Woj: Lakers close to sending Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom for Chris Paul

[Lkr]

Absolutely. Look at the Celtics, Showtime, Bad Boys, Bulls etc. all featured more than 1 star. The Pistons/Spurs are the exception to the rule and the Spurs are borderline.

well, all the starters on their championship team and for a few years after that can be considered all-stars

[AboveLegit]

Absolutely. Look at the Celtics, Showtime, Bad Boys, Bulls etc. all featured more than 1 star. The Pistons/Spurs are the exception to the rule and the Spurs are borderline.

But here's the difference between those teams back then, and teams now.

 

Bulls acquired Jordan, Pippen, and even Horace Grant through the draft.

 

Bad Boy Pistons drafted Dumars, Thomas, and Rodman.

 

Hell even the Lakers of old drafted Magic, Worthy, and AC Green.

 

The draft is the best way to build a winner. Modern day teams are going after the big name free agents rather than developing players they brought in from college. Which is why many hardliners as well as Stern are visibly frustrated over this superstar movement.

[Flash]

See I think you can build through the draft in today's league as well. Just look at the Thunder. They might be the best team in the West this year and the only guy they traded for was Perkins. Some teams/front offices just aren't patient enough to let it play out.

[Lkr]

The Lakers are in no position to build through the draft when they are a perennial elite team

 

interesting read:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/ian_thomsen/12/09/hornets.need.new.owners/index.html#ixzz1g1GjPq9P

[AboveLegit]

See I think you can build through the draft in today's league as well. Just look at the Thunder. They might be the best team in the West this year and the only guy they traded for was Perkins. Some teams/front offices just aren't patient enough to let it play out.

See this is where the owners and GM's get most of the blame, guys like CP3 and LeBron have waited years for them to play on contenders and it didn't work out. I disagree with the idea of choosing where to play, but you can't blame guys like CP3, Melo, and LeBron for leaving. It should not take more than 3-4 years to build a team around a foundational player. It took the Sonics/Thunder two years (and in those 2 years, they won a combined 40 games) before getting a good team around KD.

 

I know there are exceptions to this idea, but bad management has a lot to do with player movement.

[Flash]

See this is where the owners and GM's get most of the blame, guys like CP3 and LeBron have waited years for them to play on contenders and it didn't work out. I disagree with the idea of choosing where to play, but you can't blame guys like CP3, Melo, and LeBron for leaving. It should not take more than 3-4 years to build a team around a foundational player. It took the Sonics/Thunder two years (and in those 2 years, they won a combined 40 games) before getting a good team around KD.

 

I know there are exceptions to this idea, but bad management has a lot to do with player movement.

 

This. Its no coincidence that the best teams also have the best front offices in the league.

[Lkr]

I just heard that Pau's agent rallied the owners together because Pau didn't want to go to Houston...

[Flash]

I just heard that Pau's agent rallied the owners together because Pau didn't want to go to Houston...

 

 

Gasoft gonna soft. Its a business dude, that's how things work. I do feel bad for Lamar because he really thought he'd be a Laker for life and he's one of my favorite players.

[Real Deal]

I just heard that Pau's agent rallied the owners together because Pau didn't want to go to Houston...

Well, no idea why Houston would want that giraffe now, if the NBA decides to give the Lakers a second chance at CP3. Super.

[Flash]

http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/1494832352/0001169232-07-003769_FLAG_normal.JPGMickyArison Micky Arison Whatever happens with @CP3 all I can say is I wish him the the best. A class act.

Love having that guy as an owner.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Flash

[Lkr]

http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/1494832352/0001169232-07-003769_FLAG_normal.JPGMickyArison Micky Arison Whatever happens with @CP3 all I can say is I wish him the the best. A class act.

Love having that guy as an owner.

I love having an owner that has a son that according to a possible report cussed out Stern

[GamerGuy]

Danny Granger had something to say about the trade being blocked.

 

Due to the sabotaging of the LA/NO trade by david stern, and following in the footsteps of my athlete brethern Metta World Peace and Chad Ochocinco, I'm changing my last name to "Stern's Bi#&h" #effectiveimmediately

 

http://twitter.com/#!/dgranger33/status/145027574387580928

[BadgerFan]

You wanna know why the NBA is such a joke? Becuase the damn players control where they wanna go. Stern had EVERY right to block this trade. The NBA would have turned into an even bigger joke if the Lakers got Paul and Howard.

