The inescapable truth for this off-season is that Chris Paul trade rumors will fly until he is moved or the Hornets take the floor in October for their opening game.  That, of course, will be frustrating for many Hornets fans, and depressing for others.  For a while, I've been sitting in the 'depressing' camp, but now I'm past that, and instead of dwelling on Paul leaving, I decided to take advantage of the ESPN TrueHoop Network and solicit the network's Team Bloggers for their best offers for Paul. 

A good half of them responded, and here are the offers, ranked and grouped in logical fashion, and accompanied by my own mockery analysis.  One blogger, who opens up our bidding, didn't even go after Paul, but instead tried to give Paul to someone else and steal West in the process.

Group 1: Hahahaha . *gasp* . . hee hee . . . wait, you're serious?

Offer #13 Brendan Jackson of Celtics Hub

Team Offers Receives
Boston Celtics Rasheed Wallace and no one I've ever heard of David West. Oh - and Paul goes to Indiana for Danny Granger.
Thanks, Brendan for the laughs.  Somehow I don't think trading Paul and David West for Granger and Rasheed Wallace's retirement party would do much for New Orleans.  For more info about Jackson's offer, take a gander over at his site.

Offer #12 John Krolik of Cavs: the Blog
Team Offer Receive
Cleveland Cavaliers $11.5 Million Trade Exception, JJ Hickson, Mo Williams, Leon Powe, Danny Green Chris Paul, Emeka Okafor
Sigh.  I weep for Cleveland.

Group 2: And that helps the Hornets rebuild . . . how?

Offer #11 Rob Mahoney of The Two Man Game

Team Offer Receive
Dallas Mavericks Tyson Chandler, $3 million cash, 2 2nd round picks Emeka Okafor
Dallas Mavericks Caron Butler, JJ Barea, Deshawn Stevenson, Rodrigue Beaubois, 3 million cash, 2 1st rounders Paul and Pose

The fact this has to be two trades tells you everything you need to know about it:  They have to break it into two trades so they can give the Hornets enough cash to hide the fact that other than one undersized, unproven PG, none of the players being given to the Hornets are likely to be there a year later, and that the draft picks will be nearly worthless.  For more on Rob's offer and hopes for landing CP3, see his post about Castles on a Cloud.

Offer #10 Michael Schwartz of ValleyoftheSuns

Team Offer Receive
Phoenix Suns Jason Richardson, Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley, Earl Clark, Taylor Griffin, 2 1st round picks Paul and Okafor

I like Richardson, but he's an old two guard who won't be around long.  Dragic and Dudley would be nice off the bench, but the Hornets would end up with no center and no way to get one.  Two crappy draft picks and the 6th and 7th men in a rotation just don't do it for me.  For more on the Valley of the Suns offer, here's Michael's 'defense' of it.

Group 3: At least there's some young talent in these offers.

Offer #9 Tim Donohue of Eight Points, Nine Seconds

Team Offer Receive
Indiana Pacers TJ Ford, Troy Murphy, Brandon Rush/Paul George, Tyler Hansbrough, 2 1st rounders Paul and Okafor

Paul George and Hansbrough could possibly be rotation players, but I can't like this offer.  I know Indiana needs to keep players like Hibbert and Rush to have a chance to win with Paul, and while the picks might actually be better than most - there's just not enough young talent here.

Offer #8 Mike Kurylo of KnickerBlogger

Team Offer Receive
New York Knicks Eddy Curry, Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, Wilson Chandler, Bill Walker, Toney Douglas Paul and Okafor
This is one of two offers made by Mike.  I don't like Wilson Chandler or Bill Walker much, and the Hornets would have no center since Curry makes Aaron Gray look Svelte.  Douglas and Randolph are at least interesting.

Offer #7 Brett Hainline of Queen City Hoops
Team Offer Receive
Charlotte Bobcats Dampier(immediately waivable), Nazr Mohammed, Gerald Wallace, Gerald Henderson, Derrick Brown Paul, Okafor and Posey
I <3 Gerald Wallace.  Nazr and Dampier could even be kept for a year for a decent center tandem.  Henderson could be a nice defensive guard.  The big problem?  The Hornets will rebuilding, and other than Henderson, none of these guys are young with potential.  Oh, and no draft picks.  Where's the picks, Brett?

Offer #6 Henry Abbott of Truehoop
Team Offer Receive
Portland Trailblazers Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla, Andre Miller, Rudy Fernandez, Jerryd Bayless Paul, Okafor and . . . Thornton
Yeah, I'm still intrigued by Oden, and like what Przybilla does out there.  However, this trade boils down to wanting to trade the Hornets one real contributor from the Trailblazers last year, Andre Miller, and in return, he gets Paul, Okafor and Thornton.  Oh - and I wouldn't trade straight up for Bayless and Fernandez.  Just can't get behind this until Batum enters the conversation - and Thornton leaves it.

Offer #5 Mike Kurylo of KnickerBlogger

Team Offer Receive
New York Knicks Eddy Curry, Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf, Kelenna Azubuike, Toney Douglas Paul and Okafor
Randolph is a rebounding, athletic machine who could turn out to be pretty phenomenal.  Azubuike and Toney Douglas are very efficient shooters and scorers.  Sadly, the Hornets still end up with no center, and Collison, Thornton, Azubuike and Douglas are all a little undersized to provide a real backcourt.

Group 4: Okay, at least we won't just say no and hang up.

