Chad Ford: Trade for Paul was very close

[maxiep]

Batum is one of my favorite players in the NBA. If he leaves the Blazers, I likely watch games of whatever team he is on.

But, if we can get Chris Paul, for what essentially boils down to Batum, Bayless, some future picks and cap space - DAAAAAAAAM - you have to do it. Fact is, that deal is too good to be true, which is why it didn't happen.

I think Monty's plan is to bring Travis to NO. We know he covets Nico and he likes Jerryd a lot. It points to me to being more of an uptempo team.

 

[Chuck Taylor]

I wonder what we could add to sweeten the pot without discussing LMA or Oden? Babbitt? Rudy? Future picks? One of Paul Allen's yachts?

 

[Ed O]

Good luck negotiating without a GM.

Yes, without someone wearing a GM hat it's impossible to get anything done.

Haha.

Ed O.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Yes, without someone wearing a GM hat it's impossible to get anything done.

Haha.

Ed O.

In this case I think Miller might actually be a goo choice to handle the trade because of his existing relationship with Paul from his days at brand Jordan.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

send in the man in the hat.

 

[Masbee]

JQuick re-iterates Blazers will make another strong push for Chris Paul

Well hot damn.

I applaud the franchise for going for it. They are making the right choice. Swing for the fucking fences. If we strikeout, which is likely, we are "stuck" with this patetic roster we already have......wait, we will be just fine.

While the top franchises, and the new blood Nets, and the Knicks dream of hauling in LeBron, Bosh, etc., while the bottom teams hurry up fast to horribly overpay so they can lockup non-Top 10 talents: Atlanta w/ Joe Johnson; Memphis w/ Gay; Minny with whatever it is they are doing; as the LeBron losers chase after the "privlige" of paying $20mil per year to Amare or Boozer, the Blazers can just sit back and make a play for one of the truly best players in the NBA. If Paul were a free agent, after LeBron, who would be more desired than him?

 

[Nikolokolus]

send in the man in the hat.

Oh yeah, I forgot about "hat guy" http://www.dwightjaynes.com/one-of-...of-so-what-exactly-is-the-role-of-the-hat-guy

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Well hot damn.

I applaud the franchise for going for it. They are making the right choice. Swing for the fucking fences. If we strikeout, which is likely, we are "stuck" with this patetic roster we already have......wait, we will be just fine.

While the top franchises, and the new blood Nets, and the Knicks dream of hauling in LeBron, Bosh, etc., while the bottom teams hurry up fast to horribly overpay so they can lockup non-Top 10 talents: Atlanta w/ Joe Johnson; Memphis w/ Gay; Minny with whatever it is they are doing; as the LeBron losers chase after the "privlige" of paying $20mil per year to Amare or Boozer, the Blazers can just sit back and make a play for one of the truly best players in the NBA. If Paul were a free agent, after LeBron, who would be more desired than him?

Imaginary Cap Space doesn't win championships. Its big, lopsided deals like this that does. If we do this, we're a dynasty again!

 

[maxiep]

I have a pretty good guess who leaked the info to Chad Ford: Kevin Pritchard.

P.S. Even if we had pulled that deal off, he still gets fired.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I have a pretty good guess who leaked the info to Chad Ford: Kevin Pritchard.

How dare you impugn the good name of KP like that

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I refuse to believe it's possible unless/until it actually happens, but I wouldn't be surprised if I have a "Paul-on-the-Blazers" dream tonight.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

If they are still thinking of trading for Paul (and including Batum), it doesn't seem to have been a great idea to trade Webster.

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

If they are still thinking of trading for Paul (and including Batum), it doesn't seem to have been a great idea to trade Webster.

Thats what the MLE is for

Get Mike Miller

 

[Nikolokolus]

If they are still thinking of trading for Paul (and including Batum), it doesn't seem to have been a great idea to trade Webster.

Not if they can snag a decent free agent with the MLE (like Morrow or Matthews). With Paul, Roy, LMA and Oden as your core it's OK to round out the roster with decent, but not necessarily great players and in time I feel that Williams, Babbitt and maybe Johnson can give you reasonable production off the bench (Williams for his defensive potential, Johnson because he might actually be able to develop into a solid reserve point guard and Babbitt becuase of his supposed ability to space the floor).

 

[Idog1976]

I would have blinded myself from the explosion in my pants ifthis deal had gone off so would have I. Love Batum Paul is one of two players in the league (who are possibly available) I would consider trading him for. OMFG miller get this biatch done!

 

[Nikolokolus]

I would have blinded myself from the explosion in my pants ifthis deal had gone off so would have I. Love Batum Paul is one of two players in the league (who are possibly available) I would consider trading him for. OMFG miller get this biatch done!

