Chris Paul to Clippers: How Rest of League Will Respond to Blockbuster Trade
With the trade of Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers the reaction of the rest of the league will probably find a long trail of the frustrated and annoyed, but the reality is that it's a perfectly good deal for both the Hornets and the league.
Most upset will be the Lakers, and that's not even hypothetical. According to the Los Angles Times:
"The Lakers were privately fuming Wednesday, according to a person with knowledge of their front office, when Paul, the New Orleans point guard, ended up in Los Angeles six days after the NBA vetoed the Lakers' trade for him.
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While I acknowledge tons of basketball analysts have touted what a great deal that Lakers deal was for all parties, the reality is that, long-term, it wasn't that good. Certainly this one was much better, and that might be something lost on the pro-Laker media.
Of the players involved in the first deal, none were All-Star-caliber players (with the possible exception of Kevin Martin, who, at 28, has never made it), and only two, Luis Scola and Goran Dragic, have long-term contracts. The other contracts all expired at the end of next season. Frankly, it was not a deal for a rebuilding franchise.
This is a far better deal for the Hornets, who will be able to retain Eric Gordon, an All-Star-caliber player, for at least four more years and keep all players, with the exception of Chris Kaman, for several years. Additionally, they will potentially be able to draft an All-Star, or possibly even a franchise-caliber player with the Minnesota pick, who will undoubtedly land in the lottery again this season.
Gripe as they might, the Clippers deal gave the Hornets precisely what Stern was asking for: youth.
Miami is said to be mad that the Clippers bid on Chauncey Billups in the trade, supposedly freeing up Eric Gordon to be swapped in the trade. Eric Gordon wasn't involved in the trade either, though, so there's that.
Miami has nothing to gripe about. There's no conspiracy here.
Can we take a moment and check things with our reality barometer? The Heat are complaining about collusion and the Lakers are complaining about conspiracies.
The reaction I'm most intrigued to see though is Dan Gilbert's, he who is the champion of the "small market" franchise. He's going to have a hard time trying to find something wrong with this one, and the team in the nation's second largest market with the most woeful history has won the boon of the offseason.
The team's worst owner now has Chris Paul and many will make something of that, as though the credentials of the owner were something Stern should have taken into consideration.
Most of the league will just march on. The Lakers will "quietly fume" about conspiracies (now that for the first time ever they feel they are on the wrong side of one—allegedly). The Heat will gripe about collusion, since this year they aren't the ones colluding. Dan Gilbert will complain because that's just what he does.
The rest of the league will just plod on.
In the end what will be lost is that David Stern actually should get some credit for what he's done this offseason. There will be a season. Chris Paul was traded. The Hornets got a deal. The dog-piling will continue, though, and all of that will be ignored.
