Well my thoughts on this are that the trade being revoked is laughable. It's a bunch of small market owners along with possibly Mark Cuban not wanting the Lakers to get that much better and possibly start a team that would compete for the title each year. In NO WAY, shape or form did New Orleans get the short end in that trade.

If New Orleans makes this deal they get one of the better all around big men in the game in Odom who is capable of averaging 15 and 10-13 probably AND block shots, they get Scola who can do around the same minus the blocks, Kevin Martin who is a pure scorer and can average between 20-25 ppg, Dragic who many believe would have been a great PG for the Suns if Nash would have left previously AND a 1st rounder.... They would get the best of this entire deal. Their team would be waaay better then it is now. Not to mention, if the league doesn't allow them to trade Paul he's just going to walk and they'll get nothing at all.

Lakers take the most risk in this trade. They get a top 5 PG back but send 2 of their most important players for him. Without Odom and Gasol you're banking on Bynum to be effective enough to hold down the center position on offense and more importantly on defense. You're also banking on him playing the full year which is a gamble in it'self. Yeah maybe they could have landed Howard but you can't assume that.

The Rockets give up a pure scorer and their best rebounder for maybe the best c/pf in the game so they did well. You can build around Pau but you have to do it quickly.

I don't see what all the fuss is about. The owners n fans just didn't want the Lakers to be the next "Super team"...This deal made sense for ALL parties involved.

The NBA is "fucked" you guys just don't like it. Chicago was the #1 seed last year, OCK was a player, Memphis made a nice run, The Mavs won the finals....get over it. I don't like it either but it's not as crippling as you guys think it is.

Yes it is. What league would have a team trade away a guy like Billips for an aging not the same player he once was knowing that the following year the team would have some cap relief? Who in the fk does that, the NBA that's who. It was probably the wrong thing to do, maybe illegal but these superteams is why the NBA is a joke.

Someone mentioned it earlier, a team like Detroit - not sign prince play the young guys and tank for a few years. Does anyone honestly think the Pistons will be good in the near future? A lot more teams like this than teams like Miami and LA.

Might have been wrong but I'm lmao.

The superteams aren't being built that way...the superteams are being bulit mostly via sign n trade which helps the small market teams get something back instead of the stars just walking.

As far as cap relief, it happens in football as well, but the players are usually released not traded.

Another NBA stupidness. Howard will ask trade to Nets. Its not even up to the team anymore in the new NBA. You're a star, tell them where you want to go and bam. If I was the GM I'd trade him to the worse team out there.

Beez said:

The superteams aren't being built that way...the superteams are being bulit mostly via sign n trade which helps the small market teams get something back instead of the stars just walking.

As far as cap relief, it happens in football as well, but the players are usually released not traded.

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But in football, the players are hardly youthful superstars. And with 53 man rosters, releasing a 32 year old once good WR doesn't hurt.

[color=#006400 said:

Mitch[/color]]Another NBA stupidness. Howard will ask trade to Nets. Its not even up to the team anymore in the new NBA. You're a star, tell them where you want to go and bam. If I was the GM I'd trade him to the worse team out there.

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Thats what you're not understanding. Howard is helping Orlando. NO TEAM is going to trade for Howard unless he agrees to sign an extension. Howard has the rights next year to sign with whoever he wants but basically is saying I'll tell you who I'll sign with so you can make a deal n get something back.

In the old days the NBA player wouldn't talk about it it, would wait till his contract was up and leave. His former team would get nothing. Now these smaller market teams are getting something in return. If Lebron would have told Cleveland he wanted to play in Miami they could have dealt him his last year for something in return...instead they got nothing because he walked.

Sometimes stars are even willing to do sign n trades, in which case (LIke Bosh), Lebron could have said hey, lets sign this contract and you can still trade me to Miami.

It's win win. Yeah you hate losing your star but at least in todays NBA you get SOMETHING back.

Sign for less money. Or are you saying Orlando will never be able to afford a good player? And if a player wants to go to one teams, say the Nets, what makes the Nets want to give Orlando anything good in return or fair trade? Reminds me of when Griffey Jr left Seattle for Cincy. Everyone and their mothers new Cincy was the only team he wanted to go to and got a shitty offer.

[color=#006400 said:

Mitch[/color]]Sign for less money. Or are you saying Orlando will never be able to afford a good player? And if a player wants to go to one teams, say the Nets, what makes the Nets want to give Orlando anything good in return or fair trade? Reminds me of when Griffey Jr left Seattle for Cincy. Everyone and their mothers new Cincy was the only team he wanted to go to and got a shitty offer.

