The NBA making sure the Lakers win again?

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7333285/los-angeles-lakers-agree-trade-pau-gasol-lamar-odom-chris-paul-sources-say

The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to surrender Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom in a trade for New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul, sources tell ESPN.com's Marc Stein.

Sources close to the process tell Stein that the Houston Rockets remain part of the talks and are trying to complete a deal that would send Gasol in Houston and the Rockets' Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic to New Orleans along with Odom.

In Paul, the Lakers would be getting an All-Star and U.S. Olympic Team member who has averaged 37.1 minutes, 18.7 points and 9.9 assists per game in his six seasons.

The Hornets had been fielding trade offers for Paul, who can opt out of his current contract after this season, in an effort to acquire new players for the star guard rather than letting him walk in free agency.

Lakers get= Chris Paul

Rockets get= Pau Gasol

Hornets get= Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic

Lakers are giving up too much for a player that does not in the least bit fit with Kobe Bryant.

Paul's best connect will be with Bynum on the lob. Kobe will pretty much be a drag, and will phase out Chris Paul with his ballhogging.

I like the deal for the Rockets. We keep adding decent peices and get slightly better. We either need to go big or blow it up.

We get Gasol and sign Nene or settle for Dalembert then that's something. Good enough for 6-8 seed IMO.

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Lakers are giving up too much for a player that does not in the least bit fit with Kobe Bryant.

Paul's best connect will be with Bynum on the lob. Kobe will pretty much be a drag, and will phase out Chris Paul with his ballhogging.

Let's hope so. The Lakers front court is very thin now. If they don't get Howard and Bynum gets injured they are screwed.

Farmer1906 wrote:

I like the deal for the Rockets. We keep adding decent peices and get slightly better. We either need to go big or blow it up.

We get Gasol and sign Nene or settle for Dalembert then that's something. Good enough for 6-8 seed IMO.

Yeah good trade for the Rockets. Gasol is a massive improvement in the front court.

I am tired of these NBA players being so open about only wanting to play in big markets. Paul slapped New Orleans in the face by making it seem like there was no way he was going to stay in that dump. You don't get that nearly as often in the NFL and MLB. Sometimes you do, but not very often. The player culture in the NBA is a joke and that cuture is extremely oppressive on smaller market teams. You pretty much have to end up with superstars who are pure class acts who arent worried about market size like San Antonio did to have any long term success.

freakzilla wrote:

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Lakers are giving up too much for a player that does not in the least bit fit with Kobe Bryant.

Paul's best connect will be with Bynum on the lob. Kobe will pretty much be a drag, and will phase out Chris Paul with his ballhogging.

Let's hope so. The Lakers front court is very thin now. If they don't get Howard and Bynum gets injured they are screwed.

How would they get Howard? They don't have any Kwame Brown-esque talent on the roster to pull in that kind of player.

both gasol and fucking odom!? idk about this trade...

Freak, the NBA making sure the Lakers win? come on man

Kings, how does Paul not fit with Kobe? they are not playing the Triangle offense anymore.

KingsOwn19 wrote:

freakzilla wrote:

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Lakers are giving up too much for a player that does not in the least bit fit with Kobe Bryant.

Paul's best connect will be with Bynum on the lob. Kobe will pretty much be a drag, and will phase out Chris Paul with his ballhogging.

Let's hope so. The Lakers front court is very thin now. If they don't get Howard and Bynum gets injured they are screwed.

How would they get Howard? They don't have any Kwame Brown-esque talent on the roster to pull in that kind of player.

They are trying to get him for Bynum, Artest and draft picks. Hopefully the Magic don't fall for that.

Free agent moves-

Shane Battier to Miami
Shannon Brown to Phoenix
Caron Buttler to Clippers

freakzilla wrote:

KingsOwn19 wrote:

freakzilla wrote:

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Lakers are giving up too much for a player that does not in the least bit fit with Kobe Bryant.

Paul's best connect will be with Bynum on the lob. Kobe will pretty much be a drag, and will phase out Chris Paul with his ballhogging.

Let's hope so. The Lakers front court is very thin now. If they don't get Howard and Bynum gets injured they are screwed.

How would they get Howard? They don't have any Kwame Brown-esque talent on the roster to pull in that kind of player.

