New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

[steve williams]

If they get Howard, Kobe will get his sixth ring to match MJ ... He may even get a seventh before he retires ... Woah ... !!! The lakers will pull all the stops to get Howard, Bynum is good but Howard is the Superstar Center ...

It's got to be Bynum + ??? players as this is not a one for one swap

 

[jadis]

If they get Howard, Kobe will get his sixth ring to match MJ ... He may even get a seventh before he retires ... Woah ... !!! The lakers will pull all the stops to get Howard, Bynum is good but Howard is the Superstar Center ...

I feel the same way too. Howard for Bynum + possibly the entire LA bench, but I think LA cleared the benches to get Shaq before. Then, they can sign good well aged veterans for the mid-level exception or veterans minimum, whatever they call it. And, what will be a big plus in this potent trio will be that CP3 and Howard will be hungry for their first title. That was the motivation of Gasol and Odom and Bynum then.

 

[jadis]

It's got to be Bynum + ??? players as this is not a one for one swap

True, Steve, LA can add a lot of 'future picks' too, if they run out of bench players to give out.

 

[Ron Party]

Does anyone remember MLB voiding the Vida Blue trade?

 

[jadis]

And HOLY COW!!!

Stern kills Lakers’ deal for Paul
Adrian Wojnarowski

By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports 1 hour, 23 minutes ago


NBA commissioner David Stern killed the New Orleans Hornets’ trade of Chris Paul after several owners complained about the league-owned team dealing the All-Star point guard to the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Some owners pushed Stern to nullify the trade and that the Hornets be made to keep Paul on the roster for the foreseeable future, sources said. A chorus of owners were irate with the belief that the five-month lockout had happened largely to stop big-market teams from leveraging small-market teams for star players pending free agency.

The trade between the Lakers, Hornets and Houston Rockets had been consummated late Thursday afternoon, about the same time the league’s owners and players were completing their vote to ratify the new collective bargaining agreement – an agreement that Stern had repeatedly said would help restore the NBA’s competitive balance. League owners had watched last season as some of the game’s biggest stars left for larger markets. LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat, and Carmelo Anthony forced the Denver Nuggets to trade him to the New York Knicks.
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“The owners half-pushed this, and Stern took it the rest of the way,” a league source told Yahoo! Sports. “In the end, David didn’t like that the players were dictating where they wanted to go, like Carmelo had, and he wasn’t going to let Chris Paul dictate where he wanted to go.”

Before Stern intervened, the Lakers had reached an agreement to acquire Paul in a deal that would have cost them Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Under terms of the deal, the Lakers would have sent Gasol to the Rockets. The Hornets would have received Odom, Rockets guards Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic and forward Luis Scola, league sources said.

Houston had also agreed to send a 2012 first-round pick – previously obtained from the Knicks – to New Orleans as part of the package, a source said.

Demps had informed two of the other finalists for Paul on Thursday evening that he had a deal in place for Paul to go the Lakers, front-office sources said. All the players involved in the trade have now been told to report to their teams for the start of training camp on Friday.

Hornets general manager Dell Demps is “disconsolate” over the heavy-handed move from the commissioner’s office, a source told Y! Sports. Demps considered resigning his job on Thursday, league sources said, and had to be talked out of it. The Hornets had scored a terrific deal for Paul, a trade that was lauded by some of Demps’ peers throughout the league. Officials involved in the trade talks said the league office was consulted throughout the negotiations, and there was never an indication Demps didn’t have the power to make a deal. In fact, several teams negotiating with New Orleans to get Paul asked the league office, and were told Demps had full authority to execute a trade.

Stern listened to enraged owners on Thursday who insisted this trade went against the entire reason the owners pushed for the lockout, that nothing had changed, and yet it was Stern who made the extraordinary decision to cancel the deal. Demps tried to talk him out of it, league officials said, but Stern was absolute in his desire to kill the trade.

Paul had listed the Lakers as one of his preferred destinations, and it became a more clear choice for him on Thursday after the New York Knicks moved to the brink of completing a four-year, $58 million contract for free-agent center Tyson Chandler. The Knicks lost the salary-cap space they would’ve needed to sign Paul this summer, and the Lakers had been pushing hard to close a deal for Paul with Houston and New Orleans.

As one rival executive with strong ties to the league office said, “Stern cared about two things: Selling that franchise for the best possible price; and showing the players that they weren’t going to dictate where teams could trade them. But now, there’s no way that the league can allow Chris Paul to be traded at all, otherwise Stern is basically deciding where one of the top players in the league is going versus having any fair process.”

Officials from New Orleans, Houston and Los Angeles were stunned Thursday night. The killed trade had ripple affects 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 Dell 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’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?”

 

[rblnr]

Wow, wonder how the league is going to justify nixing the trade. I don't think the Hornets did that badly. As above,I didn't think the Lakers had the horsepower to pull it off, but combined with Scola, whose a horse, and Martin, Dragic and a pick, they've got a decent nucleus.