 

What happened to the days where players actually were loyal to their teams? Signed extensions with their own team, helped build a fanbase and shit like that? Now every superstar wants to team up with each other. What about the other teams like the Bucks, or the Raptors, or any other team like that who would have absoutely no shot in winning? Every time you draft a superstar, they just ask for a trade and team up with other superstars.

 

How fun will it be when you have the Lakers and Heat in the Finals every year and you have the refs rigging the shit out of the games so the NBA can get higher ratings?

 

Laker fans don't understand how teams who have absoutley no chance of winning feels when you see this shit goes down. Paul shouldn't be able to demand what team he goes to when he has one year left. You trade him to the team that offers you the best package regardless if Paul likes it or not. Lakers defintley did not have the best package.

 

Stern doesn't want to see another dream team, and for good reason. If Paul wants to go to the Lakers and team up with Kobe, then that's what FA is for. He has to get to that spot first though.

Edited December 9, 2011 by BadgerFan

[The Artesticle]

Paul didnt force his way to the Lakers though... his first choice was and has always been the Knicks...

[BadgerFan]

So he can team up with two other superstars right? Why can't he just finish out his deal and then sign with whoever the heck he wants come next year? Why does he have to "demand" a trade when he has one year left on his contract? A couple weeks ago he said his "heart" was in NO, and then a week later, he demands a trade. If you keep letting players do this, like Dan G. said, you will keep having teams form these superstar teams. It's heading in that direction.

 

I have no problem with what the Heat did with Lebron/Wade/Bosh. Lebron and Bosh were both FA's which is the big difference between Paul and probably Howard going to the Lakers, to Lebron and Bosh signing as FA's.

 

If Paul wanted to go to the Lakers or Knicks, sign as a FA.

[GamerGuy]

At least with Paul wanting a trade, it gives N.O the chance to get something in return, as opposed to him just walking away for nothing.

[fish7718]

Paul didnt force his way to the Lakers though... his first choice was and has always been the Knicks...

He said his second choice was Lakers, Clips Warriors and Celtics all had better offers just Paul wouldn't sign extension there. I personally have no problem with people going where they want to though. FA era and LeBron Bosh and Wade created this type of environment where players feel thats what they have to do to win.

[The Artesticle]

He said his second choice was Lakers, Clips Warriors and Celtics all had better offers just Paul wouldn't sign extension there. I personally have no problem with people going where they want to though. FA era and LeBron Bosh and Wade created this type of environment where players feel thats what they have to do to win.

well then if that's the case if dwight gets traded to new jersey or new york tomorrow the deal should be voided (or wherever he said he wanted to go)

 

and also chris paul never stated if he was going to sign an extension with the lakers or not, unless i missed it. for all we know he couldve left for new york after this year in free agency.

[Real Deal]

Haha, so Stephen Curry and fillers would be a better option?

 

Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green?

 

DeAndre, Aminu, Kaman's expiring?

 

So if CP3 and teammates didn't work out in New Orleans, is it supposed to be BETTER with Rajon Rondo or Stephen Curry?

 

Kevin Martin

Lamar Odom

Luis Scola

Emeka Okafor

Trevor Ariza

Goran Dragic

Jarrett Jack

two first-rounders

 

That's going to be a WORSE TEAM than Rondo replacing CP3?

 

What a joke. Again, it makes me laugh how bad these small-market teams just screwed over another small-market team, and in the end, those small-market teams won't do shit this year...and years beyond.

[The Artesticle]

Haha, so Stephen Curry and fillers would be a better option?

 

Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green?

 

DeAndre, Aminu, Kaman's expiring?

 

So if CP3 and teammates didn't work out in New Orleans, is it supposed to be BETTER with Rajon Rondo or Stephen Curry?

 

Kevin Martin

Lamar Odom

Luis Scola

Emeka Okafor

Trevor Ariza

Goran Dragic

Jarrett Jack

two first-rounders

 

That's going to be a WORSE TEAM than Rondo replacing CP3?