I'm pretty sure there's a pill for that.

 

[Minstrel]

Gosh. That would be a pretty great trade, as much as I like Batum.

As much as I love Batum and like Bayless' potential....I'm so sad that it got nixed. I cannot believe that deal got close to consummation.

 

[Nikolokolus]

It needs to be said that even if something doesn't happen with Paul this summer, there's a good chance this could get revisted at the trade deadline ... in which case if Joel P shows he can be a contributor again and Nic Blows up (like I suspect he could) then it could become an offer that the Hornets can't refuse. Worst case: We still have Miller and Batum and pretty competitive team.

 

[Draco]

I'm pretty sure there's a pill for that.

There's a pill that will prevent the blindness?

 

[Nikolokolus]

There's a pill that will prevent the blindness?

Sadly no, just the exploding pants thing.

 

[Minstrel]

So close to discovering the missing link in KP being fired. If KP had been the one to pull out of this deal, he was fired with cause. But, no...it was (unsurprisingly) New Orleans, who suddenly realized they would be dealing away the best point guard since Magic.

 

[Idog1976]

Sadly no, just the exploding pants thing.

And here I thought you meant some sort of reverse blue pill:

By the way I'm never doing an image search for viagra EVER again because after seeing this image result:

I now need a fistfull of these pills:

 

[OddEnormous]

I've never felt this excited and depressed at the same time.

Obviously masturbation come close, but those emotions are separated by a few seconds. Not at the same time.

 

[SheedSoNasty]

That would have been a real steal for the Blazers. Losing Batum would hurt, but getting back a player of Paul's caliber would more than make up for it.

I still think the Blazers will make another push for him. I just hope he doesn't end up being sent to Orlando or worse, OKC (no rumors there).

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/17470/teams-still-pursuing-cp3

Last week Chris Paul trade talk hit a frenzy before the Hornets went public and stated they had no intention of trading Paul.

This week a league source told me that the Blazers actually made some progress toward landing Paul.

According to the source, the Blazers got close to a deal with the Hornets last week that would’ve sent Andre Miller, Joel Przybilla, Nicolas Batum, Jerryd Bayless and the 22nd pick to New Orelans for Paul and Emeka Okafor before Hornets GM Jeff Bower pulled out of the deal claiming that their owner wasn’t ready to trade Paul.

The Hornets no longer need to trade Paul for financial reasons. The trade they made on draft night with the Oklahoma City Thunder got them out of the luxury tax, so that’s no longer the issue.

The issue is whether Paul is now unhappy enough to force a trade. The Blazers believe he is and will continue to pursue a Paul deal. They won't be alone.

Both the Knicks and Nets are planning to step up pressure on the Hornets if they don't land LeBron. Both teams can offer massive cap relief to the Hornets if they take Paul and Okafor off their hands. The Knicks could also offer Danilo Gallinari. The Nets can offer Derrick Favors and Devin Harris.

 

[Minstrel]

I've never felt this excited and depressed at the same time.

Obviously masturbation come close, but those emotions are separated by a few seconds. Not at the same time.

then ur doing it wrong

 

[RoyToy]

Would Paul be a player/GM for the Blazers?

 

[Minstrel]

Would Paul be a player/GM for the Blazers?

If so, I'd feel better about losing KP.

 

[Masbee]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/17470/teams-still-pursuing-cp3Both the Knicks and Nets are planning to step up pressure on the Hornets if they don't land LeBron. Both teams can offer massive cap relief to the Hornets if they take Paul and Okafor off their hands. The Knicks could also offer Danilo Gallinari. The Nets can offer Derrick Favors and Devin Harris.

I am not worried about the Knicks so much. Because of the quote that I paraphrased from Chris Paul where he expresses concern about being traded to a team that doesn't end up with MORE talent than the Hornets currently have, I think he would reject a trade to the Knicks. There just isn't any way the Knicks can make their situation look good to Chris Paul.

The Nets on the other hand, would be very tough competition for the Blazers. They a variety of ways to get a deal done so that they give good value to the Hornets on the one hand, and retain a nice core of players to excite Paul on the other. Plus the bonus of shipping Paul to the Eastern Conference. That is all assuming that the Nets can land LeBron or Bosh as well.

 

[Cake]

And in the end, they didn't.

True. But they clearly gave it a LOT of thought.

It shows that the "THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!! WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT!?!?!?! WE OVERVALUE OUR PLAYERS!!!" crowd was wrong.

And going forward, New Orleans won't have the money to improve their team around Chris Paul. It's a possibility that he asks for a trade and I'm glad to see that we actually have some assets that they would consider in trade for him.