Word is that Chris Paul is seeking a trade from the New Orleans Hornets. Paul, arguably the best point guard in the NBA, has reportedly handed the Hornets a list of teams that he’d like to be traded to. Topping the list is the New York Knicks, followed by the Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers.

Paul is one of the biggest sellers of NBA tickets in the league, so each of the aforementioned organizations is likely scrambling to see what kind of package they can put together to land the All-Star point guard. Any trade would likely have to include Emeka Okafor and his bloated contract, but that deal is worth absorbing if it means landing CP3. Let’s take a look at what these four teams could offer the Hornets and how the addition of Paul would affect their squad.

New York Knicks: New York is the frontrunner in this race, mostly because it’s Paul’s preferred destination. The Knicks seem to be on the upswing for the first time in a decade and the presence of an All-Star big man like Amar’e Stoudemire is surely attractive to Paul. New York has a decent combination of expiring contracts and talent to send the Hornets’ way. A package of Eddy Curry, Kelenna Azubuike, Ronny Turiaf and Anthony Randolph for Paul and Okafor could work. The Hornets are likely to request Danilo Gallinari in the deal, but the Knicks would probably resist that as much as possible. If the Knicks were able to execute the above deal, they’d have a core of Stoudemire, Paul and Gallinari as the centerpiece of their team. Those three players seem to fit every well together and would truly have the Knicks back in business in the Big Apple.

Orlando Magic: The Magic would love to pair CP3 with Dwight Howard. They don’t have a ton of attractive assets, but could offer a package of Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and Jameer Nelson. Carter is set to come off the books after the 2010-11 season, Nelson is a quality player and Gortat is a solid center that would get more minutes on most other teams. However, that deal probably doesn’t give the Hornets enough young talent. Plus, Nelson isn’t really needed in New Orleans with Darren Collison in place as Paul’s heir apparent. The Magic would love the idea of having both the best point guard and center in the league, but it looks like a long shot due to their lack of young talent.

Dallas Mavericks: The Mavericks are always a player in the trade market and would love to bring CP3 into the fold with Dirk Nowitzki. Dallas could offer a solid package of Caron Butler, Tyson Chandler, Alex Ajinca and Roddy Beaubois. Both Butler and Chandler would help the team immediately and both have contracts that expire after the end of the 2010-11 season. Beaubois is considered by many people around the league to be a budding star, though the Darren Collison redundancy is an issue here as well. Ajinca is a project center who still has upside.

The only problem with this trade is that it would have to be agreed on in principle now, but could not be officially executed until Sept. 13th. Neither Chandler nor Ajinca can be traded in combination with another player until then due to trade restrictions stemming from their recent trade from Charlotte. This could be a major hang-up in any trade talks between New Orleans and Dallas. However, if Mark Cuban and company could pull it off, the Mavs would be extremely dangerous with the combination of Paul and Dirk. As we know, Dirk is always ready to shoot, and CP3 would set him up over and over again.

Portland Trail Blazers: The Blazers could be the Knicks’ biggest threat in stealing Paul away. Portland has a host of young talent and could probably put together a nice package for Paul. The Blazers could offer Marcus Camby, Joel Pryzbilla, Nicolas Batum and Rudy Fernandez for Paul and Okafor. The deal would give the Hornets two very promising young players in Batum and Fernandez to add to the team’s young core. Batum is developing into a world-class defender with a budding offensive game, while Fernandez is a talented offensive threat longing for more playing time. Both of those players would be a nice fit with Collison in the Big Easy. The team would also be getting two solid centers in Camby and Pryzbilla, and the latter comes off the books after the 2010-11 season.

This doesn’t give the Hornets much cap relief right away, but the team wouldn’t suffer too much in the short-term and would get some nice young assets. Adding Paul to the Blazers’ young core of Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden would make them a serious threat in the West, now and moving forward. There is a chance that the Blazers would have to include either Oden or Aldridge in the deal, but they would probably end biting the bullet if it meant landing CP3.

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