Daily Rounds 12/9/2011 Part 1

So how was your day yesterday?  In a day of whirlwind of activity of mega deals, mini-mega deals, and deals that got nixed at the 11th hour, the world of sports has plenty to talk and discuss this morning and here we go.  We’re going to go even more in depth with even more links.  More reaction.  More coverage.  More opinion. (One) More angry Dan Gilbert letter for us all to take in on the Daily Rounds.  Compose yourself and get ready.  Its so much we had to break it up into two parts.  Part One is all NBA.

Early yesterday, after hopes had been dashed that the New Orleans Hornets were nearing a deal to send Chris Paul elsewhere the Knicks moved fast and decisively and were on the verge of signing Tyson Chandler, Paul’s buddy to a deal.  Marc Berman said it was a surprising set of events that started with the notion that they would not be able to pull off a deal for Chris Paul according to multiple sources (aka common sense).  Here’s where it gets weird.  A three team trade had been agreed to in principle that would’ve looked like as follows was nixed by league officials citing “basketball reasons” for their reasoning:

Lakers GET:               PG Chris Paul

Rockets GET:        C/PF  Pau Gasol

Hornets GET:        C/PF  Luis Scola
                                        SG  Kevin Martin
                                        PF  Lamar Odom
                                        G    Goran Dragic
2012 First Round Draft Pick (Top Five protected) 

The NBA, owners of the Hornets stepped in and decided to squash the deal on account of a majority of owners complaining to David Stern about the deal.  We have reaction.  JA Adande says leave it to the league to kill this.  John Reid of the Times-Picauyne says this will make for an awkward start of training camp.  Johnathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle opines: move over Donald Sterling, we have a new worst owner in all of basketball.  Mark Medina of the LA Times says it will be MORE controversial and MORE talked about than the Decision last summer…and like that, will have its share of consequences.  Ian Thomsen of SI.com says this shows the problem with the NBA owning the Hornets.  “The owners half-pushed this, and Stern took it the rest of the way,” a league source told Yahoo! Sports according to Adrian Wojnarowski putting full impetus on the ownership of the Hornets.  Mark Kriegel of Fox Sports says the the NBA robbed him of writing his story and now he wants revenge.  (hilarious story, please read).  Yahoo Sports put the entire Dan Gilbert letter to the commissioner up on its website.  Finally, Phil Jackson, the Zen master and hopefully soon to be coach of the New York Knicks saw this happening a year ago.  

Here is by far the funniest tweet I’ve heard yet about the proposed trade so far:

Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN)
12/8/11 6:37 PM
Give Derek Fisher all the credit. All those hours negotiating with David Stern & Lakers end up with Chris Paul. Another clutch Fisher moment

That’s just a sampling of the countrywide set of articles that will appear in Newspapers across the country.  First off, let’s begin by saying that the proposed three team trade that would’ve sent Chris Paul to the Lakers was fair.  You hear me Knick fans?  That was a fair deal.  Not many times can you say that the Lakers got an all star player back without feeling as though they had muscled that deal through but in this case it was.  The Lakers were trading the reigning sixth man of the year and a perennial all star big man and compromising their size to get an elite PG in his prime.  The Hornets made out like bandits because they got Odom, a serviceable back up PG in Dragic who I loved (in Phoenix) and a rebounder/masher in Scola who’s 18 pts and 8 rebounds would’ve adequately replaced David West’s 18 points and 8 rebounds.  And the Rockets would’ve gotten a center in his prime to replace the one they lost and reports are circulating that had this deal gone through, they would’ve paired him up with Nene whom the Rockets were thought to be going after hard.  Which would’ve given them the two center pairing they craved.  That draft pick?   That’s the Knicks draft pick they traded to the Rockets so the Knicks, relatively, are involved.

This was by all accounts a great deal for everybody involved.  Everyone but party pooper Stern and the 29 other owners who decided that it was best that the rich NOT get richer and the poor MUST stay poorer.  IF the deal is indeed nixed, this leaves EVERY OTHER trade possibility out of the question for Dell Demps the Hornets GM who got the best possible deal he was going to get.  No way in hell does the league push through any other deal no matter what kind of haul under any circumstances.  This effectively has put the NBA in a no-win situation.  The same thing the owners had fought for; taking the leverage out of superstar player’s hands, is exactly what was at work here.  David Stern, the tactician knew that no explanation would’ve sufficed except the most logical one.

