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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

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Imagine you found a door in your house that entered Dell Demps mind today- allowing you to manipulate his thoughts and words. For those of you who have seen the 1999 film Being John Malkovich, you can relate to this scenario. For others, I know it seems rediculous, but go with me here. 

Now Chris Paul sits down with you today and has one simple objective- to win. He wants to know from you what your plan would be to accomplish this goal moving forward. Here is your chance- what do you say?

As part of the Hornets247 community, we want to hear from you. What would your plan look like? Lay it out for us and comment on others' plans as well. Remember, be respectful- if you disagree that is fine, but cite your reasons for disagreement in a respectful manner.

I will go first and I fully expect most to disapprove, but what is discussion without critical feedback? Here goes:

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New Hornets GM Dell Demps met with Chris Paul today to discuss the recent trade rumors and to assure Paul that the team is headed int he right direction

Below is a transcript from the press conference that followed.

Opening Statement

First of all I’d like to say I’m really excited to be here today. This morning, Chris Paul, his agent Leon Rose and his brother C.J. Paul met with Hugh Weber and Monty Williams and I at about 10 a.m. We met for about an hour and a half and I thought it was a very productive meeting. I was encouraged. It was the first time I met Chris. It was a good opportunity for us to open the lines of communication. Chris had some very good points. He’s a smart, young, intelligent person, and I was really excited about the meeting.

Q: At any time, did Chris, Leon or his brother formally request a trade or talk about wanting to be traded from New Orleans?

Demps: You get right to the point, huh? He did not. He did not request a trade.

Q: Did he seem disgruntled whatsoever. What was Chris’ demeanor?

Demps: He was energetic, he was open, he was honest. He showed that he wants to win, and that’s what we want to do, as well.

Q: Were you confident that he will play for the Hornets this season?

Demps: I am.

Q: There has been so much conjecture and hearsay in the media. How much did Chris confirm these thoughts, as far as his desires that were put out in the media?

 

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Well, the Hornets and Paul had their sit-down.  The Hornets were doing the presenting, with Hugh Weber, Dell Demps and Monty Williams doing the talking.  Paul and his agent Leon Rose were listening - and there's no word about if they were doing any presenting themselves. (of lists, that is) 

Paul's first statement, via twitter:

On Monday 26th July 2010, @Oneandonlycp3 said:

“The meeting went well.  It was great to get an opportunity to sit down with Coach Williams, President Weber and our new General Manager Dell Demps. I expressed my desire to win and I like what they said about the direction that they want to take the team.  I have been a Hornet my entire career and I hope to represent the city of New Orleans and state of Louisiana for many years to come.”

For those of you who want Paul to stay like me, let's hope it's real.

[Update]  As to the idea that Paul was presenting lists of destinations, here is the Hornets statement addressing that issue:

Hornets general manager Dell Demps says star guard Chris Paul did not request a trade during a meeting with New Orleans executives.

Demps says he is confident that Paul will be playing with the Hornets this season after Monday's meeting, which included new coach Monty Williams and team president Hugh Weber.

Perhaps nobody informed Chris Paul, but his recent rumblings about wanting to win do nothing but hinder the Hornets, his Hornets, ability to build a contender around him. He claims that his number one goal is to win a title in New Orleans, but the recent leaks from his camp leave the Hornets in a position in which they are unable to build around Paul in fear of losing everything.

The Hornets best chance to substantially improve their roster this year, trading Darren Collison to shore up a weaker position, turned to dust, at least temporarilly, at the global realization that Chris Paul is truly intent on leaving New Orleans. An example of a trade like this is the Granger deal talked about weeks ago. Although that trade was fabricated out of thin air, the reality remains that a highly beneficial trade is possible, but only if Paul is committed for the long term.

On a team with tons of expiring contracts and only one true non-essential player with high trade value it seemed a forgone conclusion that if the season was going well, a deal sending Collison out of town would be announced before the trade deadline. That was how the Hornets would be able to add talented players this season in spite of their salary obligations. That was how they would position themselves as a premier destination for players in the summer of 2011. All in all, that was how they could become a contender in the short term with Chris Paul.

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