And Paul will loudly refuse to show up to the non laker team further smearing doo doo all over the league.
I'm still in shock really. This is up there with Netflix's Boneheaded Summer as far as corporate screw-ups go. I'm not a Stern-hater... or I wasn't until now. 1. Killed his own credibility after saying New Orleans' management was autonomous. 2. Killed any leverage New Orleans may have had in trading Paul for assets. Not only were they not going to find a better deal than the one they found, other suitors now know that some teams won't be allowed to trade for him. 3. Worse yet, they probably won't be allowed to trade Paul at all. To do so -- especially for worse compensation -- would just magnify the mistake Stern made with this trade. 4. Paul's determination to leave (which was pretty firm in the first place) is likely doubled now. New Orleans will lose him for nothing. And, he's not even going to try to play hard this season either. 5. With a hamstrung management, a lame-duck franchise player, few other players to speak of, and absolutely no incentive to try, why would any free agent be willing to sign in NO? Why would any fan want to come watch a game? 6. This move single-handedly killed basketball in New Orleans. It was on life-support anyway. But with Chris Paul's defection and Stern "protecting" them, I don't see how fans can be anything but apathetic. 7. This isn't a victory for Gilbert or parity either. Paul will be a Knick next season. The league can't stop that unless they reverse this decision. 8. I don't think there can be lawsuits. There would be some arbitration between owners and between the league and the union. It doesn't matter though because the timing is vital and the window closes today, essentially. It's a bell you can't unring.
Is it just me or does it seem like the owners caved in the CBA negotiations and rushed to a deal? I don't know all the specifics...but I do know that Chris Paul and Dwight Howard are hand-picking where they want to go while under contract with another team. I thought part of the goal was to increase parity and give more small market teams a chance. What happened to the franchise tag talk? That would be a great solution. I think the NBA is headed toward a dark era. Every team that is not in a city where the stars want to play will essentially become like the Florida Marlins...only being able to hold on to their young stars through the rookie contract and then watching them bolt. Fans are going to lose interest if the "dream teams" are winning the title every year.
This was a perfect storm that looks almost like the NBA's own Wall Street bailout, only sub-in "New Orleans" for "Wall Street." This whole mess goes back 10 years when the team first moved there from Charlotte. Everyone knew the market couldn't support the move. But a member of the fraternity wanted to move and the owners allowed him to move because they wouldn't want anyone standing in their way in similar situations. Cuban even went on the radio in Charlotte countless times and guaranteed that the NBA wouldn't let the Hornets move. He then voted for the move. Then you have the NBA guaranteeing that the team would stay there after Katrina--even though it was clear that a new home was growing in OKC. Then the NBA announced the All-Star game for the city to boost the team and the league's image there. Then you have the league taking over the team from Shinn and holding out for someone to buy the team with the caveat that they stay in New Orleans. Now you have this. FWIW, Chris Paul (and his agent) looks bad in this too. If they didn't think this could happen then they're delusional. The league was going to look bad either way. For many, this was a lopsided deal and the conspiracy would've been "Stern is only looking out for the big markets, etc. etc." In fact, should Paul end up in NY that will still be the talk. They stayed out of the way on minor moves (like the Landry move) but this landscape-changing deal is different. Ironically, ESPN said the owners reacted as they did after they heard from their fans. Imagine that--owners responding based on their fans?!?! A lot of people are complaining about the league doing this (and it looks terrible) but the answer is simple--buy the team. The Lakers have plenty of fans who can write the check TODAY. It can probably be had at a discount. Also, Selig has to approve trades for MLB (although they tend to look like rubber-stamps), this is just Stern with his Selig hat on.
I don't blame Paul or anyone else for proceeding as if the league would approve his move to a glamor team. What Stern did was a flagrant transgression of the rules and the exact opposite of what he'd been telling everybody for a year and up to a couple of hours before he nixed the thing. The League Office is not supposed to make decisions for the Hornets for "basketball reasons." That is why they appointed an independent governor. It should surprise everyone except Dan Gilbert, who is probably too dumb to know that Stern shouldn't be allowed to nix it. And buying the team is no kind of option. For one, league rules limiit the number of owners of one team, and I think they require every team to a have a mjority owner. So, a single person with at least $150m needs to step up. And, who would step up to pay money for the Hornets when the League is committed to keeping them in a city that is too small to make it profitable and now has absolutely no assets on its roster? Other teams have sold recently and had the pick of a handful of potential buyers. But, it's been a year and there is no one who wants to buy the Hornets. Nobody. There are still suitors out there that tried to buy other franchises, had good bids, but lost out to some other buyer. They still have money and won't bid on the Hornets. The idiocy of the league's handling of the Hornets just blows my mind.