 

What a joke. Again, it makes me laugh how bad these small-market teams just screwed over another small-market teams, and in the end, those small-market teams won't do shit this year...and years beyond.

i agree, people are making it out to be the hornets got nothing in return for chris paul. they certainly got their fair share of players.

 

simply put it was absolutely not fair for stern, or anyone for that matter to block the trade after it had happened. everyone knew the lakers were talking with the hornets, why not, as jim buss put it, "take him off the block til July."

 

or, to make matters even simpler, since stern doesnt want his players to dictate where they should play, simply bar the lakers and knicks from even putting up an offer in the first place. you cant allow a trade to be finalized between two teams, agreed by both GMs, and turn around and void it when it doesn't break any of the rules in the cba just because you dont want him to play in LA.

 

me, personally, after the initial excitement, wasn't even too fond of the trade that depleted our front court. nobody knows if chris paul can even co-exist with kobe since both need to dominate the ball, not to mention it made us incredibly thin up front. however, by voiding the deal, you essentially [expletive]ed up the entire season for LA or whatever plans they may have had after the trade. now, we have two disgruntled players coming back after a trade has already been agreed upon. how do you salvage the season at this point? stern basically wasted the entire 2011-2012 season for the lakers. that's the part that angers me the most, not the trade. the entire year is now a waste because of this, it cannot be salvaged at this point. and the lakers management shares none of the blame, they played by the rules. how would they knew the trade would be voided when something like this has never happened in the history of the nba.

Edited December 9, 2011 by The Artesticle

[The Artesticle]

Haha, so Stephen Curry and fillers would be a better option?

 

warriors weren't even putting stephen curry in the trade offer. only monta ellis.

[Real Deal]

warriors weren't even putting stephen curry in the trade offer. only monta ellis.

Well, assuming CP3 would sign...which he said he wouldn't, so yeah.

 

Good stuff. Monta would take them places thoughhhhhhh, he's like kinda decent!

[Real Deal]

Gilbert pointed out that the trade would net the Lakers the best player in the deal and save them $40 million in salary and luxury taxes over the next three seasons. But this is not what would've happened. It was widely known that Paul, after a six-month waiting period instituted in the new CBA, would sign a new five-year, $100 million contract with the Lakers after opting out of his contract on July 1. And the Lakers, who'd be bereft of big men after sending Pau Gasol to the Rockets and Lamar Odom to the Hornets, would need to spend more to replace that size or risk having Kobe Bryant keel over in frustration while Paul futilely dribbled in circles with nobody to receive his magical passes.

 

While there was no question the Lakers were getting a huge star, it was hardly a guarantee that the trade would make them appreciably better. In fact, several rival GMs calculated that the trade may have made the Lakers worse in the short term, and applauded Demps for getting a haul of quality players (Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin) plus Goran Dragic and a first-round pick for a player everybody knew would one day leave on his own.

 

"Are they saying that Stu Jackson or David Stern or whoever the ___ it is knows more than the experienced GMs who made this deal?" one person involved in front-office dealings said.

 

Of the players Demps was going to get, three are capable starters, and one (Dragic) is a low-priced yet effective backup point guard. The draft pick in 2012, formerly belonging to the Knicks and only top-five protected, promises to be in the middle of the first round round of a deep and loaded draft. Only one player -- Scola, one of the most efficient post players in the league -- carries significant financial obligations beyond next season. Martin, who scores 20 points a night in his sleep, is 28 and has two years left totaling about $25 million -- or, the same total amount the Clippers lavished on Caron Butler Thursday without anyone stepping in to stop that.

 

It made sense, too, for the Rockets, who cleared $3.5 million and would've had room with the amnesty of one player to offer a max contract to a free agent like Nene -- or use the space in other creative ways. Gasol, among the league's most gifted big men, would fill the gaping hole in the middle left by Yao Ming's premature retirement.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/16371316/nixed-paul-deal-makes-nba-look-like-secondrate-bush-league

 

Hahaha, owned again and again. The league is getting destroyed here.

