Lakers Trading for Chris Paul

[DPG21920]

it wasn't the nba who vetoed the trade after accepting, it was the owner of the hornets.

[Obstructed_View]

If you are Dell Demps, how do you trade away CP3 for a package that keeps you mediocre? Either keep CP3 and try to win or trade him for pieces you can rebuild with. I mean, damn, at least keep Gasol instead of flipping him for players who might not even be worth their contracts.

Because if you are Dell Demps, you are from Long Beach?

By the way, this seems to be missed by many a crying Lakerfan:


An additional wrinkle surfaced regarding the mechanics of the deal as reported, mainly that New Orleans would not have enough cap space to absorb all of the contracts it would be taking on.

Further reading in that article suggests that Scola would have to be moved to the Lakers to make the salaries work.

[Mel_13]

Further reading in that article suggests that Scola would have to be moved to the Lakers to make the salaries work.

Moving Jarret Jack to LA for the Sasha TE would have worked as well.

[Obstructed_View]

I guess, but implying Demps could operate completely unfettered by ownership doesn't seem realistic.

Even if he could operate completely unfettered by ownership, can he take on more salary than the team has available for overpaid players? If the Hornets were even allowed to do that under league rules, they'd then be unable to pay for minimum salary players just to fill out the roster, right?

[GSH]

Further reading in that article suggests that Scola would have to be moved to the Lakers to make the salaries work.


I don't know if that one is true or not, but when ALL the details come out, I think we'll see that a lot of people jumped to some pretty stupid conclusions. Especially a bunch of butt-hurt Laker fans.

[ChumpDumper]

Even if he could operate completely unfettered by ownership, can he take on more salary than the team has available for overpaid players? If the Hornets were even allowed to do that under league rules, they'd then be unable to pay for minimum salary players just to fill out the roster, right?Unless something changed, there are always minimum salary exceptions available to fill out a roster.

[stephen jackson]

I don't remember this uproar when Clips owner squashed our trade after accepting.
wat trade was it?

[slick'81]

The Hornets front office still has not received guidance from the NBA on what their options are with regard to Chris Paul following Thursday's failed trade attempt.

Can they trade him? Must they watch him walk with nothing to show for it next year? Nobody knows. Of course, the Hornets and other teams in the league had gone to the NBA and asked if GM Dell Demps had the authority to make a trade and were told 'yes.' As for reasons why the trade was declined, some owners are reporting they had no voice on the matter and trade participants have been given no reasons for why it was declined. We could be witnessing a civil war between newer owners and small market owners, and the older, larger market owners who are fed up with the mess. That could be why the NBA has no response to this PR disaster. They simply don't know what to do.

Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter (http://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/statuses/145030700918247424)

[underdawg]

Don't know how much this factored into Stern's decision, but the decision to kill this deal saved the integrity of the nba for at least another week. Whether the deal was ultimately fair or not, the reputation of the NBA and the quality of the product would have suffered in the long run.

Note to superstar players - stop trying to kill the league with the exodus to major market teams for personal gains. Most fans of team sports typically get tired of greed and selfishness among million dollar athletes.

Besides - the players will make more money in the long run if the league is more competitive. Please refer to the NFL example for guidance.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

ehhhh count me in with the people who think that somehow, someway, the Lakers are going to benefit from this recent act.

Maybe they got breaking news that Chris Paul has a crazy health problem....or they got some other mega deal up and going better than Paul.

BBall gods always favor those LA fuckheads.

And I for one was happy to see the Lakers gigantic size advantage disappear.

[objective]

Demps should have operated under the edict of making his team better. This deal has 4 guys from the age of 29-32 changing teams and the best one by far wasn't even going to New Orleans.

The Laker end of the deal as is was reasonable: Pau and Lamar.

New Orleans not getting Pau, not getting young talent beyond the retread Dragic, and not getting any lottery picks . . . the deal for them was a bad deal.

[TDMVPDPOY]

if there was a proxy vote it be 28-1, the 1 vote is lakers owner favoring a trade...

