The New Orleans Hornets probably know that Chris Paul is interested in the New York Knicks and wants to be traded. It's unlikely that the Knicks have the pieces that the Hornets would want, as Rohan of At The Hive points out.
New York has no draft pick assets, and neither of their two player assets - Landry Field and Toney Douglas - have star potential. Even if we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Chris Paul will not be a New Orleans Hornet past June 1, 2012, there's no value to be derived from moving Paul to where he wants to go; it's worth more to take a stand as a small market team - make it clear that no, a team cannot throw away all its assets, not pay a price for it, and still pick up one of the league's top 5 players for nothing. It's worth more to force Chris Paul to eat millions of dollars in losses, and go from there.
So if the Knicks were to deal Paul, a third team would likely have to get involved for the Hornets to be willing to trade. New Orleans needs players they'd want. And it does appear the Hornets have their eyes set on one particular player to help ease the pain of losing the best point guard in the game.
@timkawakami
Tim Kawakami Multiple NBA sources: If the Hornets consider trading Chris Paul, one player they really like is Stephen Curry & have told GSWs that.
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@timkawakami
Tim Kawakami But again, Warriors would need assurance from Paul that he'd consider re-signing here before going anywhere down that trade path. Doubtful.
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Curry replacing Paul in the Big Easy makes some sense. Curry is fairly inexpensive compared to Paul, which would make him a more suitable fit for the small-market Hornets. Curry can distribute the basketball and is very good at scoring the basketball from the outside. He's no Paul for sure, but paired together with some other assets, he could ease the pain of the Hornets if they had to let him go.
This trade is unlikely though for a billion different reasons. For one, the Warriors don't want to deal Curry. They like him and want him to be the point guard for their future. With the Dubs probably having no shot at getting CP3, why would they be interested in being the third partner in this trade?
For more on Paul and the Hornets, head to At The Hive. For more on the thought of Paul with the Knicks, check out Posting and Toasting. For more on Curry and the Warriors, go to Golden State of Mind.