Celtics, Warriors, Clippers "strongly engaged" in Chris Paul talks

[Evantime34]

Rondo + Green + Two first picks for CP3 seems a bit too much. Especially with his knee issues...could end up being Brandon Roy 2.0

Agreed, those firsts better be protected.

[bdm860]

Sure, having Rondo, Green and two picks isn't going to win another championship after this year anyways, but proper drafting can at least put them into a position of possibly succeeding in the future. Doing this deal is borderline irresponsible if you don't win a championship this year. I guess that's the if...

Do you think it's easier to do proper drafting in the late lottery or at the beginning of the draft?

My guess is the pick is the Clippers, so best case it's #11 in the next draft.  Plus the Celtics own from this year (hopefully late, late 20's).  You're not going to get a star at those spots.

So after the this season, if Paul leaves (I would imagine we'd trade Pierce to a contender cuz he doesn't want to rebuild), and we suck for a year (or two or three).  But it's better to draft at the beginning of the lottery for a few years then to draft at the end of the lottery for the same amount of time.  Those picks aren't worth much if we have Rondo, Green, and Pierce and are winning only 30-45 games a year.

[Atzar]

I'm a little late to the party here, but I'd really rather not trade for Chris Paul.  I'm not necessarily opposed to dealing Rondo if the deal is right, but I don't trust CP3's knees at all.  I'd actually be more interested in a one-year rental than I would a long-term commitment - less chance of the knees giving out - but in that case I wouldn't be willing to give up Rondo.

Just my take.

[SHAQATTACK]

I'm game for the trade.....one year deal is good, just give us a chance!! .... CP3 lives and breaths BB .  He will love Doc and the Garden and our fans.

We'll have CP3 bleeding green.

We know about where we'll be with Rondo and crew for the next few years, good solid BB , but slim chances to beat HEAT and Bull .  I don' see it happening much.

I don't just want to give BULLS and HEAT a close game , I want us to beat the tar out of them.  

If it is at all possible to get CP3 ...I'm all about it.

If we don't get his services now !!! ...then as we sink to med level team ... next 10 years of remorse

Only...WHAT IF ......

[RebusRankin]

I'd do the trade for Paul.

Paul
Allen
Pierce
Garnett
Oneal

With DWest to combo guard off the bench and hopefully Battier or Hill for the MLE. Then some vet bigs.

[stylo617617]

i';d do the propsed trade for cp3 with only giving up rondo & jeff (2 1st round picks is it a bit much though) but hey it was all about the big 3 to begin with

well were in a win win regardless so lets see what plays out

yeah having cp3 would be great but im content with rondo i mean alot of teams would JUMP at the chance to have a player of his caliber 

[theswitch]

Trading Rondo for CP3 is perfectly reasonable, adding in Jeff Green is probably a little undesirable but for the most part understandable and fair, but trading Rondo, Green and two first round picks for CP3 without an extension is completely mortgaging the future of this franchise. I don't know why Danny and Doc, who is signed for five more years, would want to risk heading into next year with Avery Bradley, Paul Pierce and JaJuan Johnson under contract, along with presumably no draft picks. Unless they strike gold in free agency - and if CP3 leaves, then there's no real gold to strike - this will be the worst team in the NBA next season.

Sure, having Rondo, Green and two picks isn't going to win another championship after this year anyways, but proper drafting can at least put them into a position of possibly succeeding in the future. Doing this deal is borderline irresponsible if you don't win a championship this year. I guess that's the if...

And at this point, Rondo is probably going crazy.

Tough to speculate IMO.  If no money is given to guys like Paul or Green, won't you have money to spend in a darn good free agent class ?

Who knows at that point.  Anything can happen.  Anyone could be signed.

That's the thing though, it's not that great a class. We aren't getting Deron, most likely, either way. If CP3 walks, we are not getting Howard. Past that, you've got a ton of talent that is expected to resign - Rose, Westbrook, Gordon, Love, Hibbert, Lopez. Maybe one or two of those guys will flirt with the free agent market, but they aren't worth max contracts and will probably command close to that on the open market. It's swinging for the fences and if you miss, don't win and CP3 leaves, then you're caught with nothing for the next few years.

It was a sure thing they weren't getting KG.  Then, next thing you know......

Just tough to speculate what will or won't happen.

That's fair, just a lot of uncertainty here.

[BASS_THUMPER]

chris paul wont take us to the next level

he is not what we need now..

[barefacedmonk]

One of the reasons that's giving the C's some reason to pause in their pursuit of Paul is his health; specifically, his surgically repaired left knee.

While he appears to have bounced back from the 2010 injury nicely, there is some concern that the injury could prove problematic in the future.

Paul suffered a torn meniscus injury in late-January of 2010. Dr. James Andrews, one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the world, performed surgery on the knee on Feb. 4. Unable to sew the torn meniscus back together, Dr. Andrews had to take the torn portion out entirely.

The knee has two menisci that essentially serve as shock absorbers between the femur and tibia bones. Paul has one now, which means there's likely some of bone-on-bone rubbing which has the potential to get worse and ultimately lead to additional surgical procedures.

Paul played this past season with a brace on the knee, which helped with its stability -- one of the concerns that exist with having a partially meniscus.

"Talking with the doctors and trainers, (the brace) was the best thing for the long haul and for my body," Paul told the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

The bone-on-bone issue is a serious one, especially for players who rely so heavily on change-of-direction quickness -- like Paul -- in order to be effective.