[Real Deal]

2. Fact or Fiction: The Lakers got screwed by the NBA.

 

Kevin Arnovitz, ESPN.com: Fact. With no reasonable precedent, the league tried to make a symbolic statement by hijacking a real-life transaction.

 

Larry Coon, ESPN.com: Fact. From David Stern's mysterious "basketball reasons" justification to Dan Gilbert's (if not comic sans, then at least comical) letter, the league appears to have been acting on the basis of collusion and conflict of interest. The league set the Hornets up with a caretaker specifically to avoid this problem, then trumped the caretaker's autonomy. It set a dangerous and disturbing precedent, and I can't help but think the league's integrity has suffered a blow here.

 

Zach Harper, Daily Dime Live: Fact. Whether you agree with the trade being fair or not, the league had no right to block it from happening. The Hornets weren't forced into sending Paul to the Lakers. They chose to. And they got a pretty decent haul for him. If this is a case of limiting what a big-market team can do, that sounds like league collusion to me.

 

Mark Haubner, The Painted Area: Fact. And the Hornets did, too, possibly even worse. Apparently, they are required to hold on to Paul for the entire season and lose him with no compensation. There are repercussions leading to uncertainties all over the place here. It's staggering how poorly thought-out this decision by the NBA appears to have been.

 

Beckley Mason, HoopSpeak: Fact! The Lakers won a ton of games last season, so it makes sense they would have more assets than most other teams to pull off a big trade. They had to sacrifice their identity, the one that brought two rings, in order to make this happen. They did a fair deal, and it was quashed foolishly and without warrant.

 

3. Fact or Fiction: This was just a case of an NBA owner vetoing a trade.

 

Kevin Arnovitz, ESPN.com: Fiction. Owners veto trades all the time. They do so because they're some combination of cheap, idiosyncratic, megalomaniacal or delusional. The motive here was something entirely different and more nefarious -- checking the power of a particular class of players and a specific NBA team.

 

Larry Coon, ESPN.com: Fiction. It's not clear at this point whether Stern was acting within his broad authority as commissioner or in his fiduciary position over the Hornets. But Gilbert's letter is a smoking gun. Read it carefully; he talks about what the deal will do for the Lakers and what it will do for non-taxpayers such as himself. He never mentions what it will do for the Hornets. Gilbert called on Stern to let the "29 owners of the Hornets" vote, but his letter made it clear the Hornets were the least of his concerns.

 

Zach Harper, Daily Dime Live: Fact-ish fiction? I guess it depends on what we believe the story to be. Did Stern decide this was a bad deal for "his team"? Did the owners bully him into reversing the trade decision? Either way, I don't know which case is worse than the other.

 

Mark Haubner, The Painted Area: Fiction. This was an egregious abuse of power by the league, which had said all along that the Hornets' basketball operations staff would be able to operate without interference. This was a reasonable trade with no reasonable cause to be blocked, and possibly the single worst thing David Stern has done as commissioner.

 

Beckley Mason, HoopSpeak: Fiction. In order to avoid a conflict of interest, the NBA had to create distance between itself and the management of the Hornets. It flagrantly violated that arrangement, and evidence suggests this decision was made for a reason other than the Hornets' good. What owner would wittingly act against his own franchise

 

Anyone listening to Stephen A. Smith on Mike and Mike? He says CP3 is "livid" and ready to "go to war" against the league. Also says despite the position Billy Hunter is in, he's got Chris Paul's back 100%. Says in the next 2 hours or so we should hear word from Hunter/the union.

[Newman]

According to the NBA office, the league killed the deal "for basketball reasons" but the conspiracy theories are already flying, with word the owners feared a trade that not only gifted the Lakers another star, but made them attractive enough to entice Dwight Howard next summer. Unquestionably, the veto angered the principles involved in the trade; namely, Hornets GM Dell Demps and Paul himself, who looked forward to throwing passes to Kobe Bryant and now threatens to take legal action.

 

(Good luck with that. David Stern didn't block Paul from going to L.A. as a free agent; he blocked a trade. Big difference. No "rights" were violated.)

 

Shaun Powell's column

 

I am not saying what the league done was right, but I don't know what CP3 can do in terms of legal action.