Hornets Exec: "No Deals for Paul"

[Minstrel]

Except that timeline isn't correct. They got rid of Allen first. The decision was made to break it all down when they got the #2 pick.

Ah okay. I thought they lost Lewis first. So, I agree then that they weren't destitute of talent when they liquidated. Of course, they already had their "good fortune" in hand when they made the decision. They knew they were getting Oden or Durant. That's still quite different than burning it all down and then hoping to get a blue chip draftee.

 

[hasoos]

This reminds me of when Drexler left. There was supposedly no deal on the table then either.

 

[Idog1976]

They might. How did that work out for New York/New Jersey this off-season? Again, if New Orleans has made no strides by then...it's possible they might lose him. Of course, if they can't make any strides in two seasons, what chance do they have of successfully doing a slash-and-burn rebuild? Either way, they have to believe that they can make good basketball moves. I think if they make good basketball moves over the next year or two, they (with their "larger max" offer than New York/New Jersey can offer) will be more attractive to Paul than a largely undeveloped New York/New Jersey (if they build normally, it will be hard [though not impossible] to have cap room for a max deal).

Just as one example, CP3 and Lopez is a hell of a core and a second best to teaming up with Howard. If Favors pans out and NJN deals Harris for SG or SF they easily trump NOH. Also, Paul wants to win and a couple of Million more may not be enough to retain him.

 

[Boob-No-More]

The point is, that in a dream season when they won 49 games and made the playoffs they still weren't at capacity in a small arena with one of the best players in the league. I don't see them repeating that season any time soon, and if their star player, once thought to be their savior, doesn't want to be there, I doubt that helps attendance either.

The dream season was the year before when they won 56 games and made it to the second round of the play-offs. That is the season they were a dark horse. They only averaged 82.4% capacity that season, in spite of being in 1st place in the SW division from pretty much start to finish. In fact, it took a huge late season push (something like selling out the last 16 or 17 home games) just to just barely average enough attendance to keep Shinn from opting out of his stadium lease and moving the team.

Of course, the big bump in attendance was the following season. As a young team that was perceived to be up and coming. They sold a lot more season tickets that off season. That's why they were at 98.7% capacity the following season.

Unfortunately, their performance regressed, season ticket sales plummeted and capacity was back down to 88.5% and headed south.

Here's another potential scenario where trading Chris Paul may actually help George Shinn sell the team. NO is a horrible market for basketball. As long as the team is there, they will struggle financially. As I mentioned above, there is a clause in the stadium lease that allows the team to get out of their stadium lease and move the team if attendance drops below a certain level (I think it's something like 14,140, I'd have to look it up to be sure, but I know they barely made it in 2008 - the year they won 56 games!).

Trading Paul would surely kill attendance short term. In which case the team would be free to move to a more lucrative market. So, trading Chris Paul could actually make the team more valuable to a new owner as they would no longer be locked into a long term stadium lease in a maret that will always struggle finanacially.

BNM