Could Chris Paul become a Sonic?

Since we're floating in NBA purgatory, lamenting the lost Hornets and hoping for the wayward Sonics, here's a scenario to warm your heart.

The Sonics come to Oklahoma City in summer 2008, and on July 1 sign free-agent point guard Chris Paul.

That's right. CP3. Paul can become a free agent next summer, and while the Hornets can sign him to a contract extension before that, the Sonics have a head start, too.

Aubrey McClendon.

The Chesapeake Energy Corp. chairman is one of the primary partners in the Oklahoma City group that purchased the Sonics a year ago, and Chesapeake has Paul under contract as a company spokesman, a relationship that did not end with the Hornets' return to New Orleans.

The NBA has serious rules against tampering. No team's representative can directly or indirectly entice, induce or persuade a player who is under contract with another team to negotiate for their services.

But how exactly does the NBA police McClendon, who is only chatting with an employee, and sometime in the next few months could say, "Hey, Chris, we sure would like to have you back in OKC.”

Paul was at Chesapeake Energy on Tuesday, talking to the company's interns as part of his duties as a Chesapeake spokesman.

CP3 claimed allegiance to the Hornets, saying he wants to be a Hornet for life, which is honorable.

"I plan on being with the Hornets my whole career,” Paul said. "My deal's a little bit longer with the Hornets (than with Chesapeake). So I plan on being with the Hornets.”

But money talks, and so does the prospect of a 1-2 punch with Kevin Durant in the city that's been his only NBA home.