Smack / Dec 12, 2011 / 12:00 am

Kobe Bryant Is Angry About The Lamar Odom Trade; Chris Paul To The Clippers?

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Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant

The Clippers better hope David Stern likes their team because if it comes down to it, he’ll have a huge say in whether or not they get the best point guard in the game to possibly ignite the next Gary Payton/Shawn Kemp oop combo. ESPN is reporting Chris Paul likes the Clippers if he can’t ever get to the Knicks or Lakers, and luckily for L.A. they have a ton of assets that should please Stern, Dan Gilbert and anyone else who wants to complain. They have expiring contracts (Chris Kaman), draft picks (a possibly top three-five pick in a loaded June draft) and talent. The major question mark though is will they be willing to give up Eric Gordon? Sources are saying they are leaning to yes after saying for a week or so that there would be no way Gordon doesn’t stick with them. And they better, because knowing Stern’s direction, they WILL be expecting one of the best young players in the game in return. For our sake – seriously, CP throwing lobs to Blake Griffin? – we hope they do it. The Clippers are rumored to be the frontrunner to get Paul, according to Marc Stein. It’s going to be amusing when a trade is approved bringing CP and Griffin together that isn’t nearly as good as what New Orleans should’ve gotten on Thursday night … As for the other team mentioned prominently with CP, the Warriors just signed DeAndre Jordan to an offer sheet worth four years, $43 million. The Clippers plan to match it though. Weirdly, Jordan is a big factor in all this Paul stuff. First, supposedly Paul really likes the idea of playing with Jordan because he sees a little bit of Tyson Chandler in him. That, along with his great relationship with Blake Griffin, are major reasons why the Clips will probably match that offer (Jordan is First Team All-NBA when it comes to making star friends). As for the Warriors, if they did get him for this price, it would basically knock Golden State out of the Paul sweepstakes … Stern is probably praying for an easy resolution to all this. But Deron Williams can’t wait for it all to end, calling Stern a bully repeatedly this weekend: “He knows he’s a bully, ain’t no secret,” Williams told reporters Sunday. “I think everybody knows that.” … We don’t think too many Laker fans expected this. They were probably planning for Chris Paul, perhaps Dwight Howard, by the end of the weekend. Instead Lamar Odom is now a member of the enemy, and the Lakers have themselves a draft pick (and possibly more draft considerations)… and a trade exception. After hour upon hour of negotiations, the Lakers withdrew from the CP talks, tired of hearing they just didn’t have what New Orleans needed and instead – in what basically amounted to a salary dump – sent Odom to the Mavericks. We’re betting Cuban isn’t complaining about the direction of the league now, or whining about lopsided trades. So now L.A. will set their sights on Dwight Howard (who says his trade request comes because he doesn’t like working with Magic GM Otis Smith), and should have a decent shot of bringing him to Hollywood. ESPN reports Orlando will ask for Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol … As for Dallas, all those question about them not re-signing any of their core free agents aren’t being aired as loudly anymore. They’ve done a pretty good job so far this offseason to bring in some talent while also keeping themselves in position to make an even bigger move next summer. Odom seems happy to be there (and actually requested for a trade because he was so hurt from being shopped), and could be a killer playing next to Dirk. We’re just not sure how he’ll hold up without a beach around … The Lakers better have some big tricks up their sleeve after this one though because Kobe is heated. Really pissed. He said all sorts of things about the deal to the media, and none of them were positive. Bryant said he wasn’t happy Odom – whom he calls one of the most important locker room leaders the Lakers had – was gone, and that it’s even worse he’s going to one of their rivals, the team that beat them last season. Bryant told Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times about Odom’s foray into TV: “He had his best season last year. It clearly wasn’t a distraction. He played his ass off.” … Keep reading to hear about the one team everybody is overlooking in the East …

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  • http://www.psychodrama.com Chicagorilla

    Im gonna take a wild guess and say the Hornets don’t give two $h!ts about bringing in talent for this year.

    Eric Gordon would be a nice addition, but they would just be getting greedy and I doubt the Clippers are that dumb. Plus the Hornets could pick up a talent just as good if not better than Eric Gordon if they could somehow get another draft pick added instead of Gordon.

    Me Personally, if i was the owner of the Nets, I would take the young talent and draft picks…maybe even some money. This has nothing to do with winning now but more so about MONEY.
    Eric Gordon is a good player. But at 6’3 and a weak handle…I don’t know if he’ll last as a SG in the NBA once his athleticism starts to go. I would rather try my hand at getting 2 maybe 3 first round draft picks in 2012. If they could get two picks in the lottery and one pick in the mid-teens. They could revive that team immediately. They could easily roll out one of the most exciting teams in the NBA with all that young talent. Remember the Clippers when they had Darius Miles, Q-Rich, Maghette, Elton, and Keyon Dooling? The Hornets could have a similar team in 2013.

  • First & Foremost

    @K Dizzle – CP3 can then only go to a team under the cap if he walks. This is about leverage. The Hornets know he isn’t coming back. He will go to the team that overpays in assets. With the majority of teams with an amnesty clause to use, just about everyone is in play. If you don’t want to go through the hassle of a bidding war, you just flat out offer twice as much as what the item is worth. The Hornets default management is waiting for someone to bite.

