Paul to Lakers

[D-Dogg]

no it's not. screw the NBA with the way it was going. The whole idea of the only place superstars wanted to play was NY, Miami and Los Angeles was just becoming nauseating and Stern's been nauseating forever.

I was pissed they even got the lockout figure out, but today has been awesome. To quote the Penguin in Batman Returns: BURN, BABY, BURN!

It's sad because it won't ever go back to 80s bball. No matter how hard it burns.

They didn't even get the lockout figured out..they just found out how much money they were ok pushing to the other side of the table for 6 years. Then they bitched and whined when they didn't actually think about the BASKETBALL or the MANAGEMENT OF TEAMS in the agreement, and found their fat-wallet asses in a sling.

 

[CardsFan88]

While players know it's a business, the players involved on all sides won't be too thrilled to know their current team didn't want them very much.

While I hate the idea of the Lakers getting better, if they didn't get howard they definitely would have taken a step back. Maybe two steps.

Kobe loves having the ball alot, basically neutering alot of what a pg does. He's been better without the ball in recent years, but still, the Lakers imo best shot is when they surround kobe with big men and a guard alongside him that can shoot. With Bynum's injuries, and losing Odom and Gasol, absent Howard, I really think they'd have two awesome players sharing 1 1/2 positions instead of 1 awesome and two good players manning three positions, besides bynum.

Who knows, this perhaps helps the suns next year. Either we target him, or he sucks up cap space that otherwise would have been open,leaving us a better shot at someone else. The Lakers won't be able to sign anyone to a big deal next summer, and can only acquire such guys through trades.

Stern sucks. No one should blame Demps. This snafu is all Stern. If Stern had half a brain, he would have told Demps beforehand which teams were off limits in a trade, instead of after. Or at least have Demps contact him and keep him informed. Yet as everyone says, conflict of interest is a mother, and lets face it ever since the Ewing bent corner there has always been people that think Stern has favorites.

Stern doesn't want a team to fold, and from memory not moved if possible. Yet they also have a tough time being competitive in NO. (I for one thought it was asinine to move from Charlotte to NO and still have my long term doubts about Sonics to OKC, but Durant could be a game changer on that one) David wants a 10,000 foot tall boat that can float. Good luck there David. They have to conclude this by the start of next year. It's just crazy. Call Seattle if need be. Although I doubt many arenas are going to be built anytime soon. That boat has passed.

 

[Joe L]

When it rains, it pours for the Lakers.

Howard wants out of Orlando, but not to go to the Lakers...He wants Jersey.

http://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard

Chris Broussard
@Chris_Broussard Chris Broussard
Nets have emerged as No. 1 choice for Dwight Howard, multiple sources say. D12 is expected to ask Magic to trade him to NJ.

 

[D-Dogg]

@CardsFan88 Good post. Many good points in there.

 

[D-Dogg]

When it rains, it pours for the Lakers.

Howard wants out of Orlando, but not to go to the Lakers...He wants Jersey.

http://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard

Chris Broussard
@Chris_Broussard Chris Broussard
Nets have emerged as No. 1 choice for Dwight Howard, multiple sources say. D12 is expected to ask Magic to trade him to NJ.

I posted that like, 30 whole minutes ago. http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2557140&postcount=142

 

[desertdawg]

It's sad because it won't ever go back to 80s bball. No matter how hard it burns

Too much soap opera, agents, big deals, talent predators, International markets, funky colleges, and press coverage. Game aint the game any more. The older cats I hang with, just watch for talent now, nice plays and all. I can literally believe my step dad now when he told me the game was better when he was a kid. They will ruin frisbee golf in about 400 years.

 

[Joe L]

I posted that like, 30 whole minutes ago. http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2557140&postcount=142

Man, I guess I missed your post, my bad.

/facepalm

 

[Griffin]

if Paul isn't allowed to be traded and Dwight Howard does actually get traded to the Nets, Los Angeles radio will EXPLODE. It will be hilarious to listen to.

The big difference that will be lost on a lot of those people however is that the 29 current owners actually own the Hornets, but they don't own the Magic. Therefore, they can veto a trade involving the Hornets, but not one involving other teams. What happened here is really nothing more than a team's ownership group, or its majority anyhow, vetoing a trade that the team's GM agreed to. Unfortunately because it fell on Stern to officially reject the trade, it just looks really bad for the NBA. They should have expected something like this could happen though.

 

[D-Dogg]

The big difference that will be lost on a lot of those people however is that the 29 current owners actually own the Hornets, but they don't own the Magic. Therefore, they can veto a trade involving the Hornets, but not one involving other teams. What happened here is really nothing more than a team's ownership group, or its majority anyhow, vetoing a trade that the team's GM agreed to. Unfortunately because it fell on Stern to officially reject the trade, it just looks really bad for the NBA. They should have expected something like this could happen though.

Except Stern said the owners of all the other teams DID NOT vote. It was not put to a vote. Make your own conclusions.

This really goes beyond your hating or not hating of a team.

