Really, David Stern?

After the NBA lockout David Stern wanted to make teams fair, and not stack up huge market teams. But on Thursday night a trade went down involving the Hornets, Lakers, and Rockets. This is how the trade was going to breakdown:

Hornets "would" have got - 

Lamar Odom

Luis Scola

Kevin Martin

Goran Gragic

2012 first round pick from the originally from New York

Rockets "would" have got -

Pau Gasol

Lakers "would" have got -

Chris Paul

Okay I'm not going to say that this wouldn't help the Lakers a lot, but this would also make the Hornets an actual NBA team instead of a squad with one superstar and a ton of roster holes. Let's review this trade. First off you are taking a post player and rebounder like Gasol off the Lakers. Also you are taking one of the best sixth men in the league Lamar Odom off the Lakers. The only player your adding is a guy that can put up 18 points a game, and 10 assists a game. The Hornets on the other hand are getting three solid players that could make them a decent team.

Second, word is going around that the Cavs owner is the first guy to say something in this case. Well last time I checked these are three Western Conference teams. So why would any of the Eastern Conference teams have a say in this?

Third, the Hornets are owned by the NBA right now. The only way someone would want to buy that team is if they have players there that want to play. I can't imagine that since Chris Paul was singled out he is going to play with much will. David West is out the door for the Hornets, and they are rebuilding. The only way you can rebuild is bringing in new players, and getting draft picks. That's what this trade would have done, but now it won't. Instead now you have a team that will lose Chris Paul at the end of the season, and get nothing for him. I don't know who in their right mind would buy this team now, so good luck with all that Stern.

And how do any of the players who were involved with this trade just go back to their team and act like nothing happened. Being traded is like being told your fired, but then getting a call Monday telling you to come back to work. How many people would go back to work, and work their ass off? It will be interesting to see if these players involved have a good year or not. I just don't think their hearts will be in it as much as they would have if this trade would have went down. We're seeing that now with Odom not wanting to go back to the Lakers and has since been traded to the Mavs.

Now don't get me wrong the Lakers would have been a heavy favorite to win the title, and I still think they are. I just feel it might have helped some other teams start the rebuilding process to give them a fighting chance also. Instead now you just have the Lakers still a championship team, and now the Hornets and Rockets will be playing for a Lottery pick. Also this means that the NBA will determine if trades can be done or not I guess. Just doesn't seem right for a league that is already cutting its season short.

Overall I can see what the NBA is doing, but it needs to realize that this trade was sending good players to other teams. I'm a huge CP3 fan and I have never really liked the Lakers, so I was worried how I would handle this trade. After I heard it was blocked by the NBA I was just in shock, and lost a lot of respect for  David Stern. If you want to make your team better you have to trade with the better teams. If it takes one guy to get four back well that's what you have to do to win. The teams are going to appeal the trade veto, but I just don't see this overturning, and now we know that it won't. The Lakers have pulled out of Paul talks completely. Overall I hope from now on these trades wont be released, before they are shut down.

Elsewhere, on Friday the NBA signing period began and the Bucks signed Mike Dunleavy to a two year deal. I know the Bucks have a lot of SG/SF, but Dunleavy is a sharp shooter. This team was awful on offense last year, so maybe he can be the spark off the bench they need.

Milwaukee also matched the tender for Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, so he will remain a Buck on a 4 year deal worth 19 million. This a good move by the Bucks after getting Dunleavy to help the offense you need to keep your defensive players around. I think the Bucks have a team to make things interesting, but we will have to see if they play like they are actually capable of.