They are trying to get him for Bynum, Artest and draft picks. Hopefully the Magic don't fall for that.

The magic want a center in returtn... the Lakers have a center to give... i don't see how this could go bad

killerofchicken wrote:

freakzilla wrote:

KingsOwn19 wrote:

freakzilla wrote:

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Lakers are giving up too much for a player that does not in the least bit fit with Kobe Bryant.

Paul's best connect will be with Bynum on the lob. Kobe will pretty much be a drag, and will phase out Chris Paul with his ballhogging.

Let's hope so. The Lakers front court is very thin now. If they don't get Howard and Bynum gets injured they are screwed.

How would they get Howard? They don't have any Kwame Brown-esque talent on the roster to pull in that kind of player.

They are trying to get him for Bynum, Artest and draft picks. Hopefully the Magic don't fall for that.

The magic want a center in returtn... the Lakers have a center to give... i don't see how this could go bad

freakzilla wrote:

Free agent moves-

Shane Battier to Miami
Shannon Brown to Phoenix
Caron Buttler to Clippers

Not joking I think Shane puts Miami over the top. He's a leader, a glue guy, and does the dirty work.

killerofchicken wrote:

both gasol and fucking odom!? idk about this trade...

Freak, the NBA making sure the Lakers win? come on man

Kings, how does Paul not fit with Kobe? they are not playing the Triangle offense anymore.

does not matter what offense they play..Kobe is a ball stopper. You won't see Paul putting Kobe is positions to score like Paul is best at..Kobe's game always has been, and always will be one on one. He'll create his own scoring. Ron Artest is also a ball stopper who will not really fit with Paul. I'm not saying this will be a huge detriment, i just don't expect Kobe to perform any better and definitely no Mecca World Peace because those guys create their own and are not good enough spot up shooters to play that role consistantly...which is what is best around a player like Paul. I also expect Paul's scoring numbers to slide.

Where i really like the trade and the guy who will really benefit from Paul is Andrew Bynum. Though Paul and Gasol would have been better and Gasol is less of a liability, i guess they wanted to stay young there. I remember how well Paul and a limited offensive player like Chandler played together. Bynum should really breakthrough big time with Paul if he stays healthy.

Also, the Lakers biggest hole was their inability to defend ANY PG because Derek Fisher is slow and worthless. Paul is not defensive beast by any means, but even if he were just average he would be a major upgrade defensively. Their defense at the point position was one of the glaring reasons if not the main reason Dallas beat them.

well artest wont be an issue cuz he'll be in Orlando before the season starts, i do agree with you that Bynum will benefit the most from this and probably will become an allstar tx to Paul.

can't wait for the season to start!!!

gonna miss Pau, he's one hell of a player!!!

Wait a minute...you're a LeBron AND Lakers fan?

Blocked

Farmer1906 wrote:

freakzilla wrote:

Free agent moves-

Shane Battier to Miami
Shannon Brown to Phoenix
Caron Buttler to Clippers

Not joking I think Shane puts Miami over the top. He's a leader, a glue guy, and does the dirty work.

He is an excellent addition to the Heat.

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Wait a minute...you're a LeBron AND Lakers fan?

Blocked

I can't stand either.

wow, David fucking stern just called back the trade... yeah freak, theyre rigging the nba so the lakers win... L O L

you laugh but the rest of the world is fuckin shocked

the trade will go through.

The NBA owns the Hornets...which brings the cloud of suspicion over a trade that sends Paul to the Lakers. So Stern wants to pretend he's making sure it's on the up and up when he's pretty much the one making the trade.

lakers wont win shit without big men. trading gasol would be a mistake imo

This letter from Dan Gilbert is probably what killed the trade..part in bold showed how in favor of the Lakers it was.

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 process. And it doesn’t appear that they would give up any draft picks, which might allow to later make a trade for Dwight Howard. (They would also get a large trade exception that would help them improve their team and/or eventually trade for Howard.) When the Lakers got Pau Gasol (at the time considered an extremely lopsided trade) they took on tens of millions in additional salary and luxury tax and they gave up a number of prospects (one in Marc Gasol who may become a max-salary player).

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?

Please advise….

Dan G.