Larry Coon, the salary cap guru employed by ESPN (you are going to read a lot of him next summer when the lockout comes), made a great point this morning:
Three years ago, Kobe Bryant went ballistic. He was frustrated by the Lakers roster, the inability to win, so Kobe demanded a trade. He ripped Andrew Bynum to a couple of fans in a parking lot. He was under contract but he wanted out. Kobe was the superstar demanding to get out.
And the Lakers never moved him.
Because you do not move your superstar, there are too few of them to do that. They may leave at some point, that’s the system, but you don’t help them. The Lakers placated Kobe by going through the motions of looking at options, but they never were going to do it.
Chris Paul now is reportedly about to pressure New Orleans to trade him. He is the newest superstar that wants out. (This comes just a couple weeks after Chris Paul signs up with LeBron/Maverick Carter’s LRMR marketing company. Coincidence? Not bloody likely.)
The Hornets do not have to give in. They should not give in. There are not other Chris Paul’s out there, the Hornets need to try to build around him, not move him.
Certainly Paul and Kobe’s situations are different. Don’t confuse the rudderless ship that is Hornets ownership and management right now with the proven winner Jerry Buss at the top and a patient Mitch Kupchak at the wheel. Kobe did not see the big picture (and nobody saw the Pau Gasol trade coming). Paul doesn’t see the big picture, but nobody does. We’re not even sure who will own the team when the season starts.
Hugh Webber’s rush to fill in the vacuum of power does not instill confidence.
The Hornets can rebuild -- this is the last year of Peja Stojakovic’s oversized deal, he is a trade chip. David West is still good. Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton show promise. There are pieces there. Things can improve.
But things will not get better without Paul. Trade him and you start to rebuild from the ground up. New Orleans shouldn’t do that. Not until they have to.
Paul is not going to publicly say he wants to be traded, unless he feels like paying a massive fine to the NBA. Plus he would be vilified throughout the media and public. If there is one thing LRMR know how to do, it’s get stars publicly vilified.
I get Paul’s concern -- the Hornets are not very good right now. He re-signed with the team in 2008 when they looked like an up-and-coming team but they were capped out then and it was going to be hard to add pieces. Then guys reverted to the mean (the guys around Paul were not as good as they played that year, and they stayed healthy) and reality set in.
But he inked the deal. And he may regret that deal now, but that doesn’t mean the Hornets should. Nor should they trade him. Let him complain and pout all he wants. Just follow the plan. Well, in this case, first come up with a plan (Del Demps it’s on you) then follow it.