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

I can't believe the Hornets were about to take this deal. It surely is a hit on NBA's authority to cancel a trade, however, this one is so bad for the Hornets it's unreal and it's not even trade deadline day. Bullshit either way. NBA is getting on my nerves.

Still though, can't help but laugh at all the butthurtness :)

[Obstructed_View]

So next year the Hornets have a lottery pick and Paul's salary off the books, and really the only thing that keeping Paul for the whole season hurts is the number of ping pong balls they get if he manages to stay healthy. That's a far better deal than having their entire salary cap used up by two undersized power forwards and two tweener guards with no high picks in sight.

[slick'81]

So next year the Hornets have a lottery pick and Paul's salary off the books, and really the only thing that keeping Paul for the whole season hurts is the number of ping pong balls they get if he manages to stay healthy. That's a far better deal than having their entire salary cap used up by two undersized power forwards and two tweener guards with no high picks in sight.


agreed hornets get nothing but crap outta that deal

[TDMVPDPOY]

So next year the Hornets have a lottery pick and Paul's salary off the books, and really the only thing that keeping Paul for the whole season hurts is the number of ping pong balls they get if he manages to stay healthy. That's a far better deal than having their entire salary cap used up by two undersized power forwards and two tweener guards with no high picks in sight.

they can always tell him dont bother turnin this season and stay at home, improve the ping pong balls

[whitemamba]

david stern doesnt want kobe winning more rings. Michael jordan was behind all of this. hes scared of kobes greatness.

[xtremesteven33]

This is playing out like a Hollywood script..

[Ice009]

david stern doesnt want kobe winning more rings. Michael jordan was behind all of this. hes scared of kobes greatness.

Kobe's needed so much help it's ridiculous.

MJ would not be worried at all, he'd be kicking back laughing at a statement like that.

[mudyez]

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=4upepxz

trade aproved ;-)

btw.: Would love to have a picture of david stern popping up, waving the indexfinger, when ever you are trying to trade a player of the Hornets!

[The_Worlds_finest]

dragic, martin, ariza, scola, okafor...odom 6th man.....thats a pretty decent team even its socialist

[mudyez]

dragic, martin, ariza, scola, okafor...odom 6th man.....thats a pretty decent team even its socialist

again: its something like a 6-10 seat in the west...if things go perfect maybe 4-5, but still not with a chance to go anywhere.

thats just the area you dont want to be in. either compete or bottom out...thats the way it is, especially with small market teams.

that team doesnt even have a player that would sell tickets.

and NO would even take on salary!!!

If rebuilding you want:
- capspace (they loose it!!!)
- young talent (goran???...really???)
- picks (one pitty late firstrounder???)

Plain stupidity!

they will only get 75cents on the dollar, but thats like 10cents, if you see the big picture.

[Supergirl]

Not so fast, the trade's off
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AgILNdxjav7pVU_R5hW7b_G8vLYF?slug=aw-wojnarowski_chris_paul_lakers_hornets_nba_120811

[mudyez]

Not so fast, the trade's off
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AgILNdxjav7pVU_R5hW7b_G8vLYF?slug=aw-wojnarowski_chris_paul_lakers_hornets_nba_120811

really? I'm shocked!!!! :downspin::downspin::downspin:


lol

[benefactor]

Not so fast, the trade's off
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AgILNdxjav7pVU_R5hW7b_G8vLYF?slug=aw-wojnarowski_chris_paul_lakers_hornets_nba_120811
Awesome. Now the Spurs can put together a package for him. If they sweeten the package with George Hill I think the Hornets will take it.

[mudyez]

Awesome. Now the Spurs can put together a package for him. If they sweeten the package with George Hill I think the Hornets will take it.

Not so fast, the trade can't happen
http://www.eightpointsnineseconds.com/2011/06/pacers-draft-kahwi-leonard-trade-him-to-spurs-for-indiana-native-george-hill/

;)

[benefactor]

Not so fast, the trade can't happen
http://www.eightpointsnineseconds.com/2011/06/pacers-draft-kahwi-leonard-trade-him-to-spurs-for-indiana-native-george-hill/

;)
Click (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187035) for the punchline...

