NBA Commissioner David Stern Thursday night "killed" the Hornets’ trade of Chris Paul “after several owners complained about the league-owned team dealing the All-Star point guard” to the Lakers, according to sources cited by Adrian Wojnarowski of YAHOO SPORTS. Sources said that some owners “pushed Stern to nullify the trade and that the Hornets be made to keep Paul on the roster for the foreseeable future.” A chorus of owners was “irate with the belief that the five-month lockout had happened largely to stop big-market teams from leveraging small-market teams for star players pending free agency.” Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert in an email to Stern called the proposed trade a “travesty” and said that he “didn’t know how the league could allow the deal to happen.” Hornets officials “are unsure how they should proceed" with Paul. Wojnarowski asked, “Will they have to ... keep him? Should they search for other trades?” A source said, “Will learn soon.” But a source said that Hornets GM Dell Demps is “disconsolate” over the move from the commissioner’s office. Sources said that Demps “considered resigning his job on Thursday ... and had to be talked out of it.” Sources added that Demps tried to talk Stern "out of it ... but Stern was absolute in his desire to kill the trade.” A source said, “Stern cared about two things: Selling that franchise for the best possible price; and showing the players that they weren’t going to dictate where teams could trade them.” An NBA exec said added, “To me, this makes the league feel like it’s rigged, that Stern just does whatever Stern wants to do” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 12/9).
STERN MADE THE CALL: In N.Y., Howard Beck said the decision made by Stern “rocked the league just as it emerged from a five-month lockout.” A source said that only 45 minutes after the teams reached an agreement, Stern “called the Hornets and vetoed the deal.” And when asked who had made the decision, the source said, “It definitely was David.” Stern had the authority to kill the deal “because the league owns the Hornets.” Competitive reasons aside, some team execs “speculated that the league was concerned that the Hornets’ resale value would plummet without Paul on the roster.” But, on balance, the Hornets “were getting an equitable deal, with a generous package of talent from the Lakers and the Rockets.” Agents and team officials involved in the deal “were shocked by the league’s decision, and livid over the fallout and the implications.” The source said, “That means they’re dictating where players go” (N.Y. TIMES, 12/9). In a press conference before the deal was blocked, NBA Deputy Commissioner & COO Adam Silver said on how involved the league is in Hornets decision-making, "Ultimately the buck stops with the league office. But we're relying on the management -- Jac Sperling, Dell Demps, Hugh Weber -- we're relying on the management of that team to make decisions that are in the best interest of that franchise. But ultimately the decision rests with the league office. The final final say" (ESPN.com, 12/8).
SMALL MARKET WORRIES: In L.A., Bresnahan & Turner write league officials “didn't like the trade for the Hornets, who were purchased by the NBA last December.” Small-market owners “were quickly considered deal-killers” who got into the ear of Stern and “reminded him of the importance of a level playing field in the new collective-bargaining agreement.” NBA VP/Basketball Communications Tim Frank said, “It is not true that owners killed the deal. It wasn't even discussed at the Board (of Governors) meeting. The league office declined to make the trade for basketball reasons." Since buying the team franchise, the NBA had “left personnel decisions to the Hornets' front office” (L.A. TIMES, 12/9). Below is the email Gilbert sent to Stern regarding the Paul trade (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 12/9).
| Commissioner, It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed. This trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets. Over the next three seasons this deal would save the Lakers approximately $20 million in salaries and approximately $21 million in luxury taxes. That $21 million goes to non-taxpaying teams and to fund revenue sharing. I cannot remember ever seeing a trade where a team got by far the best player in the trade and saved over $40 million in the proces s. And it doesn’t appear that they would give up any draft picks, which might allow to later make a trade for Dwight Howard. ... I just don’t see how we can allow this trade to happen. I know the vast majority of owners feel the same way that I do. When will we just change the name of 25 of the 30 teams to the Washington Generals? |
PAUL EXPLORING LEGAL OPTIONS: ESPN's Stephen A. Smith cites sources as saying that Paul “will not be reporting to Hornets camp on Friday and will instead explore his legal options” with NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter, while “maintaining the stance the deal is merely ‘on hold’ as opposed to squashed” (ESPN.com, 12/9). Meanwhile, SPORTING NEWS's Sean Deveny writes the teams involved in the trade "are expected to appeal to the league office, and that could mean some modified version of the deal, though the league office does not typically like to show weakness in situations like this." One NBA exec said, "I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the trade. The league just created a mess for itself. Now it has to get itself out of it” (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 12/9). CSNBayArea.com’s Matt Steinmetz said, “To me, it’s a kneejerk reaction that the owners pushed David Stern into making this decision. I think that after cooler heads prevail, they will revisit the deal” ("Chronicle Live," Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 12/8).
