After missing out on LeBron earlier this offseason, it appears the Knicks are now moving their sights onto another young superstar. Chris Paul has recently asked the Hornets to trade him, giving them a list of teams with the Knicks on the top of his list. This news coming after Chris Paul made a toast at Carmello Anthony’s wedding to the big 3 in NY (Paul, Anthony, and Stoudemire) to compete against the big three in Miami. The Knicks have the assets to make the trade, and it seems like a strong possibility the Hornets will trade Paul, so will the Knicks get two coveted superstars in the offseason after all?

It seems like a strong possibility. New Orleans is a team in transition. They have a new GM, a new head coach and no great talent next to Paul. They have a lot of bad contracts and Paul realizes they will not be able to compete for a title any time soon. He saw LeBron leave and form his big three and now he wants one of his own. The Hornets are a small market team, and while keeping Paul helps their ticket sales, he can also hurt them if he isn’t buying into the system. The new guys don’t need someone questioning their system, and they don’t need a player constantly telling their fans the team will never be successful. In addition the Hornets could pick up a lot by trading Paul. There are a lot of young players available to them, and you bet they are going to be able to unload a bad contract or two. They are a team that is not going to compete now. With a new coach and GM why not start a rebuilding project.

For the Knicks they have the players to acquire Paul. Anthony Randolph, Danillo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Toney Douglas, and Bill Walker are young players with a lot of upside. Package any of those guys with a few 2nd round draft picks or a 2014 first round pick, in addition to taking on a bad contract like an Emeka Okefor or a James Posey, and the Knicks have an attractive offer. Definitely competitive with the other teams on Paul’s list, the Mavericks, Magic, and Trail Blazers.

So New Orleans have reasons to trade Paul, the Knicks have the means to get him, so will they get him and more importantly should they get him? For the first question I believe if the Knicks want Paul they will get him. Perhaps it is my NY bias, but there is a lot going in their favor. First, Paul has picked them above any of the other teams, and while New Orleans has the final say, I am sure it has some play. Second the Knicks can offer so much to the Hornets, with the Blazers the only team that can really match it.

So, yes I believe the Knicks will get Paul if they want him, but should they want him. Well it depends. If you can get Paul with keeping your flexibility open to get Mello later, that would be a no brainer. Imagine a big three in NY that could stick it to Pat Riley and those guys in South Beach. But my feeling is that to get Paul they would need to take on Okefor and Posey all while giving Curry’s expiring contract up. So depending on what young guys we have to give up, we could have a team with Stoudemire, Paul, and a lot of big contracts for guys that don’t exactly fit the system. We would lose all the flexibility we worked to get. While we might not be assured a player next offseason, I believe the Knicks could get either Tony Parker or Mello, even with a new CBA looming. They can achieve this and keep their young players and flexibility.

It is extremely tempting to want to get Paul, and if the deal makes sense I am sure the Knicks will make it. But if the deal costs too much the Knicks won’t and shouldn’t do it, and will instead wait till Dec 15 or next offseason.

by Evan Slavit at the Sports Fan Blog Network

One idea would be for the Knicks to add an additional sweetener to make a trade for center Eddy Curry more palatable to another team.

For instance, Cuttino Mobley could be substituted for Darko Milicic in the trade I hypothesized in my previous article. Although Mobley earns more than Milicic ($9.5 million vs. $7.54 million) and his retirement ensures he will not contribute to the team to which he is traded, he nevertheless has one distinct financial advantage: 80 percent of Mobley’s salary, $7.6 million, is paid by insurance. If the Rockets were to trade Tracy McGrady for Curry and Mobley, their net savings would increase to about $12.6 million.

Of course, the Knicks could add other potential sweeteners to a Curry deal: additional players, future draft picks or cash. It all depends on how desperate Donnie Walsh, the team president, is to clear additional cap space for the 2010 free-agent market. But a Mobley trade also appears unlikely; Walsh has recently indicated that he is no longer interested in using Mobley as a trade piece.

Click here to read the full article – By Larry Coon of The New York Times

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