The one constant in every proposed trade has been Bledsoe, who has been Paul's understudy the past two seasons. Paul said he has talked about the various rumors and dealing with trade talks with Bledsoe. "I've talked to Bled a little bit," Paul said. "But, one thing about Bled is that he understands. He understands this is a business and at the end of the day he understands how much he means to this team. If you would have seen the last two days of practice, he's been hooping. I pulled him to the side at the end of this one and told him, 'I can't guard you. In practice, I can't stay in front of you, so that's why I stay on you during the games, because if you stay on me like this in practice, I want you to do the opponents like that.' "