December 9, 2011
Why is the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers so mad …..again? He didn’t want Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets to be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, that’s why. The trade which was stopped by the league last night involved Chris Paul going to the Lakers in return for Lamar Odom. Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Goran Dragic from the Rockets would have also been sent to the Hornets. Pau Gasol of the Lakers would have also been sent to the Rockets in a three team blockbuster trade. However the league which is currently running the Hornets, put the brakes on the deal. Gilbert called the deal a “travesty” and said 25 of the teams in the league would be reduced to the “Washington Generals”, a very snide remark. Gilbert is obviously still upset about losing Lebron to the Miami Heat. However, trading Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol for Chris Paul in my opinion is a lopsided trade against the Lakers in my opinion. Even if they found a way to bring in Dwight Howard at a later date, I don’t see the Lakers getting much better by bringing in Paul.
However, it’s star power that Gilbert and other owners are upset about. They don’t like big name players going to big cities and avoiding small markets. I think Gilbert and other league owners need get out of the way of player movement and focus on building great “teams” like the Spurs. Let’s face it, the Cavs have thrown in the towel ever since Lebron left. There has been no semblance of trying to build a franchise that is known for great defense or offense. I want to see “David against Goliath” if it comes to that. I want to see the Cavs beat the Heat with what they have. Give me a good story and I’m there. Lebron gave Cleveland a good run and got them to the finals, lets face it, not every city gets to see one of their own actually play for their franchise. Lebron still doesn’t have a ring to show for his efforts so let’s not focus on these “stars” so much because players like Jason Terry, Tyson Chandler and Dirk Nowitzki have a ring and they don’t have Lebron’s star power. Let’s focus on motivating teams like the Cavs to step up their game, star or no star.