How in the hell can he possibly sell a franchise to a rich person in this recession IF the Hornets are superstar-less.  Chris Paul IS the major draw.  He’s the face of the franchise.  A face that is certainly souring on the possibility that a trade that he would’ve welcomed has now been nixed because the NBA decided that for basketball reasons it was not fair.  Give me a break.  Now the 29 owners and David Stern are analysts and GMs?  No, they have guys who are paid to evaluate talent.  They are paid by other people so they can PAY their superstar employees and small market owners were probably up in arms about the NBA possibly sending another superstar to another big market team for a haul.

Of course the chance that any of these owners even SAW the pieces moving in this trade are slim.  All they heard were the principals in the deal trading superstars for elite superstar.  Now the NBA has firmly placed itself in Darth Vader territory.  David Stern is now seen as the ultimate overlord who will NEVER play nice with players and sets up a situation in which his decision making and his overall attitude towards players have turned nasty.  Those Wade rumors about yelling at Stern to not talk to him like a kid sound just about right.  Stern is NOT going to come out of this unscathed and now, we can add to his obituary that he tried to control the fate of superstars and it eventually cost him his job.  Look, I don’t think Stern WIL lose his job but this is the kind of defiant, in the face of logic just to get your way kind of decision that will always engender ill will between you and the constituency that you are negotiating with.  This will put pressure on owners to either stand behind him 100%, where three already won’t and I’m sure Miami, New York won’t either considering they are in the superstar team building business.  That kind of public pressure to step down will force Stern to re-evaluate whether, at 69 this is even worth it anymore.  He saved the NBA from a long nuclear winter and got the league back in time for an upcoming season that promises to be watched more and talked about more than any in recent memory.  If the lockout hadn’t already whet your appetite, prepare for the main course of a season and a dessert of a playoffs that will surely be the payoff for all the drama and labor strife we had to go through.  This only further proves that despite a labor deal the owners are going to always raise a fuss and try and limit player movement anyway they can.

This also sets a dangerous precedent moving forward.  Forget any deal involving Paul this year.  If this doesn’t go down no deal can, is the thinking here.  The NBA saying this is for basketball reasons is more salt to the wound of three fan bases that thought they had a fair deal.  This was going to effectively take away the huge advantage the Lakers had with their size in the paint.  All Pau was missing last season was heart.  All Bynum is missing is his ability to stay healthy all season and yet you’re betting against a guy who’s mettle can be fixed against a guy who’s got metal fixed in him?  Surgically?  I loved this move because I thought this weakened the Lakers and CP3 was not a definite to sign there long term, even though the Knicks made a move that would’ve made a move to NY impossible, but to nix this deal for basketball reasons is almost spitting in the face of sure fire logic.  A bunch of owners who were cry babies, namely Dan Gilbert (again), enabled Stern to pull this off and now Stern alone fights this battle.  We all know Gilbert is crazy.

As for possible legal action that CP3 and the union can take against the NBA, I can’t see how that would be possible given the fact that the NBA owns the team.  The only recourse they have is to fight a long drawn out legal battle challenging the league’s legal right to own one of its franchises which competes with the other 29 which I think they could win but I don’t think either side is ready and willing to go through with that which makes this basically a dead issue in terms of actually happening but one which has legs and will follow Stern for a long time.  We always thought David Stern had more power than he did, now we know.  So now the rumors of fixing lottery drafts (Knicks) and every other shady deal during his tenure has to be fair game right?  Stern has to be seen like Michael Corleone in the Godfather.  All these reporters are like Kay wanting Stern to admit he has final control.  Stern unwilling to acknowledge it gives us all one opportunity to admit he nixed this deal, does he lie to our face?  He will get in front of a microphone eventually to address this, as he should.  I’ll be interested to hear what he has to say.

As stated earlier and to give further backdrop to the main story, the Knicks did NOT wait around for a deal they knew they could not complete.  They surprised the NBA world by being “98%” close to signing Tyson Chandler.  Howard Beck of the New York Times says this immediately improves the front court, making it one of the best in the league and effectively ends their CP3 pursuit as they will be over the salary cap.  Some hurdles exist including clearing Chauncey Billups’ $14.2 million contract for this season in order to accomodate Chandler’s 4 year $58 million deal which would be through the amnesty clause, something Billups is sour on.  Marc Berman of the Post looks at all the consequences this deal has for the Knicks in the short term but lauds this deal as forming the biggest frontcourt in NBA history.  I dont know about all that Marc, but providing they all stay healthy this should be good.  BUT, cheer up Knick fans, a provision in the newly ratified CBA as of yesterday would allow the CP3 to Knicks to STILL happen.  It will all depend on Amare and Melo though according to Alan Hahn of Newsday.  Here is his plan for the Knicks regarding this provision.  