Offer #4 Rahat Huq of Red94

Team Offer Receive
Houston Rockets Aaron Brooks, Jordan Hill, Shane Battier, Jared Jeffries, Dave Andersen, Mike Harris, Alexander Johnson, rights to swap draft picks with the New York Knicks in 2011 (top 1 protected), and the New York Knicks' 2012 draft pick (top 5 protected) Paul and Okafor

Andersen, Harris and Johnson are only partially guaranteed and would give a small bit of immediate cap relief.  The Knick picks are nice.  Aaron Brooks is an amazingly efficient scorer.  That said, the Knicks picks were better this year than they will be going forward, and only netted a #9.  Two mid-round picks aren't enough to make me overlook the fact that Jordan Hill, Shane Battier and whatever the Hornets flip Brooks for isn't much of a haul for Paul and Okafor.

Offer #3 Tim Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell

Team Offer Receive
San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker(to be flipped elsewhere), Tiago Splitter, Antonio McDyess, 2 1st rounders Paul and Okafor

Tiago Splitter will be good, and Parker would be good for something in a flip to another team.  McDyess and the 1st rounders won't be worth much.  Still, I don't make a trade like this until I know exactly what I'm getting for Parker, who has made noise about leaving San Antonio after this year anyways.  You could probably get most of the good stuff offered in number 5 for Parker, but I can't be sure of that.

Offer #2 Tom Sunnergren of Philadunkia

Team Offer Receive
Philadelphia 76ers Jrue Holiday, Andre Igoudala, Mareese Speights, Jason Kapono, Thaddeus Young Paul and Okafor
This is intriguing.  Yes, Igoudala's contract is big, but Igoudala and Young would combine with Thornton and Collison to be a devastating fast break.  The major problem, once more, is that the Hornets again have no center, since Speights is very unproven.  Though - it could be fun to watch Gray trying to run in a fast break offense.  Grade A entertainment, there.  For a fun read, visit Philadunkia's take on this offer.  Good stuff there, plus a reminder that Paul's freaking incredible.

Group 5: Let's talk Business

Offer #1A Eddy Rivera of Magic Basketball

Team Offer Receive
Orlando Magic Vince Carter(semi-expiring contract in 2012, $4 million guaranteed if waived before June 30, 2011), Jameer Nelson, Marcin Gortat, Brandon Bass/Ryan Anderson, $3 million cash, 2 1st rounders Paul, Okafor and Posey

Gortat and Anderson really shore up the Hornets frontcourt, and the cash and picks are okay.  Still, the most important part of this trade would be what the Hornets could get by flipping Vince Carter and Jameer Nelson - and flip them they should.  The have expirings in Peja and Songaila and Wright before getting Carter - so let them cut your salary burden by expiring and move these pieces for something else. (More on that at the end of this post.)  If the Hornets can't get much in a flip of those two guys, then go with the next offer.  [For more about this offer from the Magic's side of things, take a look at Eddy's post explaining it.]

Offer #1B Dan Feldman of PistonPowered

Team Offer Receive
Detroit Pistons Greg Monroe, Austin Daye, Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince, Chris Wilcox, 2 1st round picks, 2011 Nugget 2nd rounder Paul and Okafor
It's freakish that I'm picking the Pistons offer as one of the best ones.  I didn't think they'd have enough talent to swing it, honestly.  Still - Monroe fills the hole at center, Prince/Daye fill the hole at the 3, and Stuckey is the perfect combo guard behind Collison and Thornton.  Oh - and since what's left in Detroit won't be world-shaking, the picks they are offering should at least still be mid-rounders.  For more on this offer, PistonPowered has their own post up about it.

Bonus Group: Multi-team deals

I do have one massive trade proposed by Jeremy Wagner of the Roundball Mining Company. You can see it here in the ESPN trade machine.  I didn't include it in the ranking since it was a 4-team deal.  It does have a bit to commend it by providing point guards to Charlotte and Indiana - both of which need them badly.  It also gives the Hornets a good starting center - though JR Smith would have to be flipped.  If about three first round draft picks were included and directed the Hornets way, it could be pretty solid.  Still I prefer the next one, which combines several of the above proposals.

This trade is mine.  I started with the offer from Orlando, and then tried to flip Vince Carter and Jameer Nelson for something else. Quickly, I found nice homes for them in Philly and Indiana.  Here is the trade in the ESPN Trade Machine.  The trade would also include Orlando sending a 1st round pick to New Orleans and another to Indiana.

  • Philly gets to dump Brand's contract, which they were willing to give up the 2nd pick of the draft to let go.  They replace him with Okafor, who fills a hole in the middle and is paid less per year.  Andre Igoudala is moved for a Vince's almost-expiring contract - and Vince and his range is a much better wingman for the shooting-challenged Evan Turner.
  • Indiana gets a solid point guard in Jameer Nelson, which they have a desperate need for.  They send out a promising big man in Hibbert to get him, but they pick up a draft pick and shed Dahntay Jones and spare part Foster in the deal.  They also get Julian Wright . . . to make salaries match.
  • Orlando gets Chris Paul, and believe it or not, Posey isn't bad on this team, operating as a stretch four to spell Rashard Lewis- which is the one thing he can still do well.  Elton Brand also serves as a solid backup center.  A very expensive one, but Paul and Howard will be crushing, particularly when surrounded by shooters like Redick, Lewis, Pietrus, Posey and Richardson.
  • Finally, New Orleans rolls with a great new crop of young players, some of whom are bound to develop nicely.  Their depth chart would be:

C: Gortat/Hibbert/Gray/Foster
PF: West/Anderson/Brackins/Songaila
SF: Igoudala/Stojakovic/Pondexter
SG: Jones/Thornton/Pondexter
PG: Collison/Thornton

The team can even still explore trading expirings at the trading dealine too, since they'll still be armed with the expiring contracts of Stojakovic, Foster and Songaila, worth about $25 million.  Or they can sit on it, and use that money to re-sign Thornton, West and a nice mid-level guy next year.

So what offers did you like?  Any of them?