[mudyez]

lol

[whitemamba]

rofl at spurs getting cp..

[dbestpro]

This actually happened in baseball once. The big red machine had gotten Tom Seaver and was in the process of purchasing Vida Blue's contract when it was nixed by Kuhn the commissioner as it was thought to give the Reds too much of an unfair advantage.

[mudyez]

wow espn is acting like little children too:

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

they seem to not even get, that the trade wasnt nixed coz of LA as a big market, but coz the NOH are owned by the owners.

LOL espn

[Bruno]

Dan Gilbert is awesome. Poor Cavs fans...

NBA owning the Hornets creates a clear conflict of interest. It isn't an healthy situation and the NBA better sell the franchise quickly. Another big reason why owners have reacted to this trade is that there are a lot of jealousy among them towards the $200M per year TV deal Lakers got. A lot of franchises are working their ass of just to broke even while Lakers have guaranteed huge benefits for 20 years. Owners try to fix that by more revenue sharing and a stiffer luxury tax but it's far from offsetting all the edge given by this gigantic TV deal.

[Mel_13]

The silver lining in this disaster is the spectacle of LakerFan crying that the NBA isn't fair.

[MannyIsGod]

Danny Granger:

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://m.tmi.me/j9xgT

ROFL.

Makes me proud that boy is a Lobo.

[K-State Spur]

This is a bigger issue. Seperate your hate for the Lakers from this and imagine a scenario where you gave up say Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili for say Russell Westbrook. Then the league comes in and tell you it is a no go even though both teams wanted to do it and no one else would give anywhere close to that much for Westbrook. Would you find that upsetting?


You have to see the Hornets for the situation they are in.

THE LEAGUE did not nix this deal. The Hornets' owners did. Owners nix trades all the time.

David Stern acted as lead owner of the Hornets, not as commissioner of the league. It may sound like semantics, but it's a HUGE difference.

[Seventyniner]

You have to see the Hornets for the situation they are in.

THE LEAGUE did not nix this deal. The Hornets' owners did. Owners nix trades all the time.

David Stern acted as lead owner of the Hornets, not as commissioner of the league. It may sound like semantics, but it's a HUGE difference.

The biggest problem is the way it went down. The Hornets GM and staff were told that they had the authority to do what they thought best. They worked hours and hours and finally got a deal done, only for the owners to tell them no. If Stern/other owners had really thought about this, they would've told the Hornets staff up front "no trading Paul to the Lakers."

[K-State Spur]

The biggest problem is the way it went down. The Hornets GM and staff were told that they had the authority to do what they thought best. They worked hours and hours and finally got a deal done, only for the owners to tell them no. If Stern/other owners had really thought about this, they would've told the Hornets staff up front "no trading Paul to the Lakers."

Agreed - PR nightmare. But owners nix trades at the last second all the time. It's being made a bigger deal that it would have because people see it as "the league" nixing it rather NOH owners.

But if I'm a 3% owner of NOH with a vote, I'm voting a resounding "no" on a deal that gives up an elite player, adds $15M in salary, makes me older, and doesn't add a single guy who is a first or second option on a WC playoff team.

[twilo73]

Agreed - PR nightmare. But owners nix trades at the last second all the time. It's being made a bigger deal that it would have because people see it as "the league" nixing it rather NOH owners.

But if I'm a 3% owner of NOH with a vote, I'm voting a resounding "no" on a deal that gives up an elite player, adds $15M in salary, makes me older, and doesn't add a single guy who is a first or second option on a WC playoff team.

Amen to this!!

Jordan nixed several times in teams that he has owned for example.

[Ginobili2Duncan]

It doesn't look great, but you know what? I don't blame them. Why should they stand back and let the Lakers form another potential dynasty? It's bullshit. No other franchise in North American pro sports has conveniently been saved every time the future looked bleak.

