For all the criticism Stern took in the closing days of 2011 when he rescinded the original Chris Paul trade to LA hindsight has shown that the right decision was made. For all the talk about how that trade would impact other teams very little attention was paid to the Hornets who are indisputably in a better situation based on the trade that Stern accepted as opposed to the original 3-way.
For all the talk about parity and Stern trying to flex his muscles immediately after agreeing to a new CBA with the players, all evidence suggests that none of these things were actually considered when he rejected the original deal. At the time of the trade the NBA owned the Hornets and was actively trying to sell the club. When pressed on why he decided to rescind the trade, Stern replied “[t]he
decision was taken that Chris Paul in New Orleans was more valuable than
the trade that was being discussed,” the commissioner said.
While the deal he declined would have made New Orleans better short-term than the one he accepted, but it would have made the team much less attractive to potential buyers and severely restricted the Hornets cap-space. Stern realized that owners want to make their own mark on the team and that would not have been possible had they acquired 3 vets (Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, and Kevin Martin), and a young PG (Dragic) whose contract was up last summer.
The trade that was rescinded would have resulted in their payroll looking like this had it gone down >>>>>
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| Hornets payroll including players that would have been added in original 3-way trade that was rescinded |
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Is it really worth paying Lamar Odom [2 years $17 mil], Kevin Martin [2 years $24 mil], and Luis Scola [4 years $30 mil] just to be mediocre? Plus the team would be right at the cap before re-signing Goran Dragic and without including Ryan Anderson (who was signed as a free agent and has probably been the most consistent player for the Hornets all year) or whoever the Hornets would have drafted in 2012 (which likely would have been a middle of the pack pick since the team would have been better in 2011-12).
For comparison's lets also look at the cap figures for the players
received in the trade that sent CP3 to the Clippers (including the
unprotected 1st round pick from Minnesota which turned into Austin
Rivers).
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| Hornets payroll including players added in trade with Clippers [*
included Gordon's max contract in salaries received because it was
always assumed EJ would require a max contract to stay in New Orleans] |
With this deal the Hornets ended up with approximately $12 mil in cap space. This cap room turned into Ryan Anderson and Robin Lopez, who have turned into two of the best values over the summer and those moves combined with hitting lottery gold and drafting Anthony Davis has given this team a great future.
At the end of the day great job by the Commissioner.
