Comments on: Trade Idea: Maybe the Pistons could actually trade for Chris Paul after all (UPDATE: Offer gives Pistons victory in Chris Paul trade contest)

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:34:30 +0000

Well said, Patrick. (Although I’m not sure the East is still the lesser conference.) Chris Paul is a superstar — a superstar who makes his teammates much better. The Pistons have a bunch of talented, but perhaps slightly overpaid, players who’d still be on the team after this trade. Paul would have a great chance of getting them on track.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:30:27 +0000

Marcus, are you saying the Pistons shouldn’t make the deal or the Hornets wouldn’t or both? Since when is a trade that makes a 27-55 team an instant contender (your words) a bad thing?

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:28:38 +0000

Eric, the trade would no longer work cap-wise. And even if it did, the Hornets would turn it down. Monroe is the centerpiece of the trade.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:27:30 +0000

Sam, the Pistons won’t trade Ben Wallace. He signed to play in Detroit, and trading him would tarnish Joe Dumars’ image for future free agents. Plus, I don’t think Wallace is too old for the Hornets to accept in this deal instead of Monroe.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:25:00 +0000

Odeh, there are other ways to score inside besides dumping the ball into a back-to-the-basket player. The most common of those other ways: have an excellent point guard who can get frontcourt players easy baskets. Not only can Chris Paul fill that role, he’s the best in the league at it. That’s why I think the Pistons could get away with frontcourt players who can’t create for themselves.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:22:06 +0000

Don, I’d rather have Oden or Randolph than any of Stuckey, Monroe or Daye, too. But the latter three have solid chances of becoming very good players. I don’t think it’s cut and dry you take one player more likely to be a star over three with a chance to be very good.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:19:52 +0000

Nuetes, that’s an excellent point about trading Paul without Okafor. That could be enough to make up for Paul not having as much time left on his contract.

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:05:58 +0000

I think a lot of people on here are under-valuing Chris Paul. A healthy Paul, surrounded with mediocre talent, is a guaranteed playoff team.
Look at his NO roster that almost beat the Spurs in the second round three years ago. You could make an argument that if this trade were made, a team of Paul surrounded by Gordon, Okafor, Maxiell, Wallace, Jerebko, Bynum plus a mid-level signing is better than that Hornets team. And factor in that the Eastern Conference is still the weaker conference, and the Pistons would be at worst in the 4-6 seed range.
Yes, it’s unlikely. But if that’s what it took to get Paul, and he’d be at least mildly agreeable t playing here, then do it.
And Marcus, if you think Rip, Prince, Maxiell and Daye is remotely close enough to what it will take to get Paul, you don’t know the NBA. He’s a top three or four talent signed for two more seasons and still very young. It’s going to take a haul of young players, picks and expiring contracts to get him. You are willing to part with one marginal young player, one expiring contract and two really undesirable contracts (Rip/Max) and no picks? You wouldn’t even be in the discussion if you proposed that trade.
Yes, it’s a lot to give up. But it also makes the Pistons — remember, they’re not a good team right now — into a competitive one with potential to get better. Other players would want to come here to play with Paul, the same way they want to go play with other superstars.
Fans over-value their team’s young talent all the time. The Pistons could be in the lottery for the next 10 years and it’s unlikely they’d come up with a franchise-altering talent like CP.

By: Tom Y.

Tom Y. — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:18:17 +0000

Horrible trade idea, I can understand why NO would like it, but thankfully I’m pretty sure the pistons wouldn’t do it.
The point is to build a better team, not to “get Chris Paul”. Even the NO blogger said we’d be a mediocre team after that – and just how would we improve further without draft picks and our most promising young players?
I’m not saying all we need right now is growth from our young players or something, but we should make a good trade, not just trade so we can have a big name on our roster (and I do love CP, I just don’t think he’d get us anywhere on his own, and would probably leave).

By: Odeh

Odeh — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:13:43 +0000

@djun…I hope you are being sarcastic. Let me analyze this one for you.
Gilbert Arenas:
Pro’s
Was once a great player
Cons
One of the worst contracts in the league
Horrible efficiency-40% from the field
Injury Prone-hasn’t played a full season in about 4 years
Doesn’t play defense
Monta Ellis:
has 4 years remaining on his contract at more than 11 mill a year at a position that we already have Ben Gordon and Rip sketched in.
Thank God Joe is running the Pistons and not you.