Look no further than Portland's Brandon Roy, one of the most talented players in the NBA who underwent surgery on both of his knees in an effort to alleviate the discomfort that came along with bone-on-bone contact. The Trail Blazers have to limit his minutes because of his bad knees, which is why he's one of the players many believe will be available via amnesty.

Link

[Evantime34]

One of the reasons that's giving the C's some reason to pause in their pursuit of Paul is his health; specifically, his surgically repaired left knee.

While he appears to have bounced back from the 2010 injury nicely, there is some concern that the injury could prove problematic in the future.

Paul suffered a torn meniscus injury in late-January of 2010. Dr. James Andrews, one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the world, performed surgery on the knee on Feb. 4. Unable to sew the torn meniscus back together, Dr. Andrews had to take the torn portion out entirely.

The knee has two menisci that essentially serve as shock absorbers between the femur and tibia bones. Paul has one now, which means there's likely some of bone-on-bone rubbing which has the potential to get worse and ultimately lead to additional surgical procedures.

Paul played this past season with a brace on the knee, which helped with its stability -- one of the concerns that exist with having a partially meniscus.

"Talking with the doctors and trainers, (the brace) was the best thing for the long haul and for my body," Paul told the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

The bone-on-bone issue is a serious one, especially for players who rely so heavily on change-of-direction quickness -- like Paul -- in order to be effective.

Look no further than Portland's Brandon Roy, one of the most talented players in the NBA who underwent surgery on both of his knees in an effort to alleviate the discomfort that came along with bone-on-bone contact. The Trail Blazers have to limit his minutes because of his bad knees, which is why he's one of the players many believe will be available via amnesty.

Link

If we were that concerned we wouldn't have made the offer we did

[greg683x]

Via WojoNBA:

Paul has indicated Clippers and Warriors could raise chances of keeping him long-term if they sign center Tyson Chandler too, sources say

anybody else really hate how Boston is completely left out of that statement.

I really think we have no chance of keeping CP at all, no matter how much in awe of the basketball culture in Boston that he were to be in.

I think he thinks that hes gonna be stuck in the freezing cold by himself once KG, Ray, and Paul are gone.  Dwight has already said Chicagos too cold as well.

This is bad, really hoping we pull out of all this before we give away our best young player and get completely EMBARRASSED when this guy ditches us for the Lakers in a year.  Think about that, we'll be the laughing stock of the NBA

[Jon]

To me, half of the appeal of Paul isn't just that he could potentially be a cornerstone of the future, I also think that he could catapult us to #18 this year.  

It really has nothing to do with how much Rondo has done for the Big Three or vice versa, it really just boils down to this question: how much better would the Celtics have to be if teams couldn't cheat off of Rondo?  

It'd be like Shaq replacing Perkins last year, but even more dramatic.  Many of us said last year that Shaq would find success because unlike Perk who couldn't finish easy opportunities around the basket, Shaq would succeed because he could take advantage of the easy looks.  

Same with Paul, but even more dramatically so.  If teams cheat off of Paul, he'll destroy them from the outside and if teams stay home on him, Paul, Ray, and KG will be able to be that much more effective.  

And we already know what happens when you put shooters around the Big Three.  That's why Doc went with lineups of House, Posey, and the Big Three for big stretches in the '08 title run.  Only now the C's would have the shooting and the playmaking, making them quite formidable. 

So medical issues and contract issues all throw together, I'd still make the trade.  

[cman88]

Via WojoNBA:

Paul has indicated Clippers and Warriors could raise chances of keeping him long-term if they sign center Tyson Chandler too, sources say

anybody else really hate how Boston is completely left out of that statement.

I really think we have no chance of keeping CP at all, no matter how much in awe of the basketball culture in Boston that he were to be in.

I think he thinks that hes gonna be stuck in the freezing cold by himself once KG, Ray, and Paul are gone.  Dwight has already said Chicagos too cold as well.

This is bad, really hoping we pull out of all this before we give away our best young player and get completely EMBARRASSED when this guy ditches us for the Lakers in a year.  Think about that, we'll be the laughing stock of the NBA

this is why I am against hte Trade...Paul has NO desire to stay in boston. Ainge is gambling that once he gets here we will win him over...thats a Big chance to take

[33_Larry Legend_33]

Via WojoNBA:

Paul has indicated Clippers and Warriors could raise chances of keeping him long-term if they sign center Tyson Chandler too, sources say

anybody else really hate how Boston is completely left out of that statement.

Nope...not at all.  Even KG wasn't really warm to the idea of the Celtics from the start.  

The Hornets organization is not what I'd call "top notch" and Paul doesn't really know what the Celtics are all about.  If he had a year to experience the atmosphere, along with the talk of being united with Howard, he might be willing to change his stance on re-signing.  I guess I'm a patient person and understand that sometimes these decisions don't happen as quickly as fretting fans would like...

[Spilling Green Dye]

An offensively skilled PG causes havoc for most of the good teams in the league.

-Look what Derrick Rose did in the East against Orlando & the Heat.
-Look what CP3 did almost single handily against the Laker's poor PG defense in the playoffs last year.

This aging Celtics team is becoming worse at transition basketball.  It seems when the game is in fast break mode Rondo is at his best.  When teams can sag off Rondo in set offense the Celtics stall.  The writing is on the wall.

I hope the Celtics get a 3rd team involved to help facilitate this deal.  I love Rondo, but CP3 would make for one heck of a team.