Stern helped NOLA by nixing Paul deal

Peter Vecsey
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HOOP DU JOUR

So, on the eve of the NBA opening for business nine weeks late due to the knack of owners and players for disagreeing to agree on a few hundred irksome issues, we have destruction.

On the day, the new collective bargaining agreement was ratified in New York City by both parties (I assume all rules and regulations were settled to the majority’s satisfaction, including those pertaining to trades) an unspecified number of infuriated owners supposedly influenced commissioner David Stern into disapproving a three-team deal before it even came before him for approval.

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NO-TRADE CLAUSE: All-Star guard Chris Paul was on his way to the Lakers last night — until NBA commissioner David Stern killed the deal.

League spokesman Mike Bass refuted reports by Yahoo! Sports and ESPN that any board members had anything to do with the voiding of pending the six-player trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers. He said it was done strictly for “basketball reasons,” but declined to define that when sent an email.

From what I gathered from other sources early this morning, the topic was not discussed at the Board of Governors meeting and no opinions were solicited.

Some negative attitude was expressed, nonetheless. Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert was horrified at the prospects of Paul becoming a Laker and asked Stern in an email if 25 teams should be renamed the Washington Generals.

On the surface, it appears the Hornets constructed a solid solution from an oppressive situation in a short amount of time. It looked like a great escape from the corner Paul had shoved them into a week ago. Both Paul and agent Leon Rose alternately notified general manager Dell Demps he wouldn’t re-sign after this season and petitioned for a trade to the Knicks.

The Knicks offered Amar’e Stoudemire but were summarily rejected. While talks with the Warriors were breaking bad, the Lakers and Rockets proposed a three-team deal. It evolved into a swap set up to send Paul to Los Angeles, Pau Gasol to Houston and Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and a No. 1 pick to New Orleans.

Had this received league endorsement (the NBA does own the Hornets, after all), the Knicks ironically would have helped the Lakers get Paul. The Hornets demanded a potential lottery draft pick and the Rockets owned New York’s for 2012.

Again, almost every person I contacted regarding the trade wholeheartedly supported it. The Hornets had played and traded by the new rules that seem very much like the old ones for at least two seasons and deceivingly appeared to recoup royally.

If I were a Hornets fan I would be outraged if I had just bought a season ticket (10,000 so far) to find Paul was gone. Now, I would love my new owner, Stern, for saving the team and blocking the trade. The commissioner looks like a hero in New Orleans.