FanPost

Daydreaming About Chris Paul And A PF



I am reaching my fill of KP bad news, and am feeling a little claustrophobic about the end of our season coming up soon, so I decided to break the cardinal rule about free agent/trade posts in the 2nd half of the season. If you don't want to read, please move right along with your day.

The genesis of this post was the return of Chris Paul to a Hornets team that is cash-strapped and now has what appears to be a totally viable and cheaper point guard in Darren Collison. That got me thinking...

There have been no shortage of Chris Paul to the Blazers discussions in the past, but beyond the hope that New Orleans would just get rid of him in a fire sale, there was no real logic to it. I would argue that it now appears likely that the Hornets will at least explore what they can get in return for Paul and consider building around Collison.

The other thing that changed was my opinion of LaMarcus Aldridge. I am now officially on the fence about his ability to be a key member of a championship team. He certainly has shown now ability to come through in the clutch, even at the free throw line (is he shooting 0% at the line in last 2 mins of close games?). The guy has a high ceiling in terms of talent, but I'm having trouble picturing him stepping up in a high stakes playoff game when it counts. I'll continue to have trouble picturing that until he can step up in low stakes regular season game.

So, I'd be willing to package up LMA and anyone else on the roster outside of Brandon to get Paul. This would leave a gaping hole at PF. I ask my BE community friends if there is any combination of moves we could make that could land us Paul and a viable PF through free agency or trade. Clearly, we have Amare, Bosh, Boozer and others on the market.

Anyone care to play this out with me?