CP3- "New Orleans is for me!"

by KarimTheDream on Jul 26, 2010 10:15 PM CDT

Okay. So I made up that quote to fit the Title.

As many of you already know, Chris Paul will allegedly remain in New Orleans for the upcoming season.

But this is a Dallas Mavericks blog, so outside of a wacky trade, what does this mean for us? Well, I guess you'll have to make it past "The Jump" to find out. Be careful, don't trip!

It's Monday. And as many of you already know Chris Paul will remain in New Orleans. At least this is what Hornets General Manager Dell Demps claims after the meeting with Paul, which lasted about 90 minutes according to sources.

Below is the real quote from Chris Paul concerning the Hornets and the current situation up there.

"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."

Sounds like the young player is determined to bring a ring to New Orleans, however, I'm not buying it.

Chris Paul will remain a Hornet for at least 2 seasons. By staying with the Hornets, I think this spells trouble for Dallas. While it may be a move that could be overlooked because the 90 minute meeting didn't have an ESPN Special, it is an important one for all teams. Here's what it means for Dallas.

We NEED to step up our contention. This move means the window is getting a lot smaller, a lot faster! Why? Oh, let me tell you!

1.This means Paul likes the direction the Hornets are heading. For him to stay means the Hornets are cooking up something. This does not mean they will necessarily contend next year. But it does mean they will challenge the Mavs inner-division for wins, and don't forget it does not take a team more talented than us to win, just a team that's currently hot. See: The 2010 Playoffs.

2.This could mean the deal sending Paul to the Knicks is getting serious. Why you ask? Because If Chris Paul wanted to realistically go to this team, he would stay with the Hornets. Since the Knicks didn't have enough to offer New Orleans to make a serious offer this year (key words: this year) Paul couldn't go to Orlando or come here. He wouldn't come here only to plan to leave next year. That would absolutely tarnish anything he'd ever built up. Since he stays in New Orleans, I think it could, just could, mean that he is serious about going to New York and is giving them one more year to, well, "Get their stuff together" and offer a good trade to New Orleans to form their own trio of Paul, Anthony, and Amare.

Now while only one of these scenarios could be true, maybe even none, one thing can be guaranteed. By Chris Paul staying in New Orleans, something is cooking somewhere. And the wafting smell coming from that kitchen is leaving one thought in my head. If Dallas wants to win, we need to do it NOW. No more next year. Other teams are younger than we are, AND are making bigger moves than we are. It's time to stop forging an illusion of contention and have a serious run in the Playoffs. I would rather admit rebuilding and have an excuse to lose games rather than go 50 wins and an early exit, get older, and get no high draft picks.

Now, as always,

GO MAVS!!

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Paul's comment

Chris Paul was being politically correct. There is possibly no truth whatsoever to his statement and behind the scenes a trade is being orchestrated (hopefully to the Mav’s). I don’t believe a word he said.

If the trade deadline passes and he is still with NO, only then will I believe that he was telling the truth. I bet he’s gone (somewhere) by the trade deadline.

by Beaubois on Jul 26, 2010 10:22 PM CDT reply actions

I literally could not agree more.

Spot on. That’s the general message i was trying to get across. Something is being done under the table.

~Karim!

by KarimTheDream on Jul 26, 2010 10:23 PM CDT up reply actions

You lost me at the end lol.

It’s not like there are idle attempts to make noise in the playoffs or “forging an illusion”…it’s all about match-ups, anyone will tell you that. If they kept churning out the same roster, it’s a different story but they’re obviously trying to upgrade.

It’s not always about making the biggest move, it’s about making the smartest move. Look at the Jefferson proposal versus what the Mavericks actually did. Jefferson would’ve been the bigger move but the Bobcats deal was the smarter move. It was able to fill a need and create future flexibility. It’s not like we’re the only team in the league that is trying to WIN now, some are more successful than others.

You could easily say you’re getting the best of both worlds: You’re successful now and taking your chances in the playoffs AND you’re rebuilding with SMART DRAFTING picking up Beaubois and DoJo the past two years. High draft picks can easily be fool’s gold (Oden, Kwame Brown, Darko…on and on, I could keep going).

After 10 years of 50+ wins, I don’t know how you could easily be willing to leave that behind and just go from start from scratch. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

by Bryan Gutierrez on Jul 27, 2010 12:35 AM CDT up reply actions

You can not realistically say

You think we have a shot to win the title with this team. We could, but it would be absolutely historic and incredible. A crazy feat. That’s not something I can live with. I don’t see how we have the best of both worlds. I think youre really being too positive about what we have here.

We have posed a real threat to win the title, maybe 2 or 3 years out of 10 years of 50+ wins. And of those 2-3 only 1 of them was actually a really close outcome. As for our rebuilding and best of both worlds, we have the oldest roster in the NBA. 2 youngsters can and will not change that. We are just churning out the same base roster. I’m sorry if im being too pessimistic and down, but I am tired of a decade of let downs with this Mavericks team. I’ve dropped bias hopes and am not trying to be realistic. I’m agreeing with one of our members, Why. He is right. He has been all along. This team will not win. This team will not make it to the western conference finals. It will be a 1st or 2nd round exit and then another offseason of trying to figure out why we didn’t win when the answer is right under our noses.

