Just when you thought the NBA’s ridiculous level had reached its ultimate apex, Commissioner David Stern decided to keep the insanity going by killing a trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers.  I’ve got a few opinions on the trade and it’s subsequent rejection.

-  Due to Paul’s unwillingness to sign an extention with Golden State or the Clippers, the pipe dream scenarios of the Hornets bringing in Stephen Curry, Eric Gordon or Minnesota’s 1st round pick in 2012 were impossible to pull off.  Instead, the best offer that we were hearing about to either of those two teams was Paul for Bledsoe, Al Aminu and Mo Williams.  That’s a garbage trade and Demps was wise to cut off talks with those two frontrunners.

-  My first reaction to the trade was “Why are we trading for two over-the-hill bigs when we’re in rebuilding mode?”.  These feelings subsided once the third team was brought into the discussion.  So for those who were in a coma yesterday, the Hornets agreed to send Paul to the Lakers for Gasol and Odom.  They also agreed to send Gasol to the Rockets for Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Goran Dragic and a 1st round pick in 2012.  Martin is a free shooter and the scorer at the 2 that the Hornets have been missing.  Scola is an underrated asset under the basket and a steady 18-8-50% performer.  Dragic would have immediately been in line to compete for the starting PG position with Jack.  The pick was from the Knicks and would’ve given us 2 1st rounders in a stacked draft.

-  The rumors surrounding the trade were the most interesting part.  Reports had the Hornets sending Okafor to the Lakers to complete the trade, which would have shed us of his ridiculous contract.  Lamar Odom was already complaining about being a Hornet, and odds are he would have never stepped foot on the court in a Hornets’ uniform.  The big rumor going around was sending Odom and Ariza to the Sixers for Andre Iguodala, a player who would work perfectly with a big time scorer like Martin.  David West is still floating around as a sign-and-trade candidate.  Free agency just kicked off today.  Moral of the story is that Demps was not finished and he had a plan in mind to make the most of what could’ve been an awful situation.

-  Unfortunately, we might not get to see the new-look Hornets.  Big time owners like Mark Cuban and Dan Gilbert urged Stern to not allow the trade, basically saying that it was ‘unfair’ to the rest of the league.  Let’s look at the trade for a minute:  Chris Paul swapped in a deal involving 4 All-Star caliber players.  It’s not like we accepted the Clippers’ shitty offer.  We got 3 quality players and the Lakers got a superstar point guard and depleted their front court in the process.  What justification does Stern have to kill this trade if the numbers work? 

-  There’s going to be some serious discussion going on throughout the league regarding the legitimacy of this decision.  The players already want Stern’s head on a platter.  This is exactly what the league did not need on the eve of the return of basketball.  I’m hoping the trade gets allowed.  We all know Paul is gone after this year and this is probably the best return we’ll get out of him.  In addition, I’m also really excited to see what Demps is going to pull off next.  The NBA is back, and for better or worse we’re going to have a  fun two weeks of mass chaos.