Stern said that Paul was deemed "too valuable" for the Hornets. After this veto went down, however, I went on to my Twitter and it all of a sudden blew with outrages of NBA writers, fans, and players complaining about Paul not going to his desired destination. Paul tweeted, "WoW" after the veto and Pacers' Danny Granger said that everyone now is Stern's b***h.
Listen, I thought it was a bit unfair as well. I mean, why not just let Paul go where he wants? Like, seriously? This has never happened in the NBA before. One NBA writer tweeted that this decision by Stern could change the NBA forever! But when you really look at it, it is pretty understandable why this trade was blocked.
First of all, it's these types of things that led us to the NBA lockout in the first place. After Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen left their small-market teams to join forces with Paul Pierce with the Boston Celtics, things started to change in the NBA. Everyone started to focus on Boston now. However, things really kicked in during the Summer of 2010 when LeBron James and Chris Bosh created the South Beach Superteam in Miami with Dwyane Wade. After that, the NBA was in trouble.
Small market teams started to lose money. You want a good example? Look at the Minnesota Timberwolves. The last time, and maybe the only time, they were popular was because of Garnett. Cleveland? My god, they have fell so low. And no one even pays attention to the Raptors now that Chris Bosh is gone. Denver lost some popularity when Carmelo Anthony was traded to New York.
If this trade had gone down, the Lakers would have gotten A LOT more popular. New Orleans would have been crushed popularity wise and financially. But the sad thing is, it's gonna happen to the Hornets anyways. Paul is leaving this summer for free agency, so he can sign wherever he wants. And I'm sure the NBA won't veto that!
Which is what leads me to something else? Doesn't blocking this trade make New Orleans worse for the future? I mean, look at it. They could get a boatload of draft picks and high-quality players like Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, and Goran Dragic for this season. But with this trade blocked, Paul will still be gone at the end of the season and the Hornets get nothing! Which is why this is also a BAD idea to block the trade.
I mean, it's already messed up some players. Lamar Odom didn't even show up to practice on time for Lakers' training camp today. In fact, he showed up 90 minutes late! Which is why, according to several sources, that the Lakers and Rockets are trying to sweeten up the deal more for New Orleans.
We'll see what happens, so fear not Laker fans: I think you still might get Paul.
