Basketball and News:Paul traded, then untraded, to Lakers
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It was always expected that the start of the NBA free agency/trading period would be interesting, but no one expected it to turn into a soap opera.
Last night, the New Orleans Hornets agreed to trade All-Star point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a three-team deal that would have sent Lamar Odom, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Goran Dragic back to the Bayou, with Pau Gasol heading to the Houston Rockets. New Orleans would also receive Houston’s first round draft pick next year.
And while giving up arguably the game’s best point guard is never ideal, it seemed like the Hornets were able to at least obtain a number of assets to help them going forward.
However.
The NBA owns the Hornets. The NBA just had a lockout, partly because of a fear that small market teams were finding it tougher to hold on to superstars who seemed to be able to dictate where they could play. And last night commissioner David Stern, on the day the collective bargaining agreement was ratified (!), killed the trade after a number of owners, including Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert voiced their concerns.
And then all hell broke loose.
As Yahoo Sports Adrian Wojnarowski reports:
Officials from New Orleans, Houston and Los Angeles were stunned Thursday night. The killed trade had ripple effects everywhere in free agency and potential trades, and literally pushed the market into paralysis on the eve of training camps opening up.
“We were all told by the league he was a trade-able player, and now they’re saying that [Hornets general manager] Dell [Demps] 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 [Stern'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?”
After the news broke, Twitter user netw3rk posted: “Tonight the NBA avoided an iceberg by intentionally crashing into a larger iceberg.” And I can’t think of a more apt analogy for what has just transpired. Paul is considering legal action and other players are enraged. It will be interesting to see what the next day or so brings.
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