This one seems very hard to explain. First we have to know the background. The NBA currently owns the New Orleans Hornets, and we just suffered through a lockout based (at least a little bit) on small market owners getting some power back. With that in mind NBA Commissioner David Stern has killed a trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angles Lakers and a package of players and draft picks coming back to New Orleans.
Stern backed up his decision by saying this to Bloomberg News:
The decision was taken that Chris Paul in New Orleans was more valuable than the trade that was being discussed
That argument would make more sense if Paul was signed in New Orleans past the abbreviated season that we are about to play. The simple fact here is Paul will play for the Hornets for 66 more games, and while having him on the roster makes the Hornets an easier sell in the short term, having the team set up for the future seems to hold greater value.
With Lamar Odom on the roster, and an additional first round draft pick it seems very likely that the Hornets would have been in a very good position to rebuild and move forward. Of course Stern may have blocked this trade since it seems very likely the Lakers (with Andrew Bynum still on the roster) would have made a big push to secure the services of Dwight Howard.
That may have left two smaller market teams without their biggest stars, and another big market team with a gluttony of stars. That is exactly what Stern, and the NBA owners, do not want most.
Comments