Steve, you see Odom play regularly, he's highly skilled but does he have much left in the tank?

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

I am not sure what Rob means by

As above,I didn't think the Lakers had the horsepower to pull it off

... The league will have some explaining to do ... It does however put the Lakers in the obligation to trade Gasol and Odom and to acquire Howard .. The Chemistry of the team is damaged whether it is admitted or not .. This IMO slightly decreases the bargaining power of the Lakers but not that much ...
Odom skills are superior almost unique, his desire or lack thereof has always been his weakness... He can one day be superlative and subsequently disappear for months. Else he is a robust player with a few more years to give ...

 

[jadis]

From my understanding the 'league' terminated the 3- team deal because the 'league' owns the New Orleans Hornets. And Stern is the head of the 'league' and hence the head of the Hornets as well. That doesn't sound too right, does it? So Stern overruled NO GM Demp's action because he is the boss of team NO. But I suppose in the coming days, Stern and the 'league' are not going to just overrule any team's trading moves just like that. Also, we read about the outcry of many owners over this 3-team deal. The owners own the 'league' which Stern heads, and then Stern heeded the owners complaints by killing the deal that was deemed unfair. How weird can this get?

 

[rblnr]

I am not sure what Rob means by
As above,I didn't think the Lakers had the horsepower to pull it off

What I meant was that they needed to bring in another team's players. And I still don't understand the Rockets in that unless dumping Martin's contract was job one (FAs in 2012?), It's a helluva lot to give up for Gasol. Think what the Lakers gave to get him. Scola's an above average PF already, Dragic is quickly improving with upside, Martin can score, and then a first round, albeit likely low, pick. Doesn't seem like a lot to you guys?

I just wonder about Odom's effort and timeframe, particularly without a leader like Kobe around.

 

[steve williams]

Odom is pretty darn good Bob, as Frantz points out

Unbelievable what Sir David can pull off

 

[rblnr]

I've no doubt about his skill level, but OK, maybe I'm underestimating him. Just seems the kind of player at this point in his career that is right for a contender, but has much less value for a rebuilding team such as NO.

 

[steve williams]

Latest word now is that Dwight Howard is asking to be traded too the Nets

 

[rblnr]

And Brandon Roy is set to retire.

Howard and Williams in Brooklyn would make a great over-the-bridge rivalry w/the Knicks.

 

[rblnr]

Bulls apparently are targeting Rip Hamiliton. If the Pistons buy out a portion of his contract as rumored, they may sign him. He'd help at shooting guard and plays defense despite a slight frame. Waiting for him to get free on screens which is his game would change the offense some though. You guys think it's a plus for the Bulls?

 

[steve williams]

How old is Rip now???

BTW, as the saying goes, "it's only over when the fat lady sings"

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/featur...ers-trade-progress/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1

 

[rblnr]

33. Looking at a 2 yr contract. Guess they figure going to a contender will energize him, and he's always been in top shape. He's not a spot up guy though, Bulls will have to run screens, etc for him.

Looks like Paul trade will go thru one way or another. Espn's John Hollinger actually thinks its bad for the Lakers:

We've long suspected that many of the NBA's owners are only dimly aware of what makes a basketball team successful.

Now we have proof.

Set aside the league's laughable news release that Chris Paul's trade to the Los Angeles Lakers was blocked "for basketball reasons." I guess David Stern was concerned about Kevin Martin's defensive plus-minus.

No, the widely suspected reason that I'm only writing about an imaginary trade instead of a real one is that the league's owners were so irate over the agreed-to deal to send Paul from the New Orleans Hornets to the Lakers that they implored commissioner David Stern to block it. ... Apparently, because they were so focused on the idea of another shiny object going to the Lakers that they didn't really look at what was happening.

The Lakers had agreed to trade Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom to New Orleans to get Paul, a trade that sent from Los Angeles an All-Star power forward and the league's best sixth man, also a forward. As a result, L.A. was left with just one credible frontcourt player -- Andrew Bynum, who has missed at least 17 games in each of the past four seasons. Bynum will be suspended for the first five games this season after belting J.J. Barea in the playoffs, meaning the Lakers were looking at an opening night frontcourt of Derrick Caracter and Luke Walton.

Yes, this was offset with a monumental upgrade at point guard, but look at the big picture. Pau-for-Paul is pretty much an even swap. Last season they had virtually identical marks in player efficiency rating (23.33 for Gasol and 23.76 for Paul) and estimated wins added (17.9 and 18.3). Yes, Gasol is five years older, but he also has a much better injury history. Additionally, big men age much better than small guards, primarily because it doesn't make them any shorter.