 

[slinslin]

How can anyone think the proposed was a balanced deal?

The Lakers were basically getting one of the top 3 PGs in the league for 2 overpaid 30 year olds and at the same time shed massive salary of their cap? The biggest joke is that Houston was willing to play along and that New Orleans sees value in taking on Scola, Martin and Odom. Who is going to buy that team with that cap situation.

 

[slinslin]

Except Stern said the owners of all the other teams DID NOT vote. It was not put to a vote. Make your own conclusions.

This really goes beyond your hating or not hating of a team.

Who cares... the NBA owns the Hornets that is the bottom line.. The NBA knows the Hornets will be sold to a new owner soon and putting the contracts of Martin, Scola and Odom on their cap makes them much less attractive to a buyer.

 

[D-Dogg]

Who cares... the NBA owns the Hornets that is the bottom line.. The NBA knows the Hornets will be sold to a new owner soon and putting the contracts of Martin, Scola and Odom on their cap makes them much less attractive to a buyer.

BS. That's far more attractive than NOTHING and CP3 free agenting to another team.

It's a dumb move, because really the hornets SCORED in the deal.

 

[slinslin]

They did not. They just became a worse version of the 09/10 Rockets without young talent and a big payroll.

The league had every right to veto the deal because the Hornets are owned by the league right now and the league has no interest in the Hornets raising their payroll at the expense of the rest of the league while at the same time reducing the Lakers luxury tax and costing the rest of the league even more and to top it off the Hornets go nowhere in the rebuilding process and become less attractive to buyers.

 

[carey]

They did not. They just became a worse version of the 09/10 Rockets without young talent and a big payroll.

The league had every right to veto the deal because the Hornets are owned by the league right now and the league has no interest in the Hornets raising their payroll at the expense of the rest of the league while at the same time reducing the Lakers luxury tax and costing the rest of the league even more and to top it off the Hornets go nowhere in the rebuilding process and become less attractive to buyers.

Dude, you're only half right on like every point you make.

First, this isn't baseball. Reducing the payroll doesn't make it any more or less attractive to buy. As long as you aren't a tax team it doesn't matter anymore and wouldn't affect the sale price anyway. There's a minimum teams have to reach in salaries so they are going to have to shell out those contracts one way or another. Would you rather it be to decent guys that at least produce? Or some even more vastly overpaid players on the FA market? Because that's the only way you get players to sign in New Orleans unfortunately (see: Peja Stojakovic).

Second, they already have bidders. The NBA if you remember, was in a labor dispute. When the league decides to sell the team it will be sold. Likely to a group headed by Chouest, the investor that was tring to buy the team from that idiot George Shin before the league stepped in because he had bungled things so badly.

 

[slinslin]

Dude, you're only half right on like every point you make.

First, this isn't baseball. Reducing the payroll doesn't make it any more or less attractive to buy. As long as you aren't a tax team it doesn't matter anymore and wouldn't affect the sale price anyway. There's a minimum teams have to reach in salaries so they are going to have to shell out those contracts one way or another. Would you rather it be to decent guys that at least produce? Or some even more vastly overpaid players on the FA market? Because that's the only way you get players to sign in New Orleans unfortunately (see: Peja Stojakovic).

Second, they already have bidders. The NBA if you remember, was in a labor dispute. When the league decides to sell the team it will be sold. Likely to a group headed by Chouest, the investor that was tring to buy the team from that idiot George Shin before the league stepped in because he had bungled things so badly.

Wrong it is still more attractive to reach the minimum salary treshhold with short deals rather than being on the hook for several big multi-year deals for players that are far from star players.

What did the Suns do when they sold to Sarver? Oh right they shed salaray.

This deal was wrong on many levels and most importantly all the other NBA teams were going to pay real money to finance the Lakers trade for Paul. They were on the hook for the additional salary New Orleans picked up and would also lose money from the luxury tax pot that the Lakers would invest less in.

Many owners already complained when the Hornets traded for Landry at the cost of the rest of the league.

 

[D-Dogg]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7334694/nba-lingering-questions-chris-paul-trade

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.

slin, your opinion is one of an incredibly vast minority.

 

[D-Dogg]

Regarding Dan Gilbert's note...which is ALL about money...so are we now to assume that the Lakers can't make moves that help out their luxury tax status? They can't make financially beneficial moves that are also sound from a personnel point of view?

That note is all kinds of nasty - it's going to piss off a lot of people.

 

[slinslin]

As if the opinion of ESPN or sports writers has any more credibility than any other.

They do not even make sense. One guy wants to says that regular season wins equal tradable assets.

They are just spouting populist ******** that is all. Same for the guy whose only argument is that it is unprecedent. Well how many times did the league own a franchise? Plus the league has blocked trades in the past too.

Also the other guy says the Hornets were not forced to send Paul to the Lakers. Based on what? There is a lot of speculation that Boston already had a deal with New Orleans, even a medical set up for Paul that was cancelled because Paul refused to show up. You can not tell me that Paul and that ******** CAA agency are not trying to force things the way they want it.

