or any moves at all, that cost money.
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, December 14, 2011 6:53 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Permalink
Sterling has been spending money for a few years (baron davis lol)
oh yeah, baron davis lol.
well, i hope billups gets his buyout. no forced trade. no forced retirement.
Marc J. Spears @SpearsNBAYahoo — Agent Andy Miller tells Yahoo! that Clippers won’t be waiving Chauncey Billups.
well, there goes that.
Tim Reynolds @ByTimReynolds — Baron Davis officially amnestied by Cleveland.
*drafts kyrie irving*
theo ratliff to retire; miss you theo ;_;
chauncey is now their backup shooting guard! dude should stay!
also it is ON in clipperland
retire in peace theo.
Tim Reynolds @ByTimReynolds — The Chris Paul trade has not fallen apart yet, setting a new NBA longevity record. Previous mark: 22 minutes.
love this tim reynolds. he’s plucky!
rosssiler Ross Siler
Chris Paul also now needs to follow in the Donald Tokowitz (Sterling) tradition and change his name to Chris Phenomenal.
52 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply
Aw theo, will miss you for sure
here’s to the great all-defensive second team in the sky
hollinger:
Fi.
Nal.
Ly.
Chris Paul is being traded from the New Orleans Hornets to the Los Angeles Clippers — for real this time — and now we all can get on with our lives. Bravo for the beleaguered Clips, who get both their second superstar, to pair with Blake Griffin, and their moment in the spotlight in a market in which the mighty Lakers blot out the sun 99 percent of the time.
While Paul is both a superstar and a perfect complement to the high-flying Griffin, he doesn’t come without warts. He has a bad knee, and that’s a problem, especially for a 6-foot point guard; 7-footers can overcome stuff like this because their primary advantage, height, remains in force, but if a small guard loses a step, he immediately becomes much more ordinary.
Second, he’s committed to the Clippers for only two years. He might very well sign on for three more after the season, but if Donald Sterling pulls his usual shenanigans, Paul also might decide this wasn’t worth the trouble and threaten to bolt again.
[+] Enlarge
Kirby Lee/US Presswire
Eric Gordon and Chris Kaman now take their skills to the Big Easy.Nonetheless, it was a no-brainer for the Clippers to leverage their assets in a deal of this type, although they must wish they didn’t have to leverage so many of them. The NBA, acting as legal guardian of the New Orleans Hornets, drove a hard bargain, ending up with the better of the two Erics (Eric Gordon) they haggled over as well as Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and an unprotected 2012 first-round pick belonging to Minnesota.
Ultimately, I think this was basically a fair trade. Give the Clips a slight advantage since they got the blue chip and because this couldn’t possibly have been a better fit — L.A. has shooters galore around Paul and two dunkers in the middle to throw down his passes.
Nonetheless, New Orleans didn’t come out badly. The Hornets will miss the playoffs this season, but they won’t be terrible and have cleaned up their balance sheet nicely going forward.
As for the assets sent out for Paul, the package looks logical from here. Part of the reason the Clippers had to include Gordon, I suspect, is that the Minnesota pick might not be worth as much as people think. Despite all the half-witted things the Timberwolves have done the past few years, I have them projected as an almost-decent team in 2011–12. Thus, the Hornets might end up receiving more like a No. 11 pick than a coveted top-three selection.
Gordon, of course, is a prime asset, a potential All-Star shooting guard; you can’t blame the Clippers for wanting to keep him and the Hornets for wanting him included. Had the Clips been able to insert Eric Bledsoe in Gordon’s place, they might very well have won the Western Conference this season.
Now they won’t, although they’ll still be very good — a solid playoff team. For the moment, some holes remain. They’re badly in need of a defensive stopper on the wing and some backup frontcourt players; they likely will trade Mo Williams to solve one problem and use their two-year, $2.5 million “under-cap” exception to tackle the other. They need a coach, too, but that’s a story for another day.
The Clippers also generated two small trade exceptions with this deal, one for $3.8 million and another for $2.5 million. Their size limits their effectiveness, but they could come in handy either now or at the trade deadline. (Those two 2015 second-rounders, by the way, are basically nonexistent junk that had to be included, per league rules, because this deal was effectively three separate trades: Paul for Kaman and the first-rounder, a junk second-rounder for Aminu, and another junk pick for Gordon. One of the picks is from Memphis and has conditions so tight it will never get to the Hornets to give to the Clippers; the other is from the Hornets and has similar conditions).
The Hornets, meanwhile, can get on with their lives as well. Presumably they’ll re-sign Carl Landry and possibly Willie Green and Jason Smith, as they’re still well under the salary cap. Additionally, expect a trade of either Kaman or Emeka Okafor some time between now and the trade deadline.
