He kept insisting that they were acting in the best interest of the Hornets, which I do not doubt... but WHAT IS THE POINT OF HAVING A GM if you are going to control all transactions? Why is Dell Demps even there? Ever heard of employee empowerment, Stern? Of course not, you power-driven micro-managing tool. I have no doubt that Demps was looking out for their best interest as well...he was concerned with staying competitive with veterans and keeping them out of the red by selling tickets. Now they're going to be just like the Clippers of that past few years minus Blake Griffin.
Owners oversee GMs - GMs don't get free reign on any team. You don't hear about it because it's all internal, but I'm sure owners in all sports veto trades that GMs propose all the time.
I heard that interview in the car, he is so full of crap. What if those "Sources" are in the league office and are afraid of losing their jobs? BTW - Colin Cowherd is a heck of a guy to listen to ....very good radio guy. DD
I love Colin Cowherd. Dude is a right mix of serious and hilarious. Serious on his radio show, hilarious on Sportsnation.
End of the day....Lakers get CP3 or Clippers get CP3. It is better for the league for Clippers to get him imho. And trading with clippers was a better trade for Hornets. It was a win(league)-win(Clippers & Hornets)-loss(lakers) scenario and I'm happy with it.
I don't see it. With Scola, Martin and Odom, they were a borderline playoff team. With Gordon, Caveman, and a bunch of scrubs, I doubt they will sniff 20 wins this season.
Except for the fact that the way things went down, it was an INSANE conflict of interest for Stern to get involved. By acting as the GM/Owner of the Hornets, he completely shirked his responsibilities as Commissioner. He not only knew about the trade the whole time it was being negotiated, but he ALLOWED teams to deal with Demps under the assumption that he was not going to be handcuffed. If Stern had simply notified Demps from the start what an acceptable deal for Paul would have been, this entire fiasco would have been avoided. Also, I have a MAJOR problem with the first rounder from Minnesota being included. As Commissioner, he is basically stating that he feels like the T-Wolves will suck this season, making their first rounder more valuable than the Knicks first rounder that the Rockets were offering. How is that kosher behavior for the Commissioner of the league?? The final results might be satisfactory from a league standpoint, but how we got there is insulting, shameful, and downright illegal.
However, the league/Commissioner has an obvious conflict of interest. Even if they say there was no discussion with the owners, the league still has some influence from the other 29 owners. The whole point of appointing people to manage the Hornets was to keep things like this from happening.
They don't want to be a borderline playoff team with three huge contracts with 2 thirty year olds. What are they going to do in 2-3 years when Scola and Odom has declined. They get bunch of prospects, and a 22 year old Eric Gordon who can be built around a Minny pick and a chance to tank for a top 5 pick.
There is little doubt that Stern did right by the Hornets, they are a much more attractive purchase than they would have been with the Lakers/Rockets trade. It sucks for us Houston fans, but not for the future owner of the New Orleans franchise. I just hate that the trade stuff leaked out - one of the worst things about twitter....also one of the best.....meh... DD
Your definition and my definition of better are different to say the least. Kaman, Gordon, and Aminu are not going to get more wins for the Clippers than Martin, Scola, Odom, and Dragic. The Clippers stay in the playoff hunt with: Dragic / Jack Martin / Belineli Odom / Ariza Scola / Landry Okafor / Smith Odom at the 3, and Okafor at the 5 with a deep bench. That team is at least better than the Rockets last season (who finished 15th overall) with Hayes (all d, no o), and Bu inger starting. Lowry is much better than Dragic, but this team has more balanced players and height. This is why Demps wanted the trade. A team that is making money now is easier to sell. Jack Gordon Aminu Landry Okafor 20 wins max And let's not forget there was another rejected trade proposal with the Hornets getting even more from the Rockets.
Conflict of interest. He can either act in the best interest of the league (which happen to include the Lakers/Rockets) or be a GM and act in the best interest of one team. He screwed over two teams for the sake of the Hornets. Clear conflict of interest. He is lying through his teeth and spinning away.
