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07/26/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets have prepared for their scheduled sit-down with All-Star guard Chris Paul by fending off the latest flurry of trade calls received from teams salivating over adding the game's best pure point guard.
Opposing general managers are circling New Orleans like sharks smelling blood in the water, with most convinced Paul will formally request to be moved at a planned Monday meeting, and furnish new Hornets GM Dell Demps a list of teams to which he would like to be dealt.
Paul's desire to move away from New Orleans reportedly stems from watching his close friend LeBron James land in Miami with fellow Team USA teammates Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. In fact some have even speculated that LeBron and his lackeys, Maverick Carter and William Wesley, have been pushing Paul to force the Hornets' hand.
"Best of luck to my brother," James wrote on Twitter about Paul. "Do what's best for you and your family."
Of course Demps has no reason to panic and pull the trigger on an ill- conceived deal right now. The Hornets still have two full seasons before CP3 can opt out of his deal in the Big Easy and become a free agent in the summer of 2012.
Monday's tete-a-tete with Paul will be Demps' first face-to-face meeting with his star since taking over basketball operations from Jeff Bower last Wednesday. He and new coach Monty Williams are hoping to sell Paul on the new regime slowing being put in place, and address concerns over the team's inactivity in free agency and delay in ownership transfer from George Shinn to Gary Chouest.
That's a tough task, since Paul urged the Hornets to be an active player in the market and their only move thus far has been re-signing backup center Aaron Gray.
Likely wary of the public backlash James received for ditching Cleveland on national television, Paul has been careful to play both sides of the fence. During the recent Las Vegas Summer League, Paul told his new coach he would like to stay in New Orleans.
"I'm not going to jump to any conclusions off of something that's been alleged," Williams told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "We've already had dialogue and all of it has been great and everything that he said to me is what I'm going off of. He wants to be in New Orleans, and he hadn't said anything to me about any kind of movement, and we're going to sit down again."
What is clear at this point is Paul has been looking at the new NBA landscape and now realizes he has little chance to compete for an NBA championship unless things change drastically in New Orleans. In fact, Paul is suffering from a severe case of envy. Like LeBron, he wants to be part of a super team.
It looks like the competitive juices that defined players like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird just doesn't exist in this generation.
"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry, called up Magic and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team.' In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys," Jordan recently said when discussing the James-Wade-Bosh Holy Trinity in Miami.
To players like M.J., the rings may have defined them, but it was the competition that fueled them.
The battle cry of today's NBA player should be "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
Paul is just the latest superstar that wants to tap out just as things are getting a little tough.
<< Canucks sign LW Raymond to two-year deal
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks on Monday avoided
arbitration with Mason Raymond, signing the left winger to a two-year
contract.
Raymond, 24, enjoyed a breakout season in 2009-10, setting personal bes
<< Blackpool striker Clarke might miss entire season
Blackpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blackpool striker Billy Clarke looks set
to miss the entire season following knee ligament surgery.
Clarke, 22, injured his knee during the Seasiders' opening preseason friendly
against Tiverton Town ea
<< Browns sign second-round pick Hardesty
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns have signed rookie running
back Montario Hardesty to a multi-year contract.
The Browns selected the Tennessee product in the second round (59th overall)
of the 2010 draft and expect him t
<< Raul confirms exit from Real Madrid
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raul confirmed on Monday that he is leaving
Real Madrid after spending the last 16 years at the Bernabeu.
The 33-year-old striker is the all-time leading scorer in the club's history
with 323 goals in 740
This Week in Golf - July 29th through August 1st >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN, Royal Birkdale Golf
Club, Southport, England - The women remain in Europe this week for the fourth
and final major of their season, the Women's British Open.
Catriona Matthew was th
Gasquet rolls; Robredo exits Gstaad >>
Gstaad, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former top-10 Frenchman Richard Gasquet
reached the second round, while fifth-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo came up a
first-round loser Monday at the Swiss Open.
The seventh-seeded Gasquet grounded U
Inter Milan brass taking massive gamble with Balotelli sale >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With reports surfacing that Inter Milan are
prepared to transfer Mario Balotelli to Manchester City for a fee in the range
of 30 million Euros, the young star's tumultuous time with the club seems to be
at an
Lightning name Tod Leiweke CEO >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Lightning chairman and governor Jeff
Vinik announced Monday that Tod Leiweke has been named the team's chief
executive officer.
Officially, Leiweke becomes the CEO of Tampa Bay Sports and Ent
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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