Hahn's analysis: Garnett's move a guide for Paul

The genesis of Chris Paul's desire to escape from New Orleans came in the words of Kevin Garnett, who offered advice to LeBron James, a friend of Paul's, after the Celtics upset the Cavaliers in the second round of the playoffs.

Garnett was talking in reference to James at the time, but he might as well have been talking to Paul, who appears to be on the same path Garnett was on for too many lost seasons in Minnesota.

"Loyalty is something that hurts you sometimes because you can't get youth back," Garnett said of his Timberwolves career. "I can honestly say if I could go back and do my situation over, knowing what I know with [the Celtics'] organization, I would have done it a little sooner."

By "done it," Garnett meant push for a trade and get out while he still was in his prime. But Garnett didn't want to be viewed as someone who bailed out on the people who loved him since he was a rookie. So while owner Glen Taylor dismantled a team that had made the conference finals, and the Timberwolves proceeded to make questionable personnel decisions, Garnett sucked it up.

It took the threat of his opt-out year in 2007 to motivate the team to explore trading Garnett when he came to grips with the truth: With his max contract eating up most of the payroll, the T-Wolves could never afford to build a championship-contending team around him.

Three years ago, Paul and the Hornets were an up-and-coming team that pushed the defending champion Spurs to a seventh game in the second round of the playoffs. A year later, the team took a first-round exit. This past season, the Hornets failed to make the playoffs.

Here's where you see the truth about people. Some can live with losing, because they celebrate the biggest wins of their lives twice a month on payday. But others agonize.

Losing made Paul absolutely miserable. At 25, he is too young to be miserable.

The Beijing Olympics may have spawned the Miami Dream Machine, but it also gave players such as Paul a taste of the intoxicating kind of winning they wanted to enjoy in mass quantities. He knows the cash-strapped Hornets, who play in the NBA's smallest market, could never afford to build that kind of team. That's just reality.

Fellow Redeem Teamers James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and even Carlos Boozer (Bulls) were able to jump into ready-to-contend situations through free agency this summer. But the earliest Paul can be a free agent is in 2012, when he turns 27. Still in his prime, but - after a knee injury this past season - perhaps too long to wait.

James and Paul are close. In fact, Paul left mega-agency Octagon earlier this month to become the first major client of LRMR Marketing and Branding, which is bankrolled by James and run by James' business partner, Maverick Carter.

This is the group that spawned the ill-fated plan to have James announce his decision during a self-absorbed one-hour special on ESPN. So you can understand that the exact same script is already being followed with Paul: list of favorite destinations, ranked in order of preference, fed to a choice reporter who works for the Worldwide Leader.

Of course, the important point that needs to be emphasized at tomorrow's meeting between Paul and the new Hornets hierarchy is that unlike the destiny control that LeBron, Wade and Bosh wielded earlier this month, the player in this case, with two years left on his contract, has no leverage and, therefore, no say in where he wants to go, let alone in saying that he wants to go.

The Knicks, who are an appealing destination for Paul on many levels, would benefit most if the Hornets do what most NBA executives say they will do and take their time with this situation.

Let's go ahead and assume that rookie GM Dell Demps will have his career in mind when he does decide to move Paul. Though it could be ownership-motivated, no one envisions the sort of Pau Gasol disaster that Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace has had to carry on his resume, though it was owner Michael Heisley who made that widely panned deal with the Lakers in 2008.

For the Knicks, the best-case scenario is for the Hornets to be slipping out of the playoff race in the West when we reach the February trade deadline. Then make a move for Paul. In the meantime, there will be an opportunity to ratchet up the value of their young assets (Anthony Randolph, Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler).

A move now, while competing against bids by the Magic and Trail Blazers, almost certainly would cost the Knicks their most prized possession in Gallinari plus the future cap space that could land Carmelo Anthony next summer.

Remember, it was Paul's idea, as he announced at Anthony's wedding on July 10, to come to New York with Anthony to join Amar'e Stoudemire. At least in this case, the star player actually wants to come.

The Dolan family owns controlling interests in the Knicks, MSG and Cablevision.

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