They'll take a PR hit for this, but who cares, it's about doing what's best for the league. To come out of the lockout and immediately have Paul traded to the Lakers (in a trade that makes no sense for the Hornets, no less), with Howard sure to follow, would look even worse.

Lakers fans are akin to a spoiled rich kid being told no for the first time. "You mean you're not going to hand us the best C and arguably the best PG in the game on a silver platter and keep us relevant for the majority of this decade? How could this happen? It's our birthright to never fade into obscurity".

Wojnarowski, Broussard, Smith and all of the other Bryant ass kissers in the media will probably throw a fit over this. This was their final chance for their beloved Bryant to have a shot to pass Jordan in rings.


I completely agree. This whole situation reeks. Anyone who believes this was a good trade for the Hornets is either a Laker fan or doesn't know anything about the league. And make no mistake Dwight Howard was definitely in the picture(he probably already had his bags packed for LA).

And I don't believe for a second that the league rejected the trade. I think that Stern and the league signed off on this deal and attempted to pull a fast one, but the owners wern't having any part of it. Now they have to save face and make it look like they were the ones who rejected the deal even though in actuality, they would've let this deal go through if the owners didn't say anything.

[cheguevara]

The NBA just became the laughingstock of the sports world. They are currently lower in respect than the WWF, and the Midget Mud Wrestling League.

Motherfuckers should be fired from top to bottom starting with that fuckface Stern. How the fuck being the league office do you decide to buy and run a fucking team?

[++SaiNt TiAg0++]

I don't like the deal from LA from a basketball standpoint.

This is a bigger issue. Seperate your hate for the Lakers from this and imagine a scenario where you gave up say Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili for say Russell Westbrook. Then the league comes in and tell you it is a no go even though both teams wanted to do it and no one else would give anywhere close to that much for Westbrook. Would you find that upsetting?

I think you would.

This had nothing to do with the facts and everything to do with whiny owners like Dan Gilbert (just sell your team already, you have failed) and Mark Cuban (cheats in business, bends the rules) complaining solely because once again the Lakers (a well managed, winning organization) beat everyone to the punch. Fact.

i give you that they had a great situation in order to open the possibilities of this trade however how they got to this point is total bulshit and you know it. separate our hate??

separate your love and if you cared i would see posts of your outrage following sterns NO transaction quit acting like you give a damn about anything other than L.A thats what you laker fans are pissed at! pathetic attempts to displace your source of aggravation.

put yourself in NO shoes you know they could have at least dumped ONE shitty contract on L.A bottom line it's not fair. your bullshit team and almost every other team conspire against S.A and our resources are the draft and the bucks other than that people dont trade with SA bc of fear of us capitalizing on those trades so welcome to our world bitch

[Obstructed_View]

The Hornets are a shit ass excuse for a franchise in a terrible market with no ownership, meaning there's nobody looking out financially for the team with their own interests attached. The league should have contracted or relocated them several times, but simply didn't have the balls, fearing the bad publicity. Fortunately they did finally step up and prevent the richest team in the history of the league who just signed a gigantic TV contract from looting what's left of that market's talent and simultaneously unloading crappy contracts of undesirable and unmarketable players to that market. They certainly knew that doing so would have rendered the Hornets completely impossible to sell or to get people to buy tickets to watch for the next dozen years. Anyone with a lick of financial sense that owns an NBA team would have been able to forsee having to fork over their own money to keep that sinking ship afloat for years and years.

The Lakers have a recent history of taking advantage of franchises that are in ownership transition. They simply weren't going to be allowed to do it to a team that's owned by the league. They'll certainly be able to do it again with other teams in the future.

[adidas11]

This whole thing stinks. I was not a fan of this trade, but all teams involved had every right to do the deal. The deal fit within the rules/parameters established by the league, so it had every right to go down.

As others have said, there is a conflict of interest. Dell was told that he full authority to do any deal that he saw fit. But because of the player being traded, and the team the player was going to, many of the owners threw a fit. For the simple reason being that they didn't like the Lakers getting a star player.