Long term, the Hornets get a solid forward prospect in Aminu, a no-brainer keeper in Gordon and effectively two lottery picks — the one the Clippers gave them and the one they’ll get on their own now that Paul is gone. They’ll almost certainly sign Gordon to an extension, but even so, the Hornets have max cap space going forward and a nice, clean balance sheet to present to potential buyers.
(And you’d better believe they’ll have a buyer before June 28. Can you imagine the conspiracy theories if the NBA-owned Hornets won the lottery?)
So call it a win-win. The Clippers are more relevant than they’ve been in years, and will stay that way as long as Griffin’s and Paul’s knees remain intact.
The Hornets, meanwhile, get a second chance. The unwritten story behind the Paul trade is how badly the New Orleans franchise squandered the prime years of Paul and David West with a series of bloated contracts and bizarre decisions. Under new ownership and Dell Demps’ management, they’ll try to avoid repeating the same mistakes with Gordon, Aminu and their two 2012 lottery picks.
i can’t fuckin wait to watch this team
stern comes out of this looking really good imo, hate to say
chris kaman is gonna look weird in blue
chris sheradin is adamant that clippers will miss playoffs.
adamant? adament? add-a-mint? spellcheck, dammit.
stern comes out of this looking really good imo, hate to say
― k3vin k., Wednesday, December 14, 2011 9:18 PM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink
no
had adamant rigt but sheridan wrong lol
I’m sure this will be the spin of the weird people like Simmons who have some weird dad crush on Stern. But Stern and the league flagrantly lied to the fans and colluded against league rules.
xp meddlesome yes, but he got them a better deal. i’ll give my grudging respect.
cp3 even ended up on a better team because of it than he would have
Stern said publicly that Demps and Sperling would make all basketball decisions and then hung them out to dry and screwed over two franchises. Then he handed Chris Paul to the second worst owner in the history of pro sports.
it wasn’t honest, at least not at first, but i haven’t read anyone who said paul had any grounds for a lawsuit
That’s because Paul has to establish damages.
They clearly colluded, come on. If Stern took input from other owners on the deal and then vetoed, it’s collusion.
That’s why they said Demps and Sperling would make all decisions: to prevent collusion!
The fact that this collusion was good for the Hornets is immaterial. Why does it matter which teams get screwed by the collusion?
i’ll let you in on a secret—no one actually gives a fuck about collusion!
i don’t think stern comes out looking “really good” but this was much better than the deal with the lakers
i’ll let you in on a secret—no one actually gives a fuck about collusion!
― cad, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 10:02 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink
they sure do when players do it!
pretty sure the rockets and lakers give a fuck, too.
they sure do when players do it!
― Matt Armstrong, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 11:08 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink
yeah wow so much direct action has been taken since players supposedly colluded!
and i eagerly await the formal complaints by the rockets and lakers
yeah wow so much direct action has been taken since players supposedly colluded!
― cad, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 10:10 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink
Dude Lebron became the biggest villain in the league because of player collusion. “People” gave a fuck.
who the fuck cares about the fate of the hornets, is the real question. Why does a good deal matter for the Hornets? Why do they have to be the winners?
what “collusion” is not why ppl h8 lebron, they h8 him because he’s lame.
if chris paul and dwight howard “colluded” about where to play i wouldn’t care at all because that team would be really fun. but lebron “colluded” with a redundant wing player and chris fucking bosh.
the “owners of the hornets,” i.e. owners of rival teams, conspired to fuck the Lakers. You may not think people “give a fuck,” but it’s disgusting and corrupt all the same.
lol i don’t really care at all abt the hornets but the clippers deal is much better than the lakers deal and you can’t deny that that is a thing.
lol i don’t really care at all abt the hornets but the clippers deal is much better than the lakers deal and you can’t deny that that is a thing.
― cad, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 10:17 PM (6 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink
Yes I can. It’s immaterial.
generally i associate “giving a fuck” with ppl taking action but maybe that’s an unfashionable viewpoint these days
you can give a fuck and be unable to take action. Giving a fuck is an emotion.
giving a fuck = having strong emotions about something
when someone says “I don’t give a fuck” they mean “I don’t care,” not “I don’t take any action regarding that”
It’s completely illogical to say that Stern is vindicated because the Hornets got a better deal. The quality of the deal for the Hornets was not the issue. It was the league screwing over the Rockets and Lakers because owners were butthurt. They said Demps had full power to make a deal, the Rockets and Lakers geared their offseason around that promise, and then Stern fucked both teams.
lol i don’t really care at all abt the hornets but the clippers deal is much better than the lakers deal and you can’t deny that that is a thing.
― cad, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 10:17 PM (6 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink
Better deal for who? Why do the nets deserve a better deal? If they were willing (stupid enough) to give up what they did to the lakers that’s their bad.
