Not so fast, Chris Paul: The David Stern story

When I first heard about the Chris Paul to the Lakers deal, I kind of freaked out a little bit. I hadn't heard any of the details; the only thing that I knew was that a backcourt of Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant was going to be frighteningly good. Since I hate the Lakers, I was not pleased. I figured it was another instance of a team in trouble unloading their star to a big market team for little to nothing in return.

Then, I actually saw the details of the trade. The Lakers were going to trade Pau Gasol to the Rockets, and the Hornets were going to get Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic, and a first-round draft pick. Now, I'm not what you would call an NBA expert, but I do know that apart from Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom are probably the next two best players on that team. It's not like they're trading Jordan Farmar straight up for Chris Paul or anything.

This trade actually would have worked out very well for the Hornets. Scola is a power forward who averaged 18.3 points per game last year, along with 8.2 rebounds, and he shot over 50% from the field. Martin has consistently averaged around 20 points per game throughout his career, with last year's totaling 23.4 ppg. Dragic has not posted astronomical numbers yet, but he is only 25 and has had moments where he has taken control of the game, like in the 2010 Western Conference semi-finals against the Spurs, where he scored 23 points in the fourth quarter to lead a comeback. The Rockets get a good player in Pau Gasol, the Lakers get Chris Paul, and the Hornets get a lot of very good players.

My question is this: what is so wrong with this trade that David Stern felt he needed to block it from happening? Obviously, it was due to basketball reasons. WHICH DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE. That's like me saying that somebody can't go to the bathroom for toilet reasons. What are the toilet reasons? Are they all malfunctioning? Are there no toilets in the building? Are they all in use? I need more information than that, because I really have to take a crap.

It blows my mind that this trade gets blocked, but the Pau Gasol trade to the Lakers was allowed. That trade involved Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton (who I'm pretty sure just killed somebody), Aaron McKie, Marc Gasol, and two first-round draft picks. This trade was highway robbery. Where were you on that, David? Too busy enforcing a strict dress code?

The fact of the matter is that the trade that the Hornets initially accepted was probably the best offer they were going to get. They need to unload Chris Paul, because there isn't a chance in hell that he re-signs with them after this season. I don't really care how many angry letters Dan Gilbert writes in Comic Sans font: this trade is not unfair for anybody. Maybe if NBA executives pulled their heads out of their asses, the league would have actually started their season on time.

I will say that if I was an NBA GM, I would have successfully orchestrated the greatest trade in NBA history that is fair for all sides: Brandon Rush for Chris Paul, straight up. It doesn't get any fairer than that.