re: The 2011 Offseason Trade Idea thread

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I just think you REALLY like Westbrook and are pissed off at Paul's regular season performance. Give him another year. I showed you the stats in the other thread. Paul's the superior player in every category, even injured.

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Paul's awesome. He's better than Westbrook when he goes all out, but I think Westbrook is a better fit on the majority of the teams in the NBA. Paul is outstanding. However, if your point guard is going to be your best player, and he is a pass-first guy, you need some other great players around him if you want to compete for a championship (or even just compete to win the West). Right now, there aren't that many options to bring in at the 2 spot who can help us in that aspect. Plus, Ariza and Okafor are both locked in at their positions, and they don't provide that much offense either.

Either Paul needs to become much more aggressive on the offensive end (especially in the 4th quarter), or we need a guy who looks to score first at the point guard spot. A guy who is looking to get his. Paul was great this post-season. If he can play like that for an 82-game season, then of course everyone would rather have him. But you just don't know if he will ever be that same Chris Paul he used to be for an 82-game season.

Chicago is a very defensive oriented team, with a few decent offensive options around Rose (Boozer is a bit overrated), and they still managed to win a ton of games and reach the conference finals. I think the Hornets could be sort of similar to that situation, although not as good obviously. We have the defensive-minded coach, we have David West (our Boozer), we have a defensive stopper (Ariza), and we have an effort center (like Noah), even if he does make a little too much money.

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Westbrook has led the league in turnovers 2 out of his 3 years, and had 150 more TOs than CP this year. Thats 150 less possessions the Hornets would have. Paul also usually leads the league in steals. Thats even more possessions gained. Paul also sets scrubs like Bellineli up for WIDE OPEN shots, and averages more assists. To me, those things alone make up for whatever point differential there might be. Plus, remember Paul looked healthy in the playoffs. The last regular season Paul was healthy he averaged 23/11.

We shouldnt shouldnt trade Paul to add a few more points. We should replace our d-league shooting guard with a real one.

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I think Westbrook is just in the completely wrong place in Oklahoma City. He's not a good fit. There are two players who want to dominate the ball and look to score at all costs. There's not enough ball to go around. And to make things worse, he's not "the guy." He's not the one who got the extension over the summer. He's not the one who the fans and the entire town love. He's not the one who is the future of the franchise. There's a lot of pressure and negative energy on him right now.

I think if he were out of the spotlight (yea, spotlight in Oklahoma City ), he could thrive. And if I'm wrong, then I'll be the first one to admit it.

If the Hornets could somehow make the 3-team trade I posted earlier, we'd be one of the top 3 teams in the West for sure. It's just so hard to make a deal like that where all of the salaries line up and every team gets better.