This is horrible that Stern did this, but one positive thing about it for me is that all of the idiots who have always said Stern favors the Lakers and big market teams can now shut up.
I wonder if the Louisiana congressmen might put some pressure on Stern. They stick their nose in MLB's business all the time. Yeah, he favors the KNICKS, not the Lakers!
If they were running it like a real business they would have dissolved the team or sold it to the highest bidder and let the new owner do what they needed to do to generate revenue. This isn't all about business. It's about egos.
Agreed that it was a bad move by Stern, and after reading more about the story need to change my mind. Looks like everyone involved sought repeated assurance from the league office that this was ok to do and were told over and over that it was. Regarding my comments about buying the team, I think that it would have already been bought by someone, but the league is determined to make the team stay in NOLA. Someone in Seattle would've bought them already, or Vancouver or KC or Newark (they want another tenant in the Prudential Center) would've had potential owners. The requirement to stay in NOLA is a non-starter. Goes back to my point that the stage was set for this by the league letting the Hornets move there in the first place and its determination to salvage a team there at all costs.
Bingo on all counts JV. Especially the illusion of autonomy of mgmt. There's an inherent conflict of interest in the league (or the collective owners of the other teams) owning one team. You offset that by appointing 'independent' management and/or advisory boards. It's fine (and prudent) to set parameters and objectives for that management (including 'do not take on long term Scolaesque contracts') if they choose -- but you have to let the team operate independently within that framework. I didn't like the Pau deal. But it was Morey's to make.
If the league does that, than Paul's lawsuit will be open and shut. That would be textbook collusion by the league, especially since the lesser teams (LAC, GSW) offers have been substantially less than the Lakers. Paul will still walk from them, and they aren't gutting their team for a pissed off rental.
I think I just misunderstood you. I completely agree. This whole fiasco started with the delusion that you could keep the Hornets in New Orleans. It was good PR to say it, but it seems like they are buying their own propaganda. BUT, they appointed this Sperling guy to be the governor and gave him targets to be viable, like the 10,000 season ticket holders. He actually has done better than I expected on season ticket holders and making the Hornets look like they might credibly stay in NO. This decision, imo, completely cuts the legs out from under management in trying to convince New Orleans to invest in them, come to games, buy season tickets, buy jerseys and so on. They once again look like a team just waiting for a buyer to whisk them away to Las Vegas. Stern drove the last nail himself.
Don't be so condescending. This is not a normal business situation. The NBA wants to keep the team in New Orleans and scooped up the team in order to facilitate a deal. Who is to say what would be in the best interests of the franchise? You could argue that losing Chris Paul (and David West) for nothing would kill attendance and doom the franchise far worse that taking back some big-ish contracts to remain competitive. Another approach might be to gut the roster in order to sell more quickly. The point is that you can't have every NBA club having a say in how the New Orleans franchise is run. To avoid conflict of interest charges the NBA has to have a firewall set up between the interests of the New Orleans franchise and that over the other NBA clubs. Demps and the other GMs across the league thought that such a firewall was indeed there. This is why the NBA opened up a big can of worms by voiding this trade.
This will bite him in the ass, I think Stern doesn't want Paul to leave because that makes it harder to get an owner for the team, they probably don't want an owner who will move out of NO and they definitely don't want to contract NO (allthough I think that would help a lot of our current problems.)
But the flaw in Stern's logic regarding the Hornets potential purchase price is, Paul is already gone. Clear as day. Extending this saga does not change the fact that any potential owner faces a star-less future in NOLA. All it will do is sour the already pathetic fanbase. Rip the bandaid. Firesale the rest (longterm payroll = debt). Rig the lottery and give them a top pick in the lottery so they'll immediately have their next star. Allow the team to be moved. If you still can't find an owner, maybe revisit the idea of merging them with Charlotte and put them in Chicago with Jordan as the owner. Amazing how no forethought went into this situation despite all the conference calls and meetings during the lockout. Stern really has to step down asap. This is horrific.
If I vetoed a trade like this in my fantasy football league the owners of the trading teams would quit.
