Lakers set to land Paul

The League should never OWN a team in the first place.

Seems to me that is a conflict of interest.

A judge in a legal case "almost" always recuses themselves if they have any any prejudice or personal involvement towards or with the defendant.

A clear reason to me why contracting a team or 2 needs to happen. Have a dispersal draft and be done with it.

So I wonder what trades of so called STARS will be allowed or are the STARS to play out the contract and the team get NOTHING when the STAR walks away?

beat

gyso wrote:

What, me worry?

There is a resemblance.

beat

And, oh by the way, do you really think that Paul, with his bad knee, will jeopardize and play all out for the Hornets or for any other team he does not see himself signing with next season. They said he coasted when he came back last year from his operation. Another selfish player sticking it to the fans again.

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beat wrote:

gyso wrote:

What, me worry?

There is a resemblance.

beat

beat,

It was the grin. Its like he just had his way with you and he knows you can't do anything about it.

gyso

gyso wrote:

beat wrote:

gyso wrote:

What, me worry?

There is a resemblance.

beat

beat,

It was the grin. Its like he just had his way with you and he knows you can't do anything about it.

gyso

And the eyebrows!!

Thing is most of us LIKE/LIKED one of these guys.
Care to guess?

beat

Hi,
First, TJ, thx for the article.
Despite, well... let's just say very unfavorable opinion of Hollinger, I read it with great interest. I still don't understand why this trade was banned. Which brings me to the point where I feel like NBA became something similar to king's court right out of Alexander Dumas novels: faction this conspiring against faction that, faction that conspiring against the queen, queen conspiring against....
Now the question is will NO go back to DA's offer (if that rumor was true)?

AK

The trade was banned because the NBA (ie: owners) own the Hornets and many of them came out strongly against the trade after it was announced.

The process was broken, communication breakdown. Normally, the GMs, coaches and team owners discuss trades and then decide to pull the trigger. Everybody is involved at some time in the process. Here, the Hornet GM (and perhaps the coaches) discussed the trade with other team's GMs, coaches and owners, pulled the trigger and then the Hornet "owners" chimed in and got the trade vetoed. That's a bad way to do business.

Word is that this is not a "In the league's best interest" kind of thing, but rather a "In the best interest of the new Hornets owner" kind of thing. Does that mean that Chris Paul can't get traded until a new owner is found? SMH

Either way, the spin cycle has started.

League was put in a tough situation?

One of the main points missed in this erupting story was this: The Hornets shouldn't have been given the green light to hold talks for Paul in the first place. A deal of this magnitude needs to be decided by the next owner, whomever that might be. In a league driven by stars, Paul means that much to the New Orleans franchise. His presence (or subtraction) directly affects the value of the franchise.

Here's a link:

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/shaun_powell/12/08/chris-paul/index.html

I want to see Chris Paul throw the ball in David Stern's lap and tell the Hornets that he will not be reporting to camp. What would the Hornets "Owners" do then?
In all honesty, NO might get the best end of this proposed trade.
Odom, Scola and Kevin Martin are all borderline all-star players. They get a very capable back up guard and they get a first round draft pick. How does this hurt them?
Many people don't realize how good Kevin Martin is. He averaged almost 24 ppg last year.

Cancelling this trade was beyond stupid. The league is getting killed today on TV and radio.
If Boston would have traded Rondo, Green and 2 1st round picks for Paul, I would have said that is a fair trade. I would be upset if that trade was cancelled as I am upset this one was cancelled.

All along only Gasol's name was being mentioned. In the end, Odom was being traded too. How did the league not stop this before it went this far?

I have fought to back David Stern over the years, but with his attitude about the lockout and cancelling this trade, I am done supporting him.

tjmakz wrote:I want to see Chris Paul throw the ball in David Stern's lap and tell the Hornets that he will not be reporting to camp. What would the Hornets "Owners" do then?
In all honesty, NO might get the best end of this proposed trade.
Odom, Scola and Kevin Martin are all borderline all-star players. They get a very capable back up guard and they get a first round draft pick. How does this hurt them?
Many people don't realize how good Kevin Martin is. He averaged almost 24 ppg last year.

Cancelling this trade was beyond stupid. The league is getting killed today on TV and radio.
If Boston would have traded Rondo, Green and 2 1st round picks for Paul, I would have said that is a fair trade. I would be upset if that trade was cancelled as I am upset this one was cancelled.

All along only Gasol's name was being mentioned. In the end, Odom was being traded too. How did the league not stop this before it went this far?

I have fought to back David Stern over the years, but with his attitude about the lockout and cancelling this trade, I am done supporting him.

TJ,

We must be having an effect on you after all.

Welcome to the Club.

Down with Mr. Potato Head!!

bob

.

This from Redsarmy.com. It says something about the state of unrest in the league under the Stern regime. We already know the players hate his guts:

“We were all told by the league he was a trade-able player, and now they’re saying that Dell doesn’t have the authority to make the trade?” said an NBA executive who had periodic talks with New Orleans throughout the process. “Now, they’re saying that Dell is an idiot, that he can’t do it his job. [Expletive] this whole thing. David’s drunk on power, and he doesn’t give a [expletive] about the players, and he doesn’t give a [expletive] about the hundreds of hours the teams put in to make that deal.

“How do the Lakers explain this to Odom? How does Houston deal with the guys it just tried to trade? Scola and Martin are going to be pissed at them, and who knows how long that takes to get over? Explain to me how the league kills this Pau Gasol deal, but allows Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol?

“To me, this makes the league feel like it’s rigged, that Stern just does whatever Stern wants to do. He’s messed up the competitive balance of this league a lot worse by killing the deal, because you’ve completely destroyed the planning that New Orleans, Houston did and left them in shambles over this. I’ve never been so discouraged about this league, never so down.