Plus, I would argue that Gasol is a better fit in L.A. than Paul. For starters, Kobe Bryant and Paul have only one ball to share on the perimeter. But more importantly, Paul is a pick-and-roll maestro who thrives when surrounded by spot-up shooters, pick-and-pop big men and a finisher who can roll to the rim. This isn't Kobe, who struggles as a spot-up shooter, and it isn't Bynum, who likes to catch and hold in the post. In fact, the only four Lakers who really fit that style are Gasol and Odom, who were getting shipped off, and Derek Fisher and Steve Blake, whom Paul would have replaced.

All of that makes me queasy from L.A's end about Pau-for-Paul straight up. Throwing in Odom, when the team has no depth and little means to replace him, tilts it heavily in the Hornets' favor. The Lakers would have had an $8.9 million trade exception, but with no meaningful assets (and I mean NONE) to put in a trade, they were going to have a big problem using it to get anybody good.

I suspect this is actually a case of misplaced anger. The owners were so upset about the possibility of Dwight Howard forming a "Super Friends" team with Paul and Kobe that they forgot the logistics of doing so.

Newsflash to L.A.: Andrew Bynum alone doesn't get you Howard. Not even close. Trade Bynum and Gasol and you might get Howard, but you might not. A lot of teams are fishing in that pond and most of them have better bait.

This is where people argue that Howard can "force" his way to Los Angeles, just like Chris Paul forced his way to New York. Er, check that ... that was Carmelo Anthony.

But there was one big difference during the Melo chase last season: The Knicks were going to have cap space, so the leverage Anthony held was real. Trade me there now, or I'll go there on my own later. In Howard's case, the Lakers have no plausible means of signing him as a free agent, and they wouldn't have had the trade assets to strike a deal with the Magic had they made the Paul deal.

The irony of all this, in other words, is that the owners were so upset about the Lakers potentially getting Howard, that they nixed a trade that would have virtually killed any chance of that happening.

In the meantime, the Houston Rockets have to be upset. Houston took a gamble here, but getting Gasol would have opened up a crucial $3 million more in cap space it could have used to offer Nene a max contract. That frontcourt, combined with great depth and several underrated perimeter players, would likely have propelled the Rockets to a top-four seed in the West, if not better. (Scoff if you will, but Houston had the scoring margin of a 48-win team last season. It didn't need to improve that dramatically to join the elite.)

And if the Rockets are upset, the Hornets must be apoplectic. New Orleans scored three very solid, not-quite-All-Stars in Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Odom, plus they added a scoring guard in Goran Dragic and a first-round pick, originally the New York Knicks'. The Hornets could have started those four and Emeka Okafor and likely been a one-and-done playoff team just like they were with Paul, except with a brighter future.

Instead … now what?

What does the league tell them when they have to settle for a lesser deal instead of this one, or lose Paul outright in free agency? Or when the Hornets have trouble even negotiating another Paul deal, for fear the league will swoop in at the last second after everybody on their roster has heard their name in trade talks?

 

[jadis]

Bulls apparently are targeting Rip Hamiliton. If the Pistons buy out a portion of his contract as rumored, they may sign him. He'd help at shooting guard and plays defense despite a slight frame. Waiting for him to get free on screens which is his game would change the offense some though. You guys think it's a plus for the Bulls?

IMO, Rip's game has dipped ever since they won the title in 2004. His games played were reduced to 46 and 55 the last 2 years and was even benched by the Detroit coach last season for a few games. His best years for me were the 2 years leading to their championship run where he would chase Kobe all game and provide good offense as well leading some commentators to call his the most well-conditioned player in the NBA. But today, it remains to be seen how he will fare if he becomes a Bull. Last season there were rumors that the C's would deal to take him in but I wasn't too enthusiastic bout it either.

 

[jadis]

There goes Dallas' "chemistry". Just like the Celtics losing James Posey after winning the championship in 2008, it's Dallas' turn to lose a key player of their championship team. But NY waving Billups???


Knicks acquire Chandler from Dallas in 3-team deal

By BRIAN MAHONEY 2 hours, 33 minutes ago


GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP)—The New York Knicks have acquired Tyson Chandler from the Dallas Mavericks and sent Ronny Turiaf to the Washington Wizards in a three-team trade.

The Knicks also announced Saturday they had waived Chauncey Billups and designated him as their amnesty player.

Chandler helped the Mavericks win the NBA championship last season, averaging 10.1 points and 9.4 rebounds, and will provide the interior defense the Knicks have long lacked. The other moves were necessary to afford his contract, including using the amnesty clause so Billups’ $14.2 million salary wouldn’t count for salary cap or luxury tax purposes.

The Mavericks got reserve guard Andy Rautins from the Knicks in the deal, and there were other picks involved.

 

[steve williams]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20.../10/chris.paul/index.html?eref=si_mostpopular

 

[jadis]

CP3 to LA off. Odom to Dallas. LAL set sights on Howard. Exciting days ahead even before opening day.