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ESPN Insider's Kevin Pelton wrote an article on whether the Clippers should trade their culture-changing cornerstone Chris Paul to the Cleveland Cavaliers for superstar Kyrie Irving. I'm unable to read the article because I don't have an Insider account, but what I can do is share my premise:

1. Chris Paul has never gotten out of the 2nd round in the west
2. Chris Paul's only wins of significance was with Team USA and being surrounded by multiple superstars
3. Chris Paul and LeBron James are friends. Being with LeBron could help Paul breakthrough
4. Kyrie Irving's injuries have taken a toll on him, despite his youth
5. Clippers might be better off rebuilding and accept their demise than competing for a title this year, given the strength of the west elite three. Clips are still 0-7 against top 3 seeded teams in each conference
6. Teams who have lost their playoff series when up 3-1 are forced to painful rebuilds and losing their franchise star players

Original Link: http://espn.go.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/14635767/los-angeles-clippers-top-trade-targets-assets-nba

If anyone has access to this article, can you please post only pertinent segments. I want to get your thoughts on this.

Ehh its barely an article about Kyrie for CP3. It literally lists what you said already. He mentions our trade assets and something about targeting PJ Tucker but that's pretty much it.

if kyrie was any one of

a better defender
less fragile

i'd be a lot more inclined to consider a deal. but the fact of the matter is cp3 will likely be better than irving for the next few years, regardless of age. so if we're making a trade to match core ages, it's not really doing anything because by the time kyrie hits his peak, blake and dj will likely be past theirs.

One thing people tend to forget is Chris Paul is ONLY 30 years old.

LeBron should just abandon Cleveland a second time and sign with the Clippers in the off season. I know it won't happen, but it would be great for him- play along side his friend CP3 with a very talented roster in a glamorous city.

your poll options are incredibly limited and opinionated

you act like winning a ring is a forgone conclusion and if we keep paul we'll be "rewarding" him with a ring because of his loyalty? lol if we win a ring, a majority of it will because of paul

BlzMwt wrote:your poll options are incredibly limited and opinionated

There was going to be a third option, but I couldn't figure out how to phrase it.

BlzMwt wrote:you act like winning a ring is a forgone conclusion and if we keep paul we'll be "rewarding" him with a ring because of his loyalty? lol if we win a ring, a majority of it will because of paul

It doesn't necessarily mean the Clippers will win a ring, especially this season. It's the idea that if the Clippers keep the guys intact and value love above power like what Doc is trying to emphasize, sooner or later, they will win one. Or, they'll have a breakthrough resume that shows they've made the conference finals at least once. Right now, it's a conference finals appearance just to prove to the world the Clippers are not a lost cause.

In my opinion, I just can't see the Clippers getting out of the 2nd round anymore. The west is too hard with the Warriors, Spurs and Thunder commandeering the top 3 seeds. They also have a bad habit of not wanting to become a conference finalist. They're afraid that something bad will happen if they do anything to fight their miserable past. Clippers have to face their fear of the unknown, and the fear of winning more than the fear of losing.