Chris Paul Moving On Up to MSG?

By Canbek Alakay

This must be karma for the LeBron James debacle; Chris Paul has said he wants out of New Orleans, and he's given the Hornets a list of teams. Who's at the top you ask? The New York Knickerbockers. I was so excited when I heard that, not only did he want to leave New Orleans, but his top priority was to join New York, I misspelled Turiaf's name in a recent tweet involving a possible trade for the leagues best young point guard. Using ESPN's handy Trade Machine, I've crafted a trade that would work for both sides.

New York receives: Chris Paul (2 years, $31.8 million) and Emeka Okafor (4 years, $52.1 million)

New Orleans receives: Eddy Curry (1 year, $11 million), Ronny Turiaf (1 year, $4,000,000) Danilo Gallinari (1 year, $3.3 million), Wilson Chandler (1 year, $2.1 million) and Toney Douglas (1.1 million)

The Hornets will be looking for cap relief more than anything else, having signed several veterans to overpriced contracts over the years (Stojakovic ($14.2 million, expiring), Okafor (see above), and Posey ($13.5 million over the next two years). This deal clears Okafor's huge contract and also gets rid of Paul's nearly $17 million per year off the books. They would receive five expiring contracts, one of which (Curry), could be a valuable piece in a future trade with another team looking for cap relief.

The Knicks lose two of my favorite current players, Gallinari and Chandler, but that's the price you have to pay if you want to build a winning team. There aren't many guys like Gallinari, someone who could average 50-40-90 (FG%-3P%-FT%). However, it doesn't hurt as much because the Knicks also traded for Anthony Randolph recently, who will fill in for Gallo's absence quite well. Azubuike could also come in for Chandler and produce (Azubuike's 2009 PER was six points higher than Chandler's).

In the end, the Knicks starting lineup would be Paul and Azubuike in the backcourt, with Randolph, Amar'e, and Okafor in the frontcourt. Those five alone could get at least a six seed in the East. Add in role players such as Bill Walker and Raymond Felton off the bench, and you have a team that could very well challenge the top four in the East (Heat, Celtics, Magic, and Hawks). New Orleans, on the other hand, receive the Peja they wanted to sign in Gallinari, a very good sixth man type in Wilson Chandler, as well as a lot of cap relief. If they waive or trade Curry's contract, they could very well save up to $70 million over the next four years, $70 million which could go to the best free agents of 2011 and 2012.

If this deal ends up happening, it could very well sway Carmelo Anthony into possibly joining the Knicks next year. Everyone would forget about Miami's big three and focus on the real "Big Three" in the Big Apple: Paul, Melo and Amar'e, hopefully coming to MSG in 2011.