As Chris Paul turns

TRADE ME RIGHT #^(%!&@ NOW!

Chris Paul has made it clear that he does not want to remain in New Orleans with the Hornets if the team is not serious about making some roster moves and building a contender. LeBron James tried, in vein, to entice other impact NBA players to join him in Cleveland, where the Cavaliers have the NBA's best regular season record over the past two seasons. So why would anyone come to New Orleans to play with Chris Paul?

"Taking your talents to South Beach?
Not so fast, young brother!"

Real simple: New Orleans is a cool place to be; Cleveland isn't. The Hornets' problem is that it has spent money foolishly in the past and is unable to spend much at all, now. CP3 (and David West, for that matter) could easily get guys who effectively play their roles to come to N.O. if the money was there to spend.

Frankly, I think CP3 needs to watch where he throws stones because the Hornets, in spite of an AWFUL start, firing the coach after the season started, CP3 missing half the season and a coaching combo of Jeff Bower, who had never coached an NBA game before gave it a shot, and Tim Floyd, who ruined this team once before and decided to try it again...in spite of all of that, the Hornets were in the playoff hunt until the last month of the season. OH! And notice whose name is included in part of the problems: Paul's.

This team, with Paul, is not going to win the West in 2011, but they CAN win the Southwest if they stay healthy and if they do that (then shed all of that money - $16M from Peja, for starters) then the CAN make some real moves. CP3 will still be under contract, but small forward Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets may not be. $16M in freed cap space? Small forward James Posey might be deal-able with one year left on his deal? The Hornets will have ample opportunity to be creative over the next two seasons and show Chris Paul that they mean business in the business of winning.