Chris Paul to Los Angeles Lakers Trade Is Dead Thanks to Crybaby NBA Owners
It looked like a foregone conclusion that the Los Angeles Lakers were on the verge of landing Chris Paul in a three-team deal with the New Orleans Hornets and Houston Rockets.
But it seems the deal has hit a snag, according to ESPN.
It seems some of the NBA owners who were together trying to get the ratification of the new CBA hammered out and finalized have strongly protested to the deal. Now, NBA Commissioner David Stern has been asked to step in and squash the deal, and it looks like that will happen.
They are irate over a small-market team like the Hornets trading off their best player to the big-market Lakers. This was exactly the type of thing the new CBA was supposed to prevent, but it didn't take long to burst that bubble.
"The deal is off," said a source to ESPN.com.
This could be a major blow to the Hornets' hopes of trading Paul and getting something in return of value before he leaves them in the 2012 free-agent market.
Do these owners know exactly what they're doing? It seems to me that they could single-handedly cripple the Hornets by not allowing them to get anything for Paul. There is no doubt the star point guard will leave New Orleans after this season, but at least his soon-to-be former team could have something to show for it.
You can't stop a player from going to play where he wants no matter what CBA rules you put into effect. Paul will leave, and these owners don't have the right to stop him from doing so. They also don't have the right to stop the Hornets from trying to make lemonade with the lemons they've been given.
After all, this is the United States of America, and the last time I checked, people have the right to work where they want to work. If the small-market teams don't like their big-time players leaving for bigger markets, than build your team better and make your franchise a championship contender.
I think seven years is more than enough time to do so. And if you can't, don't expect a star player the likes of Paul to sit around and lose his entire career. Even the big stars want to win too.
All these jealous, small-market owners seem to have forgotten that simple fact.