If im being too down, im sorry. I would like nothing more than a championship, and to be proved wrong. Please Dallas, prove me wrong. I beg of you. We need to win now. Dirk only has 1-2 season of being able to carry this team. After that, we will not win with Dirk as our number 1 option. He will have to be 2nd banana to someone else. If youre more optimistic then more power to you. But this team will not win a ring, and just Roddy and Dojo surrounded by the oldest team in teh entire league don’t exactly give us much of a Future.

Instead of having an above average team and a mediocre future, why don’t we pick one or the other and actually have a legitimate shot at doing something memorable.

~Karim!

by KarimTheDream on Jul 27, 2010 1:31 AM CDT up reply actions

It's clearly a balancing act.

You have to keep one eye on the future, while you’re searching for opportunities to give yourself that legit shot.

DIrk is a once-in-a-generation, a first-ballot HOFer for sure. And although the Mavs are right now bunched in that middle-of-the-pack group of Western playoff teams, they’re still thereabouts without having used the assets which may bloom later on. It’s a cost-benefit thing; the only way you expend those future assets is if it results in an upgrade which increases your chances of success in the present by a clear margin. Otherwise you absolutely have to stay pat and not waste your assets on a move which may or may not have benefits. Making a move for the sake of making a move is what sinks any sort of venture which seeks a positive gain.

And stop with the fucking pessimism. You’re a fucking contributor. You can be realistic, but you’re being outright petulant here. If that’s the stance you want to go, go back to being a normal commenter, being “Why”.

The Mavs certainly aren’t high up the pecking order, but I don’t see how they’re all that much worse than anybody in the West except for LA. On a good day they can beat the Lakers, and that’s all you can hope for, that the odds are defied in a small sample size during a seven game series. There’s no point worrying about the East. Miami could charge through, or they could get roughed up over two rounds, then be just a step off by the ECF, which could cost them. Anything can happen, and as a fan, you can afford to be both realistically pessimistic and optimistic.

Remember to retire Fin's number, Mark.

by jonthefon on Jul 27, 2010 6:14 AM CDT up reply actions

I agree

Again in the playoffs, it’s just about the match-ups. And luck has to be on your side as well…outside of the Lakers, everyone else needs a favorable series of match-ups and luck on their side.

The pessimism doesn’t do anything to me haha.

by Bryan Gutierrez on Jul 27, 2010 1:03 PM CDT up reply actions

It's not as much pessimism as you think

I really don’t see it as pessimism. I see it as a reality that is hard to face as a fan of a team you love, so if someone shines a light on that reality you see it as pessimism.

Dallas is a solid team. A 50+ win team. A second round team. As Brian said, and was correct in saying, the playoffs are abotu matchups. But we shouldn’t be hoping for good matchups. We should be obtaining enough talent to not worry about matchups and simply defeat anyone presented in front of us.

There’s a difference in being pessimistic and being realistic. Realistic to some may be pessimistic to others. It’s all a matter of opinion. And in my opinion, I’m being realistic when i say we don’t have a legitimate shot this year.

We’re close .Were so close. We’re almost right there. We’re in contention but don’t show signs of being able to break away from the pack. Our years are numbered. And i would absolutely hate to see a chance like ours(the chance of being SOO close to being champions) being wasted because we refuse to take a shot in a trade.

The Kidd move may have been dumb to some, but to me, after long thought and changing my mind several times i see it as a smart move. Why? For many reasons, but the main one being at least we tried. We refused to accept our team as a quick exit in the playoffs and took a shot at greatness. That was ballsy.

~Karim!

by KarimTheDream on Jul 27, 2010 6:51 PM CDT up reply actions

But

A team as great as the Lakers still looks at the matchup. They had issues with Westbrook and etc. The idea of ignoring the idea of looking for a matchup isn’t going away.

You don’t see any of the moves we’ve made as ballsy or progressive thinking moves? They were.

They DO take shots in trades. I’m not sure what you’re referring to, if it’s Al Jefferson, basically anyone and their mother who actually counts as a voice in the Mavs front office said it was a bad idea for pursuit based on the asking price. Jefferson wasn’t going to be a logical fit on the roster based on the roster, defense and especially on payroll.

Roster: It didn’t make sense because you already invested in Haywood.
Defense: he’s not solid defensively
Payroll: His true price-tag would’ve been in excess of 80 million dollars over the life of his deal. There is no way you can vouch for that for a back-up player.

You talk about breaking away from the pack. Maybe Oklahoma City… but outside of that team, name me a team in the West who is clearly braking away from the pack and right there with the Lakers?

