A couple of hours ago, I was already playing scenarios in my head with the trade of Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers. With Pau Gasol going to the Houston Rockets and Lamar Odom going to the New Orleans Hornets, the team's thin frontline was a great thing to think about.
However, the Lakers got screwed by the NBA. Again.
Yahoo Sports reported that the deal was blocked by NBA commish David Stern. Why? Because the New Orleans Hornets is a team owned by the NBA (it's in the process of being handed over to a new owner) and the rest of the NBA raised hell because the Lakers supposedly got better.
Are you kidding me? The Lakers got better in this deal?
By sending two-thirds of the frontline that won the 2010 NBA championship, the Lakers lost their edge on defense and rebounding. Between Gasol and Odom, you're looking at 20 rebounds a game and 3 blocked shots. Yes, the Lakers get a top-flight point guard, who does he feed the ball into the post to? Derrick Caracter? You might as well count that as a defensive rebound by the opponent.
My point is, you can't say outright that this deal was lopsided in the Lakers favor.
If the deal does get permanently killed, then the Lakers' problems would be chemistry, since Odom and Gasol will have a cloud hovering over their heads all season.
Damn you, David Stern.
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