And think about it, were the Lakers really improving that much? We would have lost our Sixth Man of the Year, and our All-NBA power forward! And it wasn't like the Hornets were getting screwed...they were getting serviceable players and solid trade pieces to further improve the team down the road. That's a lot better than keeping a disgruntled Chris Paul for 7 more months, only to lose him for nothing in July!!

[Mark in Austin]

From a purely selfish standpoint I'm sad this didn't go down. Paul, Bryant and Bynum is a much better matchup for SA than Bryant, Odom, Gasol, Bynum.

[Obstructed_View]

This whole thing stinks. I was not a fan of this trade, but all teams involved had every right to do the deal. The deal fit within the rules/parameters established by the league, so it had every right to go down.

As others have said, there is a conflict of interest. Dell was told that he full authority to do any deal that he saw fit. But because of the player being traded, and the team the player was going to, many of the owners threw a fit. For the simple reason being that they didn't like the Lakers getting a star player.

And think about it, were the Lakers really improving that much? We would have lost our Sixth Man of the Year, and our All-NBA power forward! And it wasn't like the Hornets were getting screwed...they were getting serviceable players and solid trade pieces to further improve the team down the road. That's a lot better than keeping a disgruntled Chris Paul for 7 more months, only to lose him for nothing in July!!

See bolded part where you just killed your own argument. This is all about what the Hornets were getting back, even if the numbers worked. It's been reported by many that the numbers in fact didn't.

I'd love to see evidence that any trade has ever happened in the NBA without approval by the ownership and the league. In this case, both rejected the trade. Until that happens, let's dispense with this "full authority" lie.

This aborted trade was likely only reported because 90 percent of the people reporting it are Laker fans. Just because a story is leaked about an invalid trade doesn't give the trade legitimacy.

The NBA owners knew they would be on the hook for the shitty team that Dell Demps was trying to saddle the Hornets with. Nothing the Hornets got is remotely better than just letting Paul leave next summer from a competetive or a business standpoint.

[smrattler]

The Lakers perform a public raping and get Gasol a few years ago, handing them a trips to the finals in the process, and the NBA does nothing.

Now they are about to get smaller and weaker (at least this step) and the NBA blocks it?

It would have been a lot better if they had let this trade go through and then pull the carpet on the Howard trade proposal that was sure to follow.

[K-State Spur]

This whole thing stinks. I was not a fan of this trade, but all teams involved had every right to do the deal. The deal fit within the rules/parameters established by the league, so it had every right to go down.

As others have said, there is a conflict of interest. Dell was told that he full authority to do any deal that he saw fit. But because of the player being traded, and the team the player was going to, many of the owners threw a fit. For the simple reason being that they didn't like the Lakers getting a star player.


And the owners of the NOH had the right to pull the plug on it. Just because Demps was told something doesn't mean that it is binding. It happens. [As an Orioles fan, I can't tell you how many trades have been orchestrated by the GMs over the years who though they had autonomy only to have Peter Angelos come back and nix it at the last second.]

It's really bad PR, but nothing outside the rules happened.

Make a deal with a team where you only have to deal with 1 owner instead of all 29 and you don't have to worry about this happening...

[SenorSpur]

Stern and the NBA are a fucking joke. All of a sudden, they're trying to legislate parity in trade scenarios, but they've allowed the Hornets franchise to flounder in that city for years. In fact, that franchise has been floundering ever since they were allowed to move their from Charlotte. Meanwhile, a viable NBA market in Seattle was literally robbed of their franchise and is now without a team.

As for the trade itself, I hate the Fakers as much as anybody. I don't agree with the manner in which they've tried to take advantage of moribound, cash-strapped franchises by giving them $0.25 on the dollar for their players. However, if the Hornets and the Fakers agreed to do this deal, so be it. The Hornets were never going to be able to keep Paul anyway. At least, the Hornets were getting some good players in return. They're never going to get as good of a deal for Paul again. Now what happens?

[K-State Spur]

As for the trade itself, I hate the Fakers as much as anybody. I don't agree with the manner in which they've tried to take advantage of moribound, cash-strapped franchises by giving them $0.25 on the dollar for their players. However, if the Hornets and the Fakers agreed to do this deal, so be it.

