Boston/New Orleans trade that might work
Even with the desire to reduce salary costs, I don't see New Orleans throwing away Paul (+ Chandler) for only Rondo and Allen. I also don't see Rondo and Allen keeping the Hornets competitive without Paul - they'd be an instant lottery team led by an aging Allen whose effectivity would be stymied if he was the sole offensive player to defend. Rondo needs good scorers/ shooters around him for him to be an effective PG. Perhaps Rondo at his peak with peak form Ray Allen and peak form Peja could have been interesting. Doing that now though = lottery team.
RUMORS:
In Boston, Danny Ainge came out and said that the Celtics are floating Ray Allen's name on the trade market. He also said that, for the right player, they'd be willing to listen to offers involving Rajon Rondo.
In New Orleans, the team is desperately trying to trim their payroll for next season.
In Chicago, the Bulls are publicly saying they want to keep Ben Gordon, but internally, they are debating whether or not, giving Gordon a long term deal is the right move.
THE TRADE:
BOS receives Chris Paul, Morris Peterson, & Tim Thomas' expiring contract.
CHI receives Ray Allen and Antonio Daniels' expiring contract.
NO receives Rajon Rondo & Kirk Hinrich, plus a draft pick or two.
BENEFITS:
BOS starts another "Big Three".
CHI commits only 1 year to a H.O.F. and has loads of cap space for the 2010 off-season.
NO saves $14M, while bringing in an up-and-coming All-Star, and another high-quality guard.
I'm a Knicks fan so I know about salary cap problems and that's just insanity! You don't see a top PG like Chris Paul that often at all! I'd much rather eat Tyson Chandlers contract then take back an inconsistent 2nd rate point guard like Rondo and an aging shoot first Ray Allen. When Allen's contract expires, good luck trying to draw talent unto a bad team in a mediocre at best market! Hell, if Paul was available you can have anything you want on my knicks team! Yea yea we're a lousy team but players like David Lee, Nate Robinson, and Wilson Chandler still sound better then crap like Mo Peterson, Antonio Daniels and Tim Thomas!
This trade makes sense on paper, if we're talking about cap space and being under the luxury cap, but not all PGs are created equal. Rajon Rondo is good, but Chris Paul is in a different league...Rondo will sometimes make those around him better, but Paul makes everyone around him consistently great...
New Orleans is looking to fix salary cap problems, but it also wants to stay on the elite tier...and with Chris Paul, they'd be elite. Paul is MVP conversation material. Rondo isn't.
If this trade actually happened, New Orleans would be extremely...stupid (?)
i think that the sixers are an up and contending team. All they need is a shooter and they cwill be good. I from, philly and i am a die heart sixers fan but i have to disagree with the elton brand aquisation. The way the sixers play run and gun josh smith would be a better fit for them
So now I see why people are complaining about the "2K9" trades. I mean, either this is a joke or someone doesn't understand that Chris Paul is considered one of the Top 5 players in the league. I don't think that New Orleans would trade him for ANYBODY, except maybe Kobe, LeBron, or Dwight Howard. Hell, even then, I don't think they would trade him. To be honest, now that I think about it, I don't think that New Orleans would trade him right now if they were offered anyone. Chris Paul has endeared himself to the city of New Orleans and all he has done is become the best PG in the league since his 2nd season. Of course, LeBron with a new contract.............
Since New Orleans wants to relieve cap space they can trade Chris paul and tyson chandler for Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo expiring contracts. It keep New orleans competitive plus with stojakavic probably retiring since he has back problems, they'll even have more money. Plus talented player like Rondo is good player to build your team around. Boston gets the young talent they want to fuse with their veteran superstars.