Chad Ford and Bill Simmons Talk Hornets

Below are excerpts from a recent chat on ESPN.com between Bill Simmons, Chad Ford, and whoever wanted to chime in with a question. You probably won’t enjoy this too much, but today is apparently an angry day around here and we might as well keep that going. Seriously we are getting pooped on by the media.

Keep in mind- The Hornets had a crappy season considering our expectations, but most of us still had an awesome time. Some people have even admitted to having a better time this year than the year before. There were exciting new rookies, hope for the future, and even a reason for the disappointment. As a bonus we got to watch Jeff Bower and Tim Floyd coach. You know that experience (Bower’s at least) will help the team going forward.

So anyway- Here is the chat. It’s not particularly flattering to the feelings of New Orelans fans, or to the city:

 

Let’s say LeBron’s camp tells NJ: If you get Chris Paul, we’re going there and we’re bringing Bosh.

At that point, if you’re NJ, don’t you offer the No. 3 and Brook Lopez + cap filler for Paul?

Sounds like a lot, but if I’m ending up with LBJ, Paul and Bosh, eff that, I’m doing it.

Here’s the problem with that and why, if you were ever a GM, you’d have to hire me to help you make deals work. NO can’t just trade Paul for cap space. They need a young All-Star and lots of cap space. If NJ trades them the No. 3 pick for Paul and Okafor (the bad contract) they don’t have room for LeBron. Ditto for all of the other teams with cap space. It just doesn’t work. So unless New Orleans says … we are destroying our franchise … it doesn’t work.

How is the No. 3 pick (Favors or Turner) plus Brook Lopez (one of the best young bigs in the league) “just trading Paul for cap space.” Isn’t that a gigantic haul?

Paul + Okafor = $25 million. Bye, bye cap space.

Or what about a 3-teamer: Harris to Indy, No. 3, No. 10, Lopez and Yi’s contract to NO, Paul to NJ?

No room left for LeBron … and I didn’t see your last post on Brook Lopez. I agree Lopez and 3 would be enough for New Orleans. But Nets are capped out.

Someone still has to take Okafor and his $12 million he’s owed next season.

Otherwise, the Hornets don’t get enough financial relief.

I have the Nets at $22 million for next year. Harris $9, Humphries 3.2, Yi $4, Williams $2, Lopez 2+, Lee $1.3… is that wrong?

Seems like they could absolutely fit Paul-LBJ-Bosh in there. I do agree that NO needs to dump Okafor or Peja/Posey in any CP3 trade but if they could rebuild their team with Lopez, No. 3 and No. 10 I think they have to say yes to that…

It’s a little higher with draft picks and cap holds. Let’s say 26 million not counting the No. 3 pick.

PS: Thought it was fascinating that CP3 admitted he was open to a trade today… I think he could be the swing guy for the Summer of 2010. He’s tight with LBJ-Bosh-Wade-Melo from 2008 China.

Only way they dump Okafor or Peja is if they include CP3 in deal. That’s whole point. New O doesn’t want to trade Paul But they may have to if they can’t find a way to get under the tax. Any team that trades for him has to take back $25 million and send no more than $10 million back. A combo of CP3-Okafor-LeBron will cost you $42.5 millon. No team has that flexibility.

Could Dallas get involved then? What about Butler/the French Rookie, Damp’s contract that can be waived, cap filled, $3 million and 2 No. 1′s for Paul/Posey/Okafor? Probably not enough…

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OK, with the 11th pick the Hornets take .. Xavier Henry. Because I love the Jayhawks and 40 plus percent of our readers say he’s the best pick on the board.

Smart pick – great value for the Hornets at No. 11. Like him and Marcus Thornton as future athlete/scorer/swing guys. He’s my pick for “the one guy outside of the top-4 who has a chance to make an All-Star team or two.”

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Bill … speaking of New Orelans … what was the dumbest expansion or relocation city for the NBA? New Orleans, Memphis, Vancouver, Oklahoma City over Seattle ????

I’d say giving Charlotte a second chance after that team failed the first time was the single strangest move. They couldn’t stop the OKC thing, that was the owners… Memphis is No. 2 for me, that never made sense.

It certainly could be George Shinn that’s to blame, but I’ve had a lot of NBA guys tell me there’s no way a pro team can thrive in New Orleans. When you have to consider trading your only franchise player to stay afloat … you should immediately be relocated or contracted.

I agree with that but I also appreciate the NBA’s post-Katrina commitment to making the New Orleans situation work… I think they’ve done everything they can to see if the NBA can work there and the situation deserved a few years to see… now with the oil spill, I mean, I just don’t see how the NBA could say, “All right, good luck people of New Orleans, we’re gonna move this team to a better basketball city!”

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that’s it.