The Hornets did not agree to this deal. Their owners reneged.

[rascal]

I completely agree. This whole situation reeks. Anyone who believes this was a good trade for the Hornets is either a Laker fan or doesn't know anything about the league. And make no mistake Dwight Howard was definitely in the picture(he probably already had his bags packed for LA).

And I don't believe for a second that the league rejected the trade. I think that Stern and the league signed off on this deal and attempted to pull a fast one, but the owners wern't having any part of it. Now they have to save face and make it look like they were the ones who rejected the deal even though in actuality, they would've let this deal go through if the owners didn't say anything.

Agree. You have it all right on how it went down.

[SenorSpur]

The Hornets did not agree to this deal. Their owners reneged.

Now what? There are now 3 teams (NO, HOU and LA) with roster situations that are now in limbo, as a result. This whole thing stinks.

[rascal]

From a purely selfish standpoint I'm sad this didn't go down. Paul, Bryant and Bynum is a much better matchup for SA than Bryant, Odom, Gasol, Bynum.

The lakers were not finished. It would be easier getting Howard with Paul on board and cap space.

[rascal]

This whole thing stinks. I was not a fan of this trade, but all teams involved had every right to do the deal. The deal fit within the rules/parameters established by the league, so it had every right to go down.

As others have said, there is a conflict of interest. Dell was told that he full authority to do any deal that he saw fit. But because of the player being traded, and the team the player was going to, many of the owners threw a fit. For the simple reason being that they didn't like the Lakers getting a star player.

And think about it, were the Lakers really improving that much? We would have lost our Sixth Man of the Year, and our All-NBA power forward! And it wasn't like the Hornets were getting screwed...they were getting serviceable players and solid trade pieces to further improve the team down the road. That's a lot better than keeping a disgruntled Chris Paul for 7 more months, only to lose him for nothing in July!!


Yes, the Lakers were improving that much, that is why you are sore about it.

[Mel_13]

The lakers were not finished. It would be easier getting Howard with Paul on board and cap space.

They weren't going to have any cap space. Don't let the facts get in your way.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I think the biggest issue was that the other owners feared LAL was gonna get Howard as well. Their frontline would be way too exposed with just Bynum. I think the NO/LAL wouldn't have been s bad had rumors of D12 going over not been going on.

That's what also pushed the owners over the edge.

[ChumpDumper]

Now what?Now sell the Hornets.

[Obstructed_View]

Now what? There are now 3 teams (NO, HOU and LA) with roster situations that are now in limbo, as a result. This whole thing stinks.

It's day 1 of the free agent period after a lengthy labor dispute. Everyone's got roster situations in limbo. If only every team had 50 million ignorant fans to cry every time an invalid trade was rejected.

[rascal]

It was too obvious. They will make another deal.

They are trying to work another deal just like I said yesterday.

[rascal]

They weren't going to have any cap space. Don't let the facts get in your way.

They were shedding salary with the players they were sending out.

[SenorSpur]

Now sell the Hornets.

and move 'em to Seattle, baby.

[elec99]

Just like others here were eluding to, the talks are back on. Wonder what will be different about the next deal...

[rascal]

Just like others here were eluding to, the talks are back on. Wonder what will be different about the next deal...

The lakers have to sweeten what they send out. How much they are willing without thinking they are getting a steal of a deal is another ? that may hang up the deal.

[rascal]

The key for the Lakers is to make a deal that enough of the league owners won't bitch about.
Stern wants a powerhouse Laker team. A powerhouse team with all star power in LA( Lakers) is great for TV ratings and revenue.

Stern was only pressured to veto the trade because of the objections of the league owners. If no owners said anything about it the trade goes through as is and stern is on his way to getting that star packed power team in LA.

If he gets enough of the league owners to sign off on it it is a done deal.

