Lakers trade
 

Pau Gasol & Lamar Odom gone for Chris Paul

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakers...amar-odom.html

As a Laker hater, I love it. I think they will really miss those two guys and they are taking away the huge size advantage that they held over teams. Now, their bench is much weaker with the loss of Odom and unless they get Howard, they are putting all of their eggs in the Bynum basket. That's very risky. Paul has not been exactly the picture of health lately either. I think this worsens them.

As a Laker Fan I agree with you. Bynum is a huge risk! I was never a big fan of Gasol. Getting Howard would be huge - but I doubt it.

Need to find out details like the other players coming to LA.

The problem is Gasol never used his size advantage. He's a soft (but extremely talented) player that virtually shut down in the playoffs last year. Agree with you about Bynum, as I think his health is a major liability. But you forget what a hard time the Lakers had in the playoffs with guards doing what they wanted to against them. With Chris Paul, this isn't going to happen.

At 33 year Kobe can't afford an extended re-build plan.

Knicks look like the will be getting Chandler. Pretty good inside lineup with Chandler, Amare and Mellow.

Supposedly the Paul trade has been nixed by the NBA league office

FTFY

I can't think of much worse PR for the NBA after a lockout than having an NBA controlled team trading its superstar to the big market Lakers.

Really? What should they do? This was a good deal for New Orleans. This fantasy that he makes the team worth more is idiotic. There is zero chance he is staying there regardless of who owns the team. So why not get what you can before you lose all leverage. It isnt like he is going to sign as a FA with a small market team.

The last trade that Pau Gasol was involved was a much bigger trade rape than this.

I agree, and don't really think it was helping the Lakers much either. I'm just talking PR wise with fans, outside of LA, it looks really bad.

I'm a huge Thunder fan. The team was extremely lucky to get two, maybe three, quality draft picks three years running...four if you count Ibaka. Only the fact Durant isn't a big market whore like a lot of these other guys will keep them together. If small market fans don't think there is any chance they can keep stars, they will not be supported for long. That is bad news for the league unless they want to contract to about 6 teams.

I dont think that fans would see this as anything but what it was, a team getting what it could for a player who was going to leave anyway. Lets face it Stern is a puppet at this point. The lockout had zero to do with competitive balance, it had to do with the owners being greedy.

I dont buy that only big markets teams can compete. The Heat thing only came about because Miami had an unusual situation of having virtually no one under contract, a superstar with an expiring contract and 3 star level players willing to play for less than market value. AND they didnt win last year because they still had no room for anything other than bums. The Knicks made all these deals but look at the rest of their roster? It is a joke. OKC did it the right way regardless of market size. They drafted well and got lucky that the Blazers blew it once again. San Antonio showed what a team can do if they are run properly.

Teams that arent very good arent going to retain their players regardless of market size. With the salary cap in place there are only so many destinations that these guys can go to.

In the end we are talking about a guy who averaged 16 and 10 last year and isnt far removed from a knee injury. The NBA looks far worse in nixing this trade than had it gone through. If they arent going to let NO try to run its business in a long term fashion then they should just contract them now.

I get your point and it's a valid one, but Stern never has seemed particularly interested in poor PR. You guys got the former Sonics in your backyard now. The behind the scenes bullsh.it deals that went on to get that team there were borderline criminal.

Plus, since there is a 0% chance Paul resigns with New Orleans, at least they get something for him, instead of just totally losing him.

yahoo sports says other owners basicley went crazy over the NBA dealing him to the Lakers. This entire situation is a mess.
Anyway, how about what I just read. Knicks getting Tyson Chandler with the plan being to give Amare up for CP3.

I didnt see this as poor PR for the NBA in the first place other than by conspiracy theory believers. As a matter of fact I saw it as a net win for the league. NO gets better and one of its under the radar stars gets exposure on the big stage before he starts to decline.

NOW I see it as terrible PR for the NBA. Stern looks like a puppet, the owners look petty and greedy, the Hornets are in a terrible spot, the dominos that fall after a move like this are held up because this is in limbo (surely the NBA players association will file a lawsuit), the players look greedy even if they are simply wanting to play for a better team (Hell NO doesnt even have an owner nor supposedly do they have a suitor) and the Lakers have 2 pissed off players in an already potentially disfunctional situation. Small market teams can compete in the NBA as shown by SA and OKC. Big Market teams can suck for extended periods as shown by the Knicks.

I agree. I really didn't care if the trade went through. I don't even think it would work out well for the Lakers.

It just was never going to fly with a lot of the small market owners, at least at this early stage after the lockout. How do they sell this to fans that they are currently screwing over by cramming games in and making pay for preseason games? The promise from a lot of small market clubs was that the lockout would help make them more competitive. It was always a lie, but they can't renege already.

If they wouldnt let them trade him to LA what makes you think that they will allow them to trade him to NY? Especially since they have to take back a huge contract?

They would get another superstar in return.

Chandler has been playing for contracts the last two years. Good luck with that guy once he inks a long term deal.