?

If Amare walks the Suns could use their cap room to make a nice smaller deal with a team that wants to shed some salary.

Rumour has it that the Nets offered Devin Harris and the #3 pick. I haven't seen much of Devin Harris since his Mavs days but I doubt the Hornets are that interested when Collison is both younger and arguably better. And didn't Harris sign a massive extension?
 

azsportsfan01

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The Suns have nothing to offer in the way of a trade for a superstar. Didn't the Nets offer the #3 and a good young player for Paul?

If Amare walks the Suns could use their cap room to make a nice smaller deal with a team that wants to shed some salary.

Suns have no cap space even if Amare walks. We can only sign him because of the Bird rights.
 

devilalum

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Suns have no cap space even if Amare walks. We can only sign him because of the Bird rights.

I thought they'd have about $8 mil. if Amare and Frye leave. If true that could net them a KT type of deal.
 

azsportsfan01

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That $8 mil or so would have to be spent on at least 5 guys. If Frye and Amare leave then we would only have 8 guys under contract. I'm assuming we want to keep Lou, who deserves a raise which would only decrease the amount we can spend. We really don't have any money to spend unless we can unload J-Rich's contract.
 

jlove

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Well, since it looks like we're gonna lose Amare, we are gonna need a starting 4. Why not make it a bit bigger at the same time saving the Hornets even more money and keeping both teams very competitive?

Paul/West/Okafor
for
Nash/Amare (S&T)/Clark/Dwaye Collins
 

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