Being the commissioner Stern has to appear fair minded, like he is not for building power teams in big market cities but smaller market league owners know what his motives are, that is why the bitch fest happened in the first place.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

They weren't going to have any cap space. Don't let the facts get in your way.

They were set to save ~$15m per year over all. Gasol makes $18m for the next three years. Odom is an expiring contract but makes ~$10m. Were they that far over? And the Howard scenario would have required moving more contracts which they were prepared to do with Artest+.

[Mel_13]

They were set to save ~$15m per year over all. Gasol makes $18m for the next three years. Odom is an expiring contract but makes ~$10m. Were they that far over? And the Howard scenario would have required moving more contracts which they were prepared to do with Artest+.


They're sitting more than 30M over the cap right now.

[rascal]

They're sitting more than 30M over the cap right now.

Still they shed salary and are in better position to make a play for Howard if the trade went down.

[Mel_13]

Still they shed salary

True, just not what you said before. The Lakers will never have cap space.



and are in better position to make a play for Howard if the trade went down.

That's your opinion and very much debatable.

[picnroll]

I've only been loosely following this and see people complaining about owners interfering with the deal, but aren't those owners all part owners of NO and if they had let that crappy three way deal go through with NO getting no good picks or good young players they'd never be able to sell NO or have to sell it at a bargain basement price. Seems whoever for NO made that deal should be fired for being a knuckle head and screwing the owners.

[rascal]

True, just not what you said before. The Lakers will never have cap space.




That's your opinion and very much debatable.

What is your problem following me around looking to start arguments.

Stick with the main issues and stop nit picking.

[Mel_13]

What is your problem following me around looking to start arguments.

Stick with the main issues and stop nick picking.

:sleep

[Maddog]

Demps should have operated under the edict of making his team better. This deal has 4 guys from the age of 29-32 changing teams and the best one by far wasn't even going to New Orleans.

The Laker end of the deal as is was reasonable: Pau and Lamar.

New Orleans not getting Pau, not getting young talent beyond the retread Dragic, and not getting any lottery picks . . . the deal for them was a bad deal.

I never understood it from the Hornets side- they where getting crap.
Sure they could have turned around and traded those guys- but not sure they would have got much.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Totally incredible that Stern vetoed the orginal trade. There was nothing dodgy about it at all. It made sense for all teams involved. Massive conflict of interest by Stern.

Stern allows trades like the Pau trade, which at the time was one of the most lopsided trades of all time (it looks a bit more even in hindsight), yet blocks a trade like this which is fair and helps out all 3 teams? WTF!?

[Mel_13]

Totally incredible that Stern vetoed the orginal trade. There was nothing dodgy about it at all. It made sense for all teams involved. Massive conflict of interest by Stern.

Stern allows trades like the Pau trade, which at the time was one of the most lopsided trades of all time (it looks a bit more even in hindsight), yet blocks a trade like this which is fair and helps out all 3 teams? WTF!?

He acted in his role as Hornets owner, not as NBA Commissioner.

[irishock]

1 year anniversary. Let's discuss. How would've things turned out for LA had the deal not been vetoed? Does Howard still come?

[will_spurs]

Do you mean "can Howard still come"? or "does Howard still come"? If Howard doesn't come (rush!) to a team with Paul as PG, he's even dumber than I thought (and I think he's really, really dumb, btw).

If Paul goes to the Lakers, the Clippers are still a lottery team, and the Lakers aren't below .500 for sure.

[TrainOfThought5]

effectively set the course of the Lakers on a down spiral, to be honest.

[Clipper Nation]

:lol Lakers

[baseline bum]

I can live with them nixing this deal, tbh. As long as dwight is a laker this year or next all is well.

Didn't bank on getting stuck with D'Antoni, eh?

[Wiz]

:lmao

[Gummi Clutch]

laker faggots :lmao

[InRareForm]

http://cbafaq.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/cp-lakers.jpg

[spurtech09]

too late....

[baseline bum]

Watching that trade get shot down by Stern was one of the high moments in the NBA forum.

[LkrFan]

Watching that trade get shot down by Stern was one of the high moments in the NBA forum.

:lol