Bank Shots: How the Lakers lost Chris Paul

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Illustration by Jesse Blanchard

  • Tyler

    Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I don’t think the vetoed trade would have necessarily made the Lakers better. The toughest part about matching up with the Lakers is their frontcourt and Gasol/Odom/Bynum - that’s a dynamic threesome that can do just about everything well, offensively and defensively. They were giving up the most reliable and durable 2/3 of that threesome.

    Personally, I’d rather have Howard.

  • http://twitter.com/blanchard48moh Jesse Blanchard

    That first trade was terrible for New Orleans, bad for LA unless they had secondary moves behind it. The only team it REALLY was huge for was Houston. If I’m a Rockets fans I’m pissed.

  • Tyler

    Yeah, agreed. Houston is desperate for an A+ big man. Rug was pulled right out from under them.

  • Nima K.

    The first trade was terrible for NOLA? Are u guys kidding me? New Orleans would have grabbed Luis Scola, Goran Dragic, Kevin Martin, Lamar Odom and a 2012 first round draft selection. That was one hell of a deal for a team that is one way or another going to lose their franchise player this summer.

  • http://radsci.uthscsa.edu/index.php/User:Nima Nima K.

    btw, wouldnt it be hilarious if Prokhorov does become president of Russia? I suppose the Nets would then become “All the President’s men”? I can think of all sorts of funny implications.

  • http://radsci.uthscsa.edu/index.php/User:Nima Nima K.

    I like the Mark Cuban face. It’s mean. He’s hissing with profanity, seems like.

  • Tyler

    The package NO was receiving would have doomed them to mediocrity - just good enough to battle for the 8th seed, but not bad enough for a high lottery pick. There’s also no untapped potential in that group - what you see is what you get. All are good players, but none are game-changers.

    They basically would have become the Rockets of the past two years.

  • DorieStreet
  • Dan

    I was looking at the trade and thought that the trade gave NOLA a lot of incredibly tradeable pieces. Dragic you would probably hold on to. Young, possibly starter, but as we Spurs fans know, a major spark off the bench possibility.

    Scola, Martin, and Odom could all garner a LOT of interest from potential contendors, allowing NOLA to pry away some young talent from a variety of sources. I’m not a huge trade monger, so I may say some stupid things here, but you’ll get the idea.

    Examples: Chicago needs a scoring 2 guard. What would they trade for Martin? Taj Gibson, Omer Asik (I am not checking salaries and such, just throwing out ideas), maybe get a third team in to move a decent draft pick to NOLA??

    ANY team wth hopes of a title would love to add Odom, a super versatile vet with championship experience. Any contendor with another bad teams first round pick laying around (not sure who that would be…) would give it a thought if they thought Odom might push them over the edge.

    With Chandler gone, I could have seen Scola being appealing to the Mavs. Put him out there with the level of skill and passing he has and that offense becomes even MORE divers.
    Etc.

    I agree that the team they would have had was nothing too desirable, but the assets it provided and the team it COULD have produced had promise.

    I actually thought the rockets got the worst of it. Pau is great, but with that roster they still weren’t going to do anything and Pau is too old to build around at this point. By the time they build, he’d have beein in major decline.