“I mean, come on: Chris Paul is leaving New Orleans in 66 games. He’s gone. And what’s Dell Demps, and that franchise, going to have to show for it?”

AK, I'm reading Les Miserables by Alexander Dumas right now, and there's no one in that novel as manipulative as David Stern. At least not in the first 100 pages.

worcester wrote:AK, I'm reading Les Miserables by Alexander Dumas right now, and there's no one in that novel as manipulative as David Stern. At least not in the first 100 pages.

Worcester,

Try "The Prince". I think you'll find what you're looking for.

bob

.

Ah yes, Machiavelli, one of my favorite political theorists.

Who says Stern is protecting the Hornets anyway, maybe he is protecting the Lakers

There's obviously lots of reaction out there today, but I particularly enjoyed Bill Simmons' take (his usual effervescent self). It's part of his "12 Days of NBA Christmas." It's lengthy, so rather than copy/paste the whole thing, here's a little snippet to wet your whistle.

Just know that I'm a die-hard Celtics fan and die-hard Lakers hater … and even I am appalled. I hope Chris Paul sues. I hope the Rockets sue. I hope the Lakers sue. I hope Dell Demps resigns and makes a sex tape with a stripper wearing a David Stern Halloween mask. Whatever happens, the season has been irrevocably tainted — we just watched FIVE teams have their seasons screwed up by this debacle. Houston's three-year plan just went up in smoke; now the Rockets have to make up with their two best players. (Good luck with that.) The Lakers need to determine if their relationship with the notoriously sensitive Gasol and the even more notoriously sensitive Odom is salvageable; and if it's not, what then? The Hornets are just plain screwed. It's a basketball catastrophe for them. As for the Celtics, Pinocchio Ainge's ill-fated pursuit of Paul ruined the team's relationship with Rajon Rondo, only its best young player. Even the Knicks got screwed — supposedly they closed the deal with Tyson Chandler yesterday, never expecting Paul to become available this summer (and now they can't chase him).

The total tally: Five teams were screwed by one cowardly decision.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7334835/the-sixth-day-nba-christmas

So let me get this straight. First, it was the players who dictated where a player could go in trade. Now it's the owners who can dictate where a player cannot go. It's all too much for me, and I'm not even a Laker fan.

And now the Celtics have asked Glen Davis to be patient so they can arrange the right sign-and-trade for him. Does that mean he has no value on the open market—not even to secondary teams who have cap money to spend? It must be old age that's making my brain fuzzy.

I'm about to board a plane from Aruba to Boston. When I land around midnight, I expect to be able to log on to this board and read a concist update of all news associated with the Celtics. You know, something pithy. a Sentence or two should do the job, right?

Sam

Safe trip Sam & Mrs. Sam!!!!

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I read that one of the reasons behind it was that the contracts did not match and it would be the Hornets taking on more salaries.

So the other owners/Stern were not comfortable with having to pay more payroll while seeing a star player land in LA and also allowing LA to unload some payroll.

swedeinestonia wrote:I read that one of the reasons behind it was that the contracts did not match and it would be the Hornets taking on more salaries.

So the other owners/Stern were not comfortable with having to pay more payroll while seeing a star player land in LA and also allowing LA to unload some payroll.

Swede,

Can you show us where you read that?
The trade was not cancelled because of salaries not matching up.
LA would have taken back a big contract in Okafor to get the deal done.
Or they would have taken Ariza, or Scola...
LA is not looking to unload payroll.

The deal was Odom to Hornets, Gasol to Rockets.

Dragic, Scola, Martin and a 2012 first round pick (NYKs) to Hornets.

That trade makes sense for the Hornets basketball wise and has good value for them. It would also allow the Rockets to go for Nene which they can not do now.

If the deal included Okafor too then it did not make sense sportswise and IMO was not a "fair deal". Getting Paul AND Okafor for Gasol and Odom is a STEAL.

Where did you read that is was cancelled because of salaries?
If it was about money, LA would have taken back Okafor or Ariza or anyone else with a bad contract.
That is not why it was cancelled.

I am not saying it is the only reason why but that it is one of the reasons why and it makes sense.

The Hornets are owned by all the other owners.

If the deal goes through all those other teams would have to pay extra money while seeing the Lakers pay less and also losing the chance to get Nene. Also for all those other teams they have a "better" chance at Paul in FA than they do now (where they had no chance at all) cause the Lakers can not get him in FA.

Maybe you would consider taking on Okafor or Ariza too being "taking on bad contracts" but then the Lakers are all in a sudden getting way more basketball value out of it than they are giving out.

Paul-Ariza for Odom-Gasol is not a fair trade, sorry. Just like Paul-Okafor for Odom-Gasol was not. The trade has to make sense BOTH financially and sports wise.

swedeinestonia wrote:The deal was Odom to Hornets, Gasol to Rockets.

Dragic, Scola, Martin and a 2012 first round pick (NYKs) to Hornets.

That trade makes sense for the Hornets basketball wise and has good value for them. It would also allow the Rockets to go for Nene which they can not do now.

If the deal included Okafor too then it did not make sense sportswise and IMO was not a "fair deal". Getting Paul AND Okafor for Gasol and Odom is a STEAL.

Especially not a fair deal when Okafor is three years younger than Odom.

Have you seen what New Orleans roster looks like right now?
Do you really think New Orleans is better keeping Chris Paul then having Odom, Scola, Kevin Martin, Dragic and a 1st round pick?
Who is going to want to sign with New Orleans now?
The Lakers would have taken Hasheem Thabeet's $5.1m contract if they knew they needed to.

I still don't understand how the league allowed Pau Gasol to go to the Lakers in the first place. What was equitable about THAT deal?