 

[D-Dogg]

As if the opinion of ESPN or sports writers has any more credibility than any other.

They do not even make sense. One guy wants to says that regular season wins equal tradable assets.

If you don't think LO and Pau are great assets in a trade, then you just need to stop making arguments because that's silly.

They are just spouting populist ******** that is all. Same for the guy whose only argument is that it is unprecedent. Well how many times did the league own a franchise? Plus the league has blocked trades in the past too.

Also the other guy says the Hornets were not forced to send Paul to the Lakers.

They were forced to do it? Oh, please show me the info where the Hornets were forced to send Paul to LA. So forced, that a third team got involved in the deal to make it worthwhile to NO.

Based on what? There is a lot of speculation that Boston already had a deal with New Orleans, even a medical set up for Paul that was cancelled because Paul refused to show up. You can not tell me that Paul and that ******** CAA agency are not trying to force things the way they want it.

Of course he is going to go where he wants...he has the leverage in the scenario. He wants out. He wants to go to a team that he is comfortable with. He doesn't want to go to Boston. End of Boston deals.

Chris Paul has the leverage - and that's a good thing. Unless you really want the ludicrous comments about the NBA being slave owners to become more realistic.

Still, your thought process and your opinion on this matter is completely off base, and you are in a very small minority.

 

[slinslin]

Sorry but Chris Paul has no leverage. He is signed to a contract. If Boston wants to trade for him he has to show up and play out his contract.

You are contradicting yourself.

And yes Pau Gasol at 31 years old and emotionally unstable and at almost 20M$ per is not a valuable asset. Lamar Odom who is in the 30s and will probably crawl back into his shell leaving LA and his star wife is not going to do anything for a team. IF you think these players are worth something to rebuilding teams that is just ridiculous.

What New Orleans was supposed to get for Paul in no way stacks up to what Utah got for Deron or Denver got for Melo.

If you cant see how this deal was terrible, the Hornets gave up the most value and at the same time took on a lot more salary which the other NBA teams have to pay for then I don't know.

 

[D-Dogg]

Sorry but Chris Paul has no leverage. He is signed to a contract. If Boston wants to trade for him he has to show up and play out his contract.

You are contradicting yourself.

And yes Pau Gasol at 31 years old and emotionally unstable and at almost 20M$ per is not a valuable asset. Lamar Odom who is in the 30s and will probably crawl back into his shell leaving LA and his star wife is not going to do anything for a team. IF you think these players are worth something to rebuilding teams that is just ridiculous.

What New Orleans was supposed to get for Paul in no way stacks up to what Utah got for Deron or Denver got for Melo.

If you cant see how this deal was terrible, the Hornets gave up the most value and at the same time took on a lot more salary which the other NBA teams have to pay for then I don't know.

Thanks for exposing yourself. At least now everyone can tell where you are coming from.

 

[JS22]

I hate all of this "Super Team" nonsense but even I think it was stupid for the league to stop this deal.

They should have enforced a franchise tag system similar to the NFL. I know the players were against it. But it's the only legitimate way to keep them from forming super teams. (Hate the term.)

If they had to lose a season to implement it. Then so be it. The lockout feels like a farce. And all this is going to do is ensure that Paul is playing for the Lakers or Knicks next year with zero compensation.

 

[PetryJr]

Chris Paul has the leverage - and that's a good thing. Unless you really want the ludicrous comments about the NBA being slave owners to become more realistic.

Still, your thought process and your opinion on this matter is completely off base, and you are in a very small minority.

Donald, I actually don't have a problem with the trade and think it would have been reasonably fair. But I don't agree with this.

I agree Paul has leverage, but I don't think he should have. He's under a contract he signed being well aware of the fact that, after he signed it, the team had his rights. If he wants "freedom", just wait and become a FREE agent. But as long as he's under contract with a team, I don't think he should have any sort of leverage. Unfortunately, he does. That's why I wanted the end of these "extend-and-trades".

 

[slinslin]

Boston was willing to trade for Paul without an extension.

Chris Paul is just a major douchebag if he refused to report to the Celtics after a trade. Truth is he is scared to lose millions of money if he is traded to a team that he does not want to re-sign with because if he leaves in free agency he will leave $30M on the table. The Hornets should just call his bluff and force him to leave in free agency and give up all that money or stay with the team.

It would be a good example for the league too, showing that if players want to force themselves out they will have to be willing to sacrifice.

 

[Covert Rain]

I am glad the deal was blocked from a fan perspective. This deal is bad for the league. Forming super teams is bad for the league. Based on those grounds alone the NBA should be able to block deals that can harm the league in the long run. I never side with Stern but I think it's the right move even if he only did it to avoid the wrath of owners.

Also, when a player says I am not coming back, here is my short list of teams i am willing to go to....he has all the leverage. Teams still have the right to try and trade outside that list. I am sure the Hornets felt like Paul would expand that list to a contendor (i.e. Boston). However, ultimately it's still up to the player and if anybody thinks Paul would allow a trade to occur to team he really doesn't want to go to is kidding themseves.