people buy tickets for reasons besides how competitive the team is.

if the team secured 10k season ticket accounts, how many of those would balk if Paul got shipped for players they don't like?

I've seen Oakland sell out despite being a losing team, because people loved the players. I've also seen the Blazers fail to sell despite having a playoff team, because people hated the players so much. trading Chris Paul hurts more than keeping an unhappy Chris Paul.