Dreaming of a Chris Paul trade to Portland? Keep dreaming. Watch the New Orleans ownership situation, and get ready to wait a while as the Hornets sale works itself out.

The Hornets are in the process of being sold. Majority shares changing hands, assets being calculated. The transaction from Shinn to Chouest is not going smoothly and could get derailed. Paul is a huge part of the calculus, with his value as a superstar who sells tickets, his big contract and impending FA status in 2012. How much is the new owner going to be willing to spend? Is he playing to win, or is he a Memphis/Clippers type owner who just wants to play the asset appreciation game? Does he want Paul there -- jacking up the price tag, the debt, but also the revenue (and winning) potential? Surely he doesn't want the high-paid stiffs surrounding Paul, and would approve of dumping them in any Paul trade. A lot of questions, but basically Chouest will want to buy low and get a stripped-down NBA franchise. That's in his interest. So, you're asking, Who cares about Chouest, he doesn't have a say in this. But he's the guy who is going to be writing checks so whatever goes through, it matters to him, and he's the real suitor here, not the teams who want to trade for Paul.

Looking at the sellers: Shinn vetoed a POR-NO deal once already. That's one card in Demps and Monte Williams' hand. They have a few stiffs (Okafor, Stojakovic, Posey) to unload to give them the room to make roster improvements and make Paul happy. Shinn would dearly like to see those debts erased to help him sell, I'm sure. What a spot Demps and Monte are in -- between Scylla and Charibdis of Greek lore (sea monsters who today would be covered in sticky oil from the Gulf disaster). How to get somebody to take these contracts away, but let the Hornets hold on to Paul? Who out there wants to take bad deals with no LeBron prize awaiting them? Probably nobody as the league heads toward a real bee-yatch of a CBA negotiation. They can try as much as they want to free up the roster, but they can't. Paul's going to just have to be unhappy then, but it doesn't mean NO has to do what he says.

Because they're in this tight ownership spot, I don't foresee a Paul trade happening before the season. Broussard on ESPN called it at 50/50, but I'd say it's more 90/10 Paul stays, especially because two new GMs have a lot of assessment and analysis on their plates, and don't look like the kind of guys who will pull a quick trigger right at the start of their tenures.

Why would Shinn approve a Paul trade this time, still before he completes the team's sale, when he nixed it before? Unless somehow it's a contingency of his sale? That's the 10 percent chance I see for a trade: it's a piece of the bid from Chouest. But that's really unlikely, so I'm being charitable at calling it a chance. 

For my money, that doesn't make a lot of sense, because if I'm Chouest, I want to keep Paul, too. Why not? Paul loves the city, the fans love him, and he's a future HOFer. The same tired Trade Machine proposals bantied around today were probably discussed in the lead-up to the deal that got nixed before the draft.

We Blazers fans are going to have to ride this out and watch that ownership situation down there. Meanwhile, two new GMs have a lot of work to do to assess their rosters and put together plans for the future. Down there, Demps has to persuade Paul that NO can transform its roster. He'll say to Paul, "Kobe and Paul Pierce were in this situation a few years ago. Give us a chance to do what they did and give you the pieces you need. If we can't get it done, you'll be a free agent in 2012, you go where you see the best chance." Meanwhile, Cho has to figure out what to do with several of the Blazers pieces, especially Oden (by Oct. 31 to extend or let him become RFA). These GMs are not going to do anything fast, especially not Cho, who is analytical and needs a lot more information in coming weeks.

As juicy as it is when a report like this gets out -- and in this case, it looks very likely that it came from the horse's mouth, because Paul wants to kickstart something here and make it absolutely clear he wants changes on that roster -- it looks like Paul, and his suitors, are going to have to wait. Paul, you're gonna have to play. You're going to have to play on a sucky team, too, dude.

I'm calling my shot -- Paul is in a Hornets uni to start the season. Now -- trade deadline, that's a different story, if the Hornets have their new owner by then!!!

First fan post, so be gentle. I'm firmly in the "Nate has to go" camp. I hope I am wrong, but there it is. He is on the verge of losing the team's attention and respect. Injuries are no excuse: Good teams find a way, especially with the resources on this roster. If McMillan is a great coach, he'll pass this test. As Blazers fans we all want to see the team win, so we all wish Nate success. We want a great coach, and there's still a chance for Nate to be that coach. But we also get to speak up in feisty debates about who should be the next coach if he screws the pooch.

What would you do if Nate were shown the door and you were the new coach? What kind of style do you want to see? Here's what I would do.

1. Turn to Andre and tell him he's the starter and he won't get pulled after a mistake like he's some green rookie. He'll get 32-35 minutes a game.

2. Blake is gonna sit over on the bench with me. If he wants an active role, it's giving me thoughts and perspectives. Maybe someday he'll thank me if he wants to go into coaching himself. Dude has to face facts.

3. We're gonna run, damnit.

4. Miller, Roy, Webster, Aldridge, Oden start. I want to get Oden's minutes up to around 30 a game. Rudy is the sixth man and will get the bulk of his time with Webster on the bench and the Blazers going small or keeping a three-guard attack. Bayless is going to get 13-16 minutes a game and maybe more if he does well or the 3-guard lineup works. Sic 'em, B-Rex. Cunningham is going to man the backup 3 also, and be the go-to guy at backup 4 and should do fine. Joel's minutes will have a lot of variation because there will be games where Greg kills it and I'm not going to hold him back, and there will be games where he fouls out in a blaze of glory with plenty of time left. I think that's everybody not hurt and not named Howard right now. 

4. Fix the damn pick and roll defense. It's embarrassing. It's as bad as Amare and Shaq together. 

5. When substituting I'd do things like try to get Roy going in short bursts by putting him back in his comfort zone with the ball in his hands and Andre on the bench. Then bring Miller back in to play with a heated-up Roy. Tell Miller to keep looking for Roy's shots while he's working off the ball.

6. I'm going to let Miller call a lot of plays. The better the team does, the fewer plays I have to call from the sideline. Again, if Roy needs help finding his rhythm I'd call for Andre to set up isolation for Roy. I'd also tell Miller to find spacing on the floor that works for Roy, Webster and Bayless to drive on people. I wouldn't have to tell Miller any of this twice because he knows what he's doing after 13 or 14 years or whatever. I would trust him not to mess up B-Roy the All-Star's game.

7. I don't want to start making the offense go through Greg yet. Keep establishing Lamarcus in the beginning of the game. Greg will get his in the flow of the game. Jay-sus, we've already seen that he can run the break when he needs to and can drop dimes.

8. I'd challenge Brandon to play with Miller. I'd tell Roy that this is the season for him to do what he has talked about every offseason: get better without the ball. I'd use some motivational Coach speak and say, "This is what Kobe had to do. Now it is your turn." I'd say I don't care what speed you play at Brandon, I don't want to mess that up. But I want to get out on the break with the other players on this team who can do that, because getting easy baskets helps win ball games in an easier fashion.  Let Andre set the tempo and trust in him to find your shots. Give him time to do this, it won't happen overnight.

What would you guys do as head coach? I hope we get on a red-hot-and-rolling Blazer win streak to make this a big dish of crow for me, but right now I'm firmly in the pessimist camp. This is a crucial point for this season. Does Nate have any other rabbits to pull out of his hat, besides starting a 3-guard lineup with Blake at PG and Brandon at small forward?