SHOCKING MOVE BY NBA: SI.com’s Sam Amick wrote agents, execs, coaches and players “were shocked that Stern and the NBA would be so bold to make this move, especially since the NBA's team had done quite well.” Demps, “who had been operating without restraint from the NBA for months, landed three starters and at least one first-round pick in exchange for losing Paul.” Amick wrote as a result, the "basketball reasons" as they pertained to the Hornets “didn't make much sense” (SI.com, 12/8). In Cleveland, Tom Reed notes some around the league believe the Hornets "were getting good value in the deal" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 12/9). In Houston, Jonathan Feigen noted Demps "got quite a haul, so much so that it is impossible to believe the 'basketball reasons' line." Stern also "hammered the league's credibility, actually living up to the sort of doubts that drive the conspiracy theorists" (CHRON.com, 12/9). SI.com's Ian Thomsen writes more than they need Paul, the Hornets "need new owners." Bad feelings "remain about the outcome of the lockout negotiations." The bottom-line goal of this trade "was to protect the investment of the 29 NBA owners in the Hornets." Thomsen writes, "I wonder if these owners understand that the Hornets are now one of the best-managed franchises in the NBA." By disabling the trade, however, "what are the prospects for the Hornets now?" (SI.com, 12/9). FOXSPORTS.com's Mark Kriegel wrote "I don’t know what the league can get for Chris Paul now. The Hornets won’t get a deal better than what they already had. Instead, they’ll pay a heavy price" (FOXSPORTS.com, 12/9).
SLIPPERY SLOPE: ESPNLA.com's Ramona Shelburne wrote Stern blocking the deal "flipped the NBA world on its head with a move so stunning, so unprecedented and, yes, so dangerous, it's going to take a long time for anyone involved to recover." Those small-market owners "may not have gotten what they wanted from either the players or their large-market colleagues in the new collective bargaining agreement, but for one night at least, they exacted a measure of revenge" (ESPNLA.com, 12/8). In California, Kevin Ding cites sources as saying that the NBA "said nothing, didn't try at all to make a deal work." This "makes the league look completely lacking in integrity" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 12/9). ESPN.com's John Hollinger wrote the league "put itself in a much tougher [spot] today." By setting "an ugly, awful precedent, they've shown the entire league the ramp to a long, slippery slope" (ESPN.com 12/8). CSNNE.com's A. Sherrod Blakely writes, "The decision by the league really stinks on so many levels. It creates the allusion that the league, at least when it comes to trades, will play favorites. ... The idea of forcing a player back to a team in this manner won't sit well with the NBA's fan base or the players -- the two most important components to the league's success" (CSNNE.com, 12/9).
HAS STERN LOST HIS GRIP? ESPN's Bill Simmons writes, "By blocking the trade, David Stern was willingly creating his own Watergate and validating every critic who ever claimed, 'That guy stayed too long.' ... This was one of the biggest conflicts of interest in sports history. This was a league intentionally jeopardizing its own credibility." Stern was pushed to nix the trade "by a cluster of bitter owners, but the old Stern never would have rolled over like that." Simmons: "The old man doesn't have the same sway. We just witnessed it during that lockout. Few people understood how much time and effort he spent pushing his holdout owners toward that final compromise. He barely got there." He continues, "Leaders thrive when they feel creatively empowered, when they trust the people around them, when their confidence is swelling. Leaders make mistakes when they lose that same confidence, when they're fretting about their power base, when they're reacting instead of acting. The worst kind of leaders hang on too long, get seduced by their own voice, start doing things from memory -- because that's the way we've always done it! -- stop thinking outside the box, start playing checkers instead of chess. Stern reached that point last night" (GRANTLAND.com, 12/9).
SUPERSTARS, SUPERTEAMS: ESPN.com's J.A. Adande wrote the league "needs to stop being so short-sighted when it comes to assembling superteams" (ESPN.com, 12/8). In response to being asked if the Paul deal "was a sign the new labor deal was already failing," Stern said, "Superstars, under any collective bargaining agreement, will always have tremendous leverage in this league, because an individual player can be so impactful on a franchise. But we'll see how it plays out" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/9).
TWITTER REAX: Former Slam editor Russ Bengtson wrote on his Twitter account, "NBA players: Don't like a potential trade destination? Just act like going there was your idea. Thank me later. … A Christmas Day strike would be so perfect. Come on, NBA players. Fight back." CBSSports.com's Ken Berger wrote, "Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I'm sort of wondering if Mr. Boies is in the country, and still on retainer. … For those wondering why all chatter stopped: After trade nixed, all league business effectively halted. GMs/agents didn't know what to do." Crain's Cleveland Business' Joel Hammond: "Through my research of new CBA, there didn't appear to be a clause that said Stern could do whatever he wanted. The NBA is a giant mess." ESPNLA.com's Ramona Shelburne: "On the heels of a lockout that obviously accomplished nothing, the NBA managed to step into an even bigger pile of its own waste." AP's Tim Reynolds: "Soooo, what's new, NBA? How's that labor peace looking this morning?"