Matt otm btw
well for one thing the lakers should be thankful that stern saved them from making a really bad trade!
anyway i don’t think anyone (hopefully even k3v) is saying that stern is “vindicated” because this whole process was handled poorly but eh it’s a results-oriented business and i’m sure the lakers and rockets both know that these kinds of trades are delicate fabrege eggs that can be broken really easily for all kinds of stupid reasons.
Houston is the team that really got fucked imo. The Lakers are fucked either way.
carnitas what youre saying essentially validates stern’s line that the trade was canceled “for basketball reasons”
you know what i really don’t give a fuck about? whether or not dell demps was “fully empowered” to make a trade. who is actually naive enough to believe that anyway?
Houston is the team that really got fucked imo. The Lakers are fucked either way.
― polyphonic, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 11:32 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Permalink
yeah houston got fucked but they’re a smart team and had to know that they kind of lucked into a situation where they would be able to swing scola and martin for pau; they’ll be ok
carnitas what youre saying essentially validates stern’s line that the trade was canceled “for basketball reasons”
― cad, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 11:32 PM (3 minutes ago) BookmarkPermalink
Yeah , well fuck stern imo
you know what i really don’t give a fuck about? whether or not dell demps was “fully empowered” to make a trade. who is actually naive enough to believe that anyway?
― cad, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 10:33 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink
Every executive in the league who tried to make a deal with him?
Like if the lakers were getting really screwed in that deal stern would have swooped in and saved them from themselves
as a lakers fan were you seriously in favor of that deal?
Not even. I’m just mad on principle
Swap for D12 in that trade and im down
yeah that’s totally fine! but on a pure results basis this is better for everyone except the rockets, and the rockets will be ok.
Swap for D12 in that trade and im down
― Carnitas, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 11:48 PM (37 seconds ago) Bookmark Permalink
um yah because then you traded a center and a pf for the best center in basketball, instead of trading a center and a pf for a point guard on a team that still has kobe!
Also bynum for pau. But u catch my drift
yeah that’s totally fine! but on a pure results basis this is better for everyone except the rockets, and the rockets will be ok.
― cad, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 11:49 PM (1 minute ago) BookmarkPermalink
Not better for they way I view this fucked up league amymore
They= the
hay dudes just wondering what everyone who was saying the hornets werent going to get a better deal for paul are thinking abt right now
abt how hard i owned you or something else
and ive said this before but absolutely the only thing david stern did wrong imho happened last year when the nba bought a team, thats a fucked up situation, seeing as he is currently the acting owner everything he did as far as the paul saga makes perfect sense, its just like an owner saying his gm has autonomy and then waking the fuck up when the guy makes a horrible trade, which is exactly what happened
hay dudes just wondering what everyone who was saying the hornets werent going to get a better deal for paul are thinking abt right now
― Cooper Chucklebutt, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 11:38 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Permalink
did anyone on here actually say that?
you kinda ruined your gloat but going over the top there imo
i prefer not to have to like reread the thread, you all know who you are, or maybe not
we just said it was a fair deal for NOH.
naw
also it obvs wasnt, but thats another story
so in your mind you truly believe one of us said that that deal was the best deal NOH could possibly get? That there was no chance of a better deal?
ugh the fucking clippers?... u gotta b shittin me
arent they the west coast hornets anyway. wtf cp3
matt just be cool dude you were wrong, dont be like all confrontational and more wrong
well dude you’re making shit up
no one said “NOH cannot get a better deal than this”
we said it was a good deal for them
release man, i know you spent a lot of time arguing for that shit deal, and stern turned around and schooled yr ass
arent they the west coast hornets anyway. wtf cp3
― amon, Thursday, December 15, 2011 1:08 AM (5 minutes ago)
the clippers will be v v good this year!
arent they the west coast hornets anyway. wtf cp3
― amon, Thursday, December 15, 2011 1:08 AM (5 minutes ago)
yeah the hornets are legit
lol i mean the clippers
the argument was
-this is a good deal for the hornets
-there is no overriding competitive reason for Stern to veto it as commish
The Hornets finding a better deal elsewhere was NOT the argument and you’re being really juvenile in trying to turn that into the argument so you can be “right.”
the clippers u mean
whoops meant to c+p this
matt chill dawg
don’t be this year’s deej
matt srsly let go you were wrong
lol
no one should ever argue w/me abt basketball because i am always right
r.i.p. granny dainger
its sad he didnt understand basketball
dawg you totally have a right to gloat
the clippers will be v v good this year!
― k3vin k., Thursday, December 15, 2011 6:14 AM
thank you i appreciate that xp
They got a better deal and you were confident they would.
but I didn’t say they would never get a better deal, just that this was a good deal and vetoing it was ultra fishy.