The New Orleans Hornets are involved in Chris Paul(notes) trade talks, and according to sources involved in the talks, have targeted guards Stephen Curry(notes) and Eric Gordon(notes). ESPN is reporting that the Hornets are talking with the Los Angeles Clippers about acquiring Gordon and simultaneously talking with the Golden State Warriors about trading for Curry.

Both Golden State and Los Angeles have worked hard to build up a roster through the draft, and youth is the best asset that those two franchises currently have. With the Clippers, Gordon, DeAndre Jordan(notes) and Blake Griffin(notes) comprise three good young players. On the Warriors, Curry and newly drafted Klay Thompson(notes) from Washington State University give that team a lot of depth on the roster as well. Now the Hornets would like to take some of that youth in exchange for an All-Star point guard.

Trades like these ones are always easier if the parts would stay in place for several seasons. The problem is that Paul is in the last year of his contract with the Hornets, so if he gets traded, he could still hit free agency in the next offseason. The Warriors and Clippers need guarantees that Paul is willing to sign a contract extension; otherwise it doesn’t make sense to give up assets like Gordon or Curry. Curry is becoming a star for the Warriors, and he could join the ranks of big NBA stars if the team actually started winning ballgames.

It sure seems like Paul is going to get traded by New Orleans before the beginning of the regular season, but it is equally unclear which franchise is going to join the deal. There are certainly a few teams that could use a nice rental like Paul for the 2011-12 season, but several top contenders would love to give up spare parts to get him. The New York Knicks probably want him the most, but have zero real assets to offer in return. Then there is the Boston Celtics, who could offer someone like Rajon Rondo(notes), but also get no guarantee that Paul will stay after this year.

A deal is out there with the Los Angeles Lakers if the Hornets would take either Pau Gasol(notes) or Andrew Bynum(notes) in a trade, but neither is a player that will put people in the seats for years to come. They are good players when healthy, but they just don’t have the talent level to take over games by themselves. That’s what Paul offers and teams around the league fully realize the value he could bring in a blockbuster trade.

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Sources:

NBA Main Website

Yahoo NBA Site

*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a hard-core NBA fan that looks forward to an exciting 2011-12 season now that the lockout has come to an end. Ryan is also a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

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The New Orleans Hornets have their eyes wide open and know they are going to have to trade Chris Paul. The Orlando Magic are holding out more hope of retaining Dwight Howard but that feels like a longshot as well. The front offices in both cities have to be gauging offers right now, or they are not doing their jobs.

But if they are both looking to make a deal, do they both want to deal with the Lakers? Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski says that may make it a race between the two sides.

Why? You’re not going to get equal value back when you trade your superstar, but Andrew Bynum comes about as close as it gets. And the Lakers will part with him.

In a lot of ways, the Hornets and Orlando Magic are in a race to make a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers for Paul and Howard. They’re running so many scenarios across the big boards in their offices, but make no mistake: Los Angeles is the port that can entice Paul and Howard to sign extensions, with the one player – young center Andrew Bynum – as a centerpiece that can justify the trade.

The Lakers and Hornets talked several days ago, league sources told Yahoo! Sports, but it was one of those circuitous conversations that left the sides unclear what it would take to get a deal done, and the talk ended with no formal offers. The Lakers and Hornets expect to speak again this week, sources said. The prospect of Pau Gasol as the primary player going to the Hornets won’t be acceptable, sources said. The Lakers will ultimately be willing to let New Orleans pick its player in the deal – Bynum or Gasol – but New Orleans is determined to get quality, and quantity, in a deal.

The Nets will offer Brook Lopez and picks, but most teams would rather have Bynum than Lopez. That seems like a fallback.

For the Lakers, Chris Paul gives them the missing athleticism and someone who could be very good on the pick-and-roll with Pau Gasol. Dwight Howard upgrades them in the paint and gives them a younger star to transition with in the post-Kobe Bryant era.

We’ll see if this happens, however. After a lockout filled with talk of competitive balance could the league-owned Hornets send Chris Paul off to the Lakers to form another trio of stars? Would the other owners tolerate that from David Stern? As for the Magic, could they trade Dwight Howard to the franchise that took Shaquille O’Neal away from them? There would be fan backlash.

Which is a way of saying we are a long way from a deal either way here. But the Lakers may have the best offer out there and that is going to count for something.

Posted: Thursday, December 01, 2011, 11:06 PM

T-P beat writer John Reid discusses Chris Paul’s uncertain future with Hornets.

New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul and forwards Trevor Ariza and Quincy Pondexter went through a voluntary workout at the team’s Alario Center practice facility on Thursday morning under the direction of Paul’s personal trainer.

By Thursday, the ranks are expected to swell to four with the arrival of guard Jarrett Jack, another of the five players under contract. Center Emeka Okafor is out of the country as is guard Marco Bellinelli, to whom the Hornets tendered a qualifying offer prior to the 149-day NBA lockout.

Trainer Idan Ravin of Washington, D.C.’s Water Street Gym, has worked with Paul for the past several years as a personal trainer. He said Thursday the work he put Paul and his teammates through on Thursday – just more than an hour on the court, was merely an extension of the work he has done with Paul throughout the offseason.

“This is just continuing what we’ve already been doing for the last five months,” Ravin said. “I work with Chris so much, but this was getting the players more acclimated to his intensity to his speed and his mental appoach as well, to kind of ramp up their intensity a little bit before training camp starts.

“I’ve been with Chris for a while. He’s just continuing at the same pace. There’s a culture around Chris Paul that’s important, and everyone else has to become acclimated to it. That’s why I like bringing his teammates in because they understand that culture, that winning environment, that seriousness and intensity.”

Paul has routinely brought teammates into his workouts prior to the beginning of training camp, which ordinarily would have begun Oct. 1. This year, because of the labor dispute, training camp begins Dec. 9.

Ravin said his focus Thursday was on-court work.

“Just to improve their efficiency, their spacing, their speed and conditioning and skill work,” Ravin said. “Kind of more of a game-like environment confined to the parameters of a basketball court.”

The New Orleans Hornets still plan to offer star point guard Chris Paul a long-term extension, but they have listened to trade offers from several teams including the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers, sources confirmed Wednesday.

Paul has not said publicly if he wants to opt out of his current deal with the Hornets or push for a trade before the NBA season begins on Dec. 25.

But ESPN reported Wednesday that Paul would not sign an extension if he was traded to the Celtics, who are interested in parting ways with All-Star guard Rajon Rondo. Hornets officials said General Manager Dell Demps would not be available for comment today.

Hornets players can begin using the Alario Center practice facility on Thursday for the first time since the lockout began July 1. With free agency starting Dec. 9, the Hornets have only five players currently under contract.

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