I won’t bore you with the details. Chris Paul was about to be jettisoned off to LA in a trade that included Pau Gasol to the Rockets, and Kyle Lowry, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Lamar Odom to the Hornets.
The deal was reported as "almost done." Then, out of the blue, the trade was apparently vetoed by the NBA for "basketball" reasons, after a number of owners protested about it to David Stern yesterday when the new CBA was due to be signed. Fearing another impasse, Stern heeded their words and nixed the trade.
So allow us time to grasp this here. The Hornets would be better off with their one superstar who is not going to sign an extension with them anyway, and be left with nothing come July 2012, instead of flipping him for a promising young point guard, the league’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year, a guy who will give you an 18-10 every night and a 20 PPG scorer?
We already knew David West is on his way out. New Orleans isn’t exactly an attractive free agent destination. To replace him, the best they could do, in my opinion, would’ve been someone like Rashard Lewis, if he was amnestied.
Obviously, this trade was not vetoed due to “basketball reasons."
The NBA rejected this trade because small-market owners raised a ruckus about a superstar going to a big market.
These were the obvious suspects. Michael Jordan, once revered by basketball fans the world over as the greatest athlete to have ever lived, is now the grumpy owner of a hopeless franchise that should never have existed in the first place: the Charlotte Bobcats.
We all know how many problems he was causing during the lockout, do we not? Now he’s attempting to interfere in the business of other teams.
There was also Dan Gilbert. I have a feeling that after LeBron James’ leaving the Cavaliers for greener grass, he’s developed a paranoia of sorts and wants to take out his frustration on other superstars who are trying to get out of hopeless situations.
Small market owners, understand this one thing.
If YOU were a basketball player, in the prime of your life, 25 years old, would you want to spend those years in a place like Cleveland or Charlotte? Would you want to join a team that is historically incompetent? Wouldn’t you rather play in the bright lights of New York or at Staples Center, in the hope that one day a statue of your likeness would be erected next to that of Magic Johnson?
The players ARE the league.
Owners are not remembered, because their contributions are insignificant through a fan’s point of view.
You, the small market owners, have no right to act infuriated that a top player wants to play with a top team.
If you were to run your team in a more competent fashion instead of moaning about parity, maybe your teams would be seen as a more attractive destination.
Don’t forget, San Antonio is also a "small market." Yet, through good work by their GM and efficient ownership, they reached the pinnacle of basketball not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times since 1999.
Jerry Buss is better at his role as an owner than you, Michael Jordan, and you, Dan Gilbert. Just because he has an opportunity to reap the rewards of that, you have no right to try and prevent him from receiving those rewards.
If you haven’t made the moves to help your team out of its ineptitude over all these years, then don’t whine that it is a doormat team. It is a doormat team because of YOU.
Chris Paul will eventually land in LA, we know that now. The only two teams that have been heard as places he would sign an extension with are the Knicks and the Lakers. The Knicks will have filled up their salary cap with the signing of Tyson Chandler. This, of course, means that Paul will not be able to sign with them in free agency.
If the NBA wants an owner for the Hornets soon, they would be wise to allow Paul to leave on his own terms. No team will trade for an unextended Paul, and if they don’t trade him, he will now certainly leave for nothing in free agency.
No owner would ever buy a corpse of a franchise that the Hornets would resemble in time. Therefore, it would be for the good of the Hornets themselves to trade Paul to his preferred destination.
This charade that has been orchestrated by the owners is pathetic. I honestly do not blame LeBron James anymore for wanting to leave a franchise that was owned by a miserable man such as Dan Gilbert.
I will be rooting against small market teams in every game now, and they have no one to blame for it but themselves. If you’re inadequate, don’t go blaming the more successful ones for those issues.
This is akin to an incompetent employee protesting against the promotion of a far better and more qualified one in a company.
I hope that these embarrassing acts are put to rest as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Disgusted NBA Fan
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