    Stop pretending that the LA trade was good for New Orleans. What would a team that has been broke for the past couple of years do with a huge payroll of average players? Hey there new owner, your team finished 33-33 and your luxury tax bill is…

    The NBA is trying to sell this team. Gordon plus an expiring contract, a couple picks, and some throw-ins to fill to the deal is the most attractive offer, if you are trying to sell the team. The NBA is not trying to make a deal just to make a deal.

  • beiber newz

    hahahaaaaaaaaa chicagorilla said gordon got weak handles! what is he smoking.

  • First & Foremost

    I’m switching my entire stance on players going prep-to-pro. I think players should do a minimum of 4 years. I think the root of this superstar alignment happening in the NBA comes from players never having to go through a rebuilding period. In college, teams rise, fall, and reload. Even if your team doesn’t go through that cycle, you at least see it happen to a rival.

    In the NBA players play 6-7 seasons and if they haven’t won a championship by then, they are ready to leave. How can you not be in your prime but demand your team stay a contender EVERY YEAR? At some point you have to reload, not everyone is Clint Eastwood.

    Years 1-3 of you being there, you should help your team improve just by you getting better as a player. Year 4-6 your management should place the people around you to make you a contender. Year 7 shouldn’t be the year you demand a trade. How is a front office going to continue to get better when they don’t have the draft picks to make an instant difference and they went out and picked up the free agents that they thought would fit at the time. Picks 20 through 60 is a crapshoot.

    These players still have time to start over, but they refuse to rebuild. You can make a strategic retreat and one day comeback just a little bit better.

    Orlando tried to give Dwight firepower on offense. They took a risk on large contracts because they don’t have time to develop draft picks. It didn’t workout. Superstars feel like rebuilding is beneath them.

  • K Dizzle

    @ F & F. Mostly good points….except the Hornets just said no to both deals.
    I say the Lakers/Rockets deal make em competitive with or without Paul. Why we suddenly actin like talent comes cheap? Martin n Scola are efficient and Odom was the 6th Man of the Year. Dragic has a bright future n they got picks. Who said the Hornets had to keep them? Why can’t they flip em for picks n youth? Michael Jordan bought the Bobcats; tell me who his big draw was.
    Fine. Don’t wanna play with the Lakers or Rockets? Cool. Stern squashes it for “basketball reasons”. Here come the Clips with a 22 year old stud 2guard who averaged 23, 4, and 3 while shootin legit %ages or if u don’t want him, here’s a pick from the Wolves that could be 1st overall PLUS a lottery pick from last year(Aminu), a former all-star center with a year left on his deal(Kaman)AND last year’s 18th pick who’s about to blow up(Bledsoe).
    Not the NBA/Hornets. They want more. U want Gordon, Aminu, Bledsoe, Kaman AND??? the Wolves pick?

    Wakeup call. This ain’t complicated. Both deals were great for New Orleans and the NBA STILL wanted more. U actually think some other GM can do better than those 2 offers? League doesn’t want Paul choosin where he gonna go. That’s what this is all about…
    If you could afford the Hornets n you know CP leavin, do u even care who they bring in?

  • http://www.psychodrama.com Chicagorilla

    @KDizzle

    I think the deal with the Clippers will actually go through. That’s the difference between the two trades. Well not just that, but that’s the major difference.

    The Clippers are def overpaying if they give up Gordon. And I don’t see the Hornets getting too much of a better offer unless the TWolves or GState get involved in the CP3 trade. Which won’t happen because CP doesn’t want to go there.

    Honestly I wish the Hornets would not trade Paul and force that fool to be a free agent and sign with the teams that have the money to pay him. Then perhaps he wouldn’t be asking for so much money.
    This is a chance for Stern to prove his point about teams helping to create super teams. The Cavs and the Raptors both did not have to do the sign n trades for LBJ and Bosh. Imagine if they hadn’t done that. It would force LBJ and Bosh to take even less money to play together. And probably would’ve convinced one of them not to sign.

  • UncheckedAggression

    Chicagorilla–Gordon with weak handles? I get the feeling you haven’t seen him play much.

    I’m going to take a moment to tell you all how happy I am about what the Lakers have been up to. Trading Odom for almost nothing is one of the biggest mistakes I have ever seen. Odom was a huge part of the Lakers, and not having him is going to make them much weaker. I can only hope they’ll trade Gasol for Howard now. Let’s see how that team operates with no capable distributors.

  • First & Foremost

    I think there are conflicting reports out there. Some say no way Gordon was in the trade, NO wanted Gordon, and that was the tipping point. At least that is what I believe. If it were up to me, I’d swap Gordon into the trade and kept Bledsoe out. Scorers can be had, especially when pairing them with CP3.

    I’ll agree this is Stern making an example of Chris Paul’s demand to be traded and picking what team can have him. Mr. Burton wrote in a different article, “He signed a contract so he should honor it.” If a player doesn’t think his team will stay competitive forever, then he shouldn’t sign long-term deals.

    All of these superstars are just frontrunners. Whelp, this team is having a losing season so it is time for me to move on.

  • Skeeter McGee

    The Lockout is over, but with the way things are going already, is there any reason we should not be concerned for the welfare of the NBA moving forward?

    Stern is showing that the League has more power than we thought. Owning a team and now, GM’ing it (allegedly) shows that they have a conflict of interest. Also, GMs are going to throw ridiculous cash at players that have had a few good seasons. Talent is not spread out enough, yet there are still the same amount of teams (yeah I’m suggesting contraction). Overall, the state of the NBA almost looks worse post-lockout than before.

    What do y’all think?

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