PS…you fed into my pet peeve: brYan :)

by Bryan Gutierrez on Jul 27, 2010 10:34 PM CDT up reply actions

I worded it awfully

when I said we shouldn’t worry about matchups. We clearly should. What i meant by that is we shouldn’t have to worry about who we get in what round. We should just get who we get, and focus on winning. We need to be that good.

And the moves we’ve done, have not been ballsy risks. They’ve been semi-conservative moves that will improve us as a team. They were very, very intelligent moves that will make this Mavericks team more talented. But not talented enough. If i could sit here and spit out examples of ballsy moves, they wouldn’t be so ballsy would they? I mean moves out of left field. Some wacky trade to bring in some real talent. Nothing easily predictable or something that we can easily say “Hey, Dallas should do this!” Now 3 years ago I did not spend hours on NBA.com and on this so i could be wrong about this, just say the word and i’ll concede, but i don’t think anyone could have predicted a trade for Jason Kidd 2-3 weeks before it happened. Maybe even a week. Not sure.

Don’t get me wrong. If there’s a good move we can make, but it is predictable, by all means go for it. Don’t take what I’m saying directly, try to take my meaning out of it.

As for your last paragraph, the Lakers are so much more talented. If there were a lot of teams out of the pack up with the Lakers, it wouldn’t be much of a pack now would it? By saying what you said I think you supported what I’m trying to say. The Lakers have a significant advantage over every other team over here. That needs to be changed. We need talent so we can destroy this “pack” in the middle of the west and be a strong contender up with LA and Miami, etc. etc.

I could be wrong about this. My opinion could be almost unagreeable, but i will say this and always stay true to it: I would much rather make a crazy out of left field move and at least try, honestly so everything in our power to try to win than to keep the same essential lineup and keep pumping out 50 win seasons that come up way, or just short in the playoffs.

Back to the pessimism thing, I don’t think i am being pessimistic. I honestly feel this team we have right now can and will not win the championship(again, PLEASE prove me wrong). That is my honest opinion. Agree to disagree

~Karim!

by KarimTheDream on Jul 27, 2010 11:20 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't think anything will happen now

Yes, Chris Paul did say the right things. But to me, that just means that he’ll wait at least one more year. If the Hornets miss the playoffs next year, he’ll want out of New Orleans.
Does he go to the Knicks if NO flops next year? Who knows? Teams don’t explore trades a full year in advance. If the Hornets were doing that, they’re very much conceding the 2011 season. If so, they might as well do the trade today and maximize the return.

"Jurick Profar is tired of practice!! I wanna play I wanna play….waiting for march 12 to go to spring training! to kill some pichers:D:D I am Jurickson Profar son of judeska and chesmond.. And I was born ready! ready to play baseball!!" - Jurickson Profar

by chrisR on Jul 27, 2010 1:07 AM CDT reply actions

Most teams don't explore a trade a year in advance

Those are the teams that end up with decent or mediocre trades, with the occasional one coming out well. Look at one team who has been looking at a trade for a long time now. The Heat. Well, not a trade, but the acquisition of a player.

When you plan ahead in this world you often come out on top. Especially in pro sports. If the Knicks want to win in the next decade(listen to this same advice and you can apply it to Dallas) they need to realize they have no shot this year and already look forward for moves to next offseason.

The sooner the Mavs realize this roster wont cut it the better. We can’t keep making small moves and expecting them to work. We need to plan ahead months, focus on a superstar, land him, and go for it all. No more midseason trades. Can’t they understand players need more than 2 months of bonding together before a playoff run??

~Karim!

by KarimTheDream on Jul 27, 2010 1:36 AM CDT up reply actions

I still think

I’d rather be in the mix in the playoffs instead of knowing I’m waiting for something that may never pan out…like what the Knicks and the Nets are doing right now. It’s not just about a plan, your marketability plays a huge role in it. If you compare the two, the Knicks are still way ahead of the Nets simply due to the fact that NY is King in that area.

Wasn’t Dallas doing both in terms of playing for now and planning for the future? You’ve heard Dallas talking about the 2010 plan for well over a year or so, just like other teams…it just didn’t work out. But we still remained competitive and in the mix. If you were the Spurs, would you just wanna ditch everybody and start from scratch…I highly doubt that they would. They’re following the same plan that we are and everyone and their mother in the mainstream considers them to be geniuses.

Teams have been targeting superstar deals for ages, just like us…some win, some lose. Like I mentioned, sometimes a deal could be what you’re looking for but it might cripple you over the long haul (i.e. Al Jefferson), thus you don’t take that chance and go with the smarter move.

They’ve continued to put themselves in the best possible situation to remain relevant and still competitive and be ready to pounce on an opportunity if it’s there and it’s the perfect fit. That’s honestly the best case scenario in my opinion. If you’re upset that we’re not winning that’s fine, but it’s not our right by any stretch of the imagination. There are 28 other teams just as upset as we are.

by Bryan Gutierrez on Jul 27, 2010 1:01 PM CDT up reply actions