There are a few moving parts here that need to be addressed.  First, Berman’s report while highly praising to the Knicks, reminds us that optimism must be guarded.  First, the Knicks have to weigh all options including how to remove Billups contract and how to get rid of Turiaf’s contract.  Both together would free up over $18 million in cap space that would go to signing Chandler and the two rookies the Knicks drafted this year, Josh Harrelson and Imam Shumpert.  This takes them out of the Grant Hill sweepstakes who is deciding between Phoenix and San Antonio who decided they were going to amnesty Richard Jefferson, although that hasn’t been confirmed.  Until all those secondary moves can be done, and it won’t be easy, the Knicks will NOT be able to push that Chandler deal through.  Unless of course, they just decide to enter luxury tax territory for this year and the next which I think they should.

Now comes this from Alan Hahn that says that players CAN restructure contracts in order to fit under the salary cap in order to make room for others on their team.  Now obviously this doesn’t mean that New York would be the only place Paul looks but if he wanted to come play with Carmelo as badly as people hinted and if both Stat and Melo would be willing to restructure their deals this COULD happen.  So forget all I said about the  Melo deal effectively ruining any chance of us getting Chris Paul this year.  That’s on hold.  Now, Melo has a chance to really put his money where his mouth is.  You really wanna win Melo?  Prove it.  Convince Amar’e to do the same.  Show that you guys are about the greater good.  Do this for Knick fans who have gone through a dry spell.  We look fondly on a 90’s team that went to TWO FINALS in an entire decade like it was a team that went to 8 finals and won 5 championships.  This is a city that lives and breathes basketball.  Playing in an arena that means more to basketball than any other arena means to any other sport.

Even if he doesn’t come, the Knicks can still get a PG in the free agent market.  Jamaal Tinsley who I liked, signed with Utah and perhaps a reunion with Raymond Felton may be in the works.  How about Steve Nash?  Would he come even if D’Antoni ISNT with the team next year?  These are all questions that can’t be answered right now but this decision doesn’t mean doors are closed to a CP3 future but it also means that the Knicks can turn their attention to other areas where they have more pressing needs.

What does Chandler coming to the Knicks mean?  It means that the Knicks have effectively decided that in order to really improve, the Knicks need to bring someone defensive minded to anchor the center of the court which is precisely what Chandler will do.  When healthy, Chandler thinks about rebounding, defense and scoring on easy passes.  We’re talking about a guy who will for once think about ONLY one thing.  Think Patrick Ewing but ONLY defense, not also having the burden of offensively carrying his team.  His size will give the Knicks a front court that has Melo as the shortest guy at 6’7, and Amar’e playing the position he was meant to play at PF.  The Knicks are a MUCH improved ball club with this trade.  Only worry I have is his injury history and the Knicks history with big men post-Ewing is worrysome but he’s 29 and all we’re asking him to do is play defense so that should help.  Hopefully he doesn’t go Eddy Curry on us.

Here’s the bad part of this deal.  Sources are saying that Billups upon hearing that he would likely be amnestied, leaving him open for bidding to all 30 franchises without the option of choosing his next destination which COULD end up being a bad team, was irate according to his agent and without the Knicks blessing packed his stuff up and went home.  Billups is a professional who has done his fair share of traveling and has a collection of uniforms with his name on the back that could make any jersey collector blush.  But he was really set on playing for the Knicks and then leaving for Denver at the end of this season.  He returns to Denver as training camps around the NBA open today and deals can be made official.  I didn’t expect Billups to take such a poor turn on this deal but I understand.  Its not easy to leave Denver the way he did.  He never wanted to come to the Knicks in the first place.  His roots are in Denver and he left his children at home and so with these new developments, it appears that Billups will be headed into another situation that he is not pleased with and let’s be fair: he has every right to be pissed.  I would be too.  This is a veteran chasing after one more ring before he eventually retires and goes to work in the Denver front office.  I’m sad for him but I got one message: this is a business.  Move on.  You’re a pro, start acting like one.

The problem isn’t getting rid of Billups as he was never a realistic part of the long term plan here, its using the amnesty on him.  The Knicks by rule get to use the amnesty clause only once and only for players signed prior to July 1, 2011 which may have come in handy should Amar’e Stoudemire’s knees blow out one day driving to the hoop.  The contract as we all know is uninsured for 5 years and $100 million.  Its just a lot of risk involved here.  The amnesty clause by definition would erase one  contract off a team’s cap to give them salary relief.  It can only be used once and the player would still be owed that money by the team who originally was responsible for it.  That player would then be entered into a bidding war in which the team with the highest bid would automatically get the player giving the player absolutely NO SAY in the process.  THIS is why Billups is pissed because he wants to go to a winner, a wish the Knicks wanted to honor but unfortunately could not because the Mavs refused to take Billups salary as part of a sign and trade for Chandler.