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Thats where I think we're not connecting...anything the Nets give them is fair trade because Howard can play the whole season with Orlando n walk to New Jersey for nothing next year.

Before Orlando completes a deal to any team in the league they are going to contact Dwight and asl for an extension. If Dwight want's to play in NJ next year (which is his right as a FA with an expired contract) He'll say no, I want to be a free agent next year.

Your options as a Magic Gm are let the contract ride out like the older days and see what happen in free agency OR find out where your star wants to go and trade him there early to get pieces back instead of nothing at all.

In most cases these stars aren't demanding a trade, they're saying IF you wanna get something for me this is where I'm signing next year. If not I'll play out the season. Melo was playing out the season for Denver and Denver finally wised up and said man we better get this guy to New York before we're assed out...Denver gets valuable pieces back and actually plays better the second half of the season.

So why not give them a Candy bar? I'd rather keep him than get a bunch of crap. That's why the NBA stinks, you either keep me and get nothing or you trade me and get nothing? If you're not getting value for a player in a TRADE, then the league stinks.

[color=#006400 said:

Mitch[/color]]So why not give them a Candy bar? I'd rather keep him than get a bunch of crap. That's why the NBA stinks, you either keep me and get nothing or you trade me and get nothing? If you're not getting value for a player in a TRADE, then the league stinks.

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THEY CAN! Just hold on to him and let him go in free agency. Thats what free agency is. These guys aren't holding out.

If I was the owner I'd make the Nets have to wait a year to him Howard. They won't get anything worthwhile in return so why not make Nets suffer for a year before they get their superstar?

This trade would be like if last year the Angels offered the Cardinals a very good bat, Howie Kendrick n some other stuff for Pujols after Pujols said "Hey I think I'm gonna sign with LA next year.

Angels would have the option of trading him and getting some valuable pieces or playing the season out n letting him walk. Now granted the Cards would have made a great choice as they won the world series but thats the point...they have a choice.

Orlando can hang onto him and hope they win a title this year, getting nothing for him at years end OR they can sell.

They'd get some 1st rounders and a top 3 center in the East. Better than nothing.

Firstly, the Magic aren't going to hand him over for scraps, that wouldn't be any better (and worse given their luxury tax predicament) than letting him walk for nothing. The Nets still would have to outbid teams that are willing to risk Howard might re-sign with them if they play well for a year.

But it doesn't really matter anymore. LA trade was nixed by stupid owners (for what they gave up, they had no chance at Howard anymore - Howard who is the much better player). I didn't mind the trade. Paul and Bynum were both serious injury risks and Kobe is getting old. LA would have been highly competitive for Kobe's twilight years, but I don't see that team beating OKC, Memphis (assuming they retain Gasol), Miami, or Chicago in a 7 game series.

Here's hoping Dwight really does go to NJ. For one, Deron-Dwight and scraps really isn't a great team. Anybody with a Kendrick Perkins/Jason Collins type player will beat them. Once a team can single cover Dwight, it's over. NJ doesn't have the rest of the pieces to keep defenses from doubling Deron and locking things down. For two, it would basically hit the saturation point for the big market teams. The next 3-4 years, nobody would have to worry about losing their stars to big markets, because none of the big markets would have any cap space or trade assets to obtain anyone else.

Sure they will just trade the new stars for old aging stars who are set to retire and clear cap room and the process starts over. Pistons, relevant in 2023.

The Lakers biggest strength (other than Kobe) as a team is their size, trading Gasol and Odom takes this strength away. Size wise, without those 2 they are just another team and they don't have any glaring advantages over the other top teams anymore.

The best part of the trade is getting ride of hedo and his horrible contract. Magic aren't winning a championship with the team they have and obviously aren't bringing in another star. They can't , the players contracts are horrible and untradeable.

So a good center and two 1st round picks, id take it. Rebuild. Get 2 big athletic players and a guard with the 3 1st rd picks you have.

Jameer, brook lopez, and ryan anderson is a nice start to build around.

And if they're any good, eventually they can't afford them.

[color=#006400 said:

Mitch[/color]]And if they're any good, eventually they can't afford them.

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Every team can afford a superstar, that's just silly. Top players are always worth more than the value of their contract. The reason smaller markets get bitten is because they tend to overpay for non-superstars. Danny Granger and Rudy Gay are very good players, but probably not worth the max. Memphis may lose Gasol because of that. Indiana hasn't been relevant in years because they don't spend on the right people.