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NBA Trade Rumors: Chris Paul To Knicks, John Wall To Clippers, Kristaps Porzingis And Derrick Rose To Wizards In Blockbuster Three-Team Deal

Published on: September 22, 2016 at 5:59 PM
By Adrian Lawhorn

NBA trade rumors continue to hover around the league’s biggest stars. The latest scuttlebutt from the rumor mill has the New York Knicks making a move for one of the NBA’s most prominent players. According to the website NBA Trade Rumors , there may be a five-player trade brewing between the Knicks, Clippers, and Wizards.

In this three-team trade scenario that is being debated in cyberspace, the Knicks would acquire point guard Chris Paul and the Clippers’ first-round draft pick in 2021. Los Angeles would obtain point guard John Wall and small forward Otto Porter , while the Wizards would come away with power forward Kristaps Porzingis and point guard Derrick Rose .

Chris Paul, also known as CP3, is one of the brightest stars in today’s NBA. New York would clearly love to have CP3 on the roster, but as in any trade proposal, it also depends on the cost. The difficult thing for team president Phil Jackson would be to evaluate the actual value of Porzingis and Rose. “Zinger” is coming off a stellar rookie season, but no one knows for sure just how high the ceiling will be for this talented seven-foot-three forward.

Derrick Rose is just as much a wildcard as Porzingis. Rose is a former league MVP, but has been very injury-prone in recent years. If Derrick Rose can remain healthy, one could argue that he is nearly as valuable as Chris Paul. If Phil Jackson truly is “The Zen Master,” he will need all of those powers to look toward the future and project what lies ahead for both Rose and Porzingis. Considering the upside that both of these players offer, it would seem doubtful that the Knicks would agree to trade Rose and Porzingis — even for a player as great as CP3.

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There have been some rumors circulating this summer that the Los Angeles Clippers might consider trading Chris Paul due to his contract status. CP3 has an early termination option in his contract at the end of the 2016-17 season, so he will have the ability to opt out of his current deal and seek out a new team. The Clippers can wait it out and risk losing him for nothing, or they can try to make a trade now that will bring in quality assets in exchange for their superstar point guard.

Washington’s John Wall is one of only a handful of NBA point guards who are arguably on the same level as Chris Paul. It is hard to find much separation between these two, although CP3 would likely get the nod as a better overall player since he is the more consistent shooter and better defender. If Los Angeles had the chance to get Wall and Otto Porter for Chris Paul, they would probably pull the trigger on this deal. There isn’t a great deal of difference between John Wall and CP3, and Porter would be a likely starter if he came to the Clippers in this trade.

The Washington Wizards thought their backcourt was set for years to come after signing Bradley Beal to a monster contract earlier this offseason. However, it has become public knowledge that Beal and John Wall “dislike each other” on the basketball floor, as expressed by Wall himself (per The Big Lead ). The Wizards may have a problem if these two stars can’t get along, and a trade might be the eventual solution to this clash of egos.

The Knicks would be hard-pressed to know what they are going to get out of the combo of Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick Rose in the future, but that uncertainty works both ways. Agreeing to this trade would mean the Wizards would assume some risk, but it appears to be a fair deal on paper, and could be a steal if Zinger and Rose both play to their potential. Ultimately, Washington would likely pass on this tempting offer because it would leave them weak at the small forward spot — Kelly Oubre is a raw player who is not ready to be an NBA starter, and that may be the tie-breaker in the Wizards’ thought process.

The latest NBA trade rumors are cooking up a scenario involving several big-name players and one of the league’s most prominent franchises. This is a very compelling trade rumor, and each team would have reason to give the offer a second (or third) look. The Clippers would likely agree to the trade, and while it would also get the attention of the Knicks and Wizards, both of those teams would presumably turn down the offer when the eleventh hour arrived.

[Featured Image by Carolyn Kaster/AP Images]

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