 

Today’s start of training camps and official opening to free agency also means that deals can be announced and one major announcement came this morning: Dwight Howard would like to be traded.  It appears his first option is…wait for it…NEW JERSEY.  The Nets could offer 2 draft picks and Brook Lopez and take back any stinky contract (paging Hedo Turkoglou) that Orlando has giving the Magic unbelievable amounts of cap space for the upcoming offseason.  This according to the Orlando Sentinel who believe Howard has made his wishes known already.  

As much as Otis Smith will view this deal as the best deal, the CP3 nixed trade will have repercussions because the Lakers may say screw it and go after Dwight and offer up Bynum and Odom effectively ending any chances that CP3 ends up in LA LA land as well because the haul that the Hornets get would be compromised with no Odom involved.  That’s if the Hornets are still ABLE to deal Paul to the Lakers and IF the Hornets were willing to get back everyone minus Odom in the deal.  They would probably have to get back another player or draft pick somehow in the deal.  It gets complicated but the Lakers have options here and it appears they only have one now that the league has made it clear to every single team that NOBODY will be trading for Chris Paul.  Paul will now be a free agent and this sets up a scenario where teams will try to get way under the cap to sign him, or Deron Williams OR Dwight Howard.

The Dwight Howard to Nets makes sense because of what the Nets WILL become in the future.  The Nets can offer Dwight the big market next year he craves.  They can give him the star player wingman in Deron Williams who told the Nets he likes the organization and what they are building.  There’s a lot to like about New Jersey for Dwight and the chance to build his own legacy, completely unique as opposed to being another name in a list of names that have come in the past HAS to be appealing to Dwight who has to be the most appetizing piece of free agency meat thrown in.

Who comes out winners?  The Clippers.  They just signed Caron Butler for 3 years and $24 million.  The Power of Blake allowed the Clips for once to outbid a team for the services of a player who I feel can come back strong and help.  Yes, Butler is coming off major knee surgery. Yes he’s going to the Clippers where ONLY bad things can happen and playing for an owner that ultimately he will grow to despise. But he’s going to a young team with loads of promise that pending the CP3 trade won’t be made can contend in the Western Conference.  We shall see.

The Magic can basically get the Lakers and Nets to bid against each other over 48hours and get the absolute best offer and take it.  Otis Smith the Magic GM knows he is NOT going to be able to retain the services of one, Dwight Howard, and no amount of drunk calls from rich white guys is going to stop him from exploring his options on the free market.  One which could open up wide for the big smile-having guy.

Makes the rest of the season interesting.

Also, if you want to know about the amnesty provision, Larry Coon of ESPN’s TrueHoop Blog puts it in terms even a 5 year old can understand.  Just cause I can and I love, LOVE his articles and his unique writing style which I’ve tried to copy myself to no avail, Peter Vecsey’s Hoop Du Jour column is back and starts with this stunning turn of events and his take and how believes this is SAVING NOLA.  

These two articles were found late and added later, but here’s the gist of Vecsey’s column which makes sense.  New Orleans is losing the superstar.  They are giving up the most.  A town that has lost so much since Katrina is now losing its star player and who knows what happens once a new owner takes over?  And by the way, what owner will be willing to buy a franchise star-less franchise?  The value of the team would go down and may be had on the cheap.  Now that may sound appealing to somebody out there but the NBA’s owners may not feel this way.  If they rejected this deal, what then would they say is a fair market value for a team that is about to lose their superstar point guard sooner or later.  Vecsey believes Stern came out a hero in New Orleans while looking like an idiot everywhere else.

I agree somewhat with Peter’s logic.  Without Paul and with the pieces they were going to get back they were no better than a .500 ball club and no one loves that.  With Paul they were a few shots away from taking down the Lakers.  Think about that.  The LAKERS.  That’s the CP3 difference and that’s what needs to be taken into account.  Paul’s “WoW” tweet notwithstanding, he’s beloved in this community and everywhere around the league.  You can believe the hyperbole and rumor that this was payback for Paul’s presence during labor meetings (the only daily superstar presence by the way) from the other owners in the small markets namely Dan Gilbert, but I don’t think that was it.  This was about the greater good in the owner’s eyes.  However, this won’t stop Paul from exploring his options.  In fact, now there is NO WAY he signs with any of the small market teams and EVERY CHANCE he goes to one of the big markets to further stick it into the teams.  Whatever Gilbert was fighting for, he is going to lose in the long run.  This is going hardest back on to Stern and on to Gilbert who star players already view with a slanted look and now won’t get a patted eyelash his way.

I hope the NBA is happy.  They got what they want.  For this season.  Next season look for superstars to talk and make sure they don’t let this happen again.