Now that LeBron James’ decision to go to Miami is forgotten (well, almost forgotten), Chris Paul has stepped up and wishes to be traded. This was definitely out of the blue, especially since the young guard signed a 4 year, $68 contract extensionat the end of 2008. Speculation has risen if this is truly Paul’s wishes, since has fired his agents at Octagon and joined LRMR Marketing, LeBron James’ marketing company.

On the surface, it seems that Chris Paul has legitimate reasons. The Hornets fired Byron Scott and traded Tyson Chandler since his extension, two people he was close to. Also, the Hornets have not made any attempt to improve their team this season. The only free-agency signing that has been made is resigning Aaron Gray, a reserve center. The team has been on a decline, missing the playoffs last season. Those are some good reasons to bolt from New Orleans if they are not willing to improve the team with a quality guard who led the league in steals for the 2008-09 season.

Still, the conspiracy theory remains. Will Chris Paul head to New York and form his own Big 3 with Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony (read the announcement at Anthony’s wedding)? Is that what he is preparing for? Or is he simply ruining his career by following LeBron James and his advisers? Only time will tell with this saga and hopefully New Orleans won’t be surprised like Cleveland was.