Jacob Mustafa: Holy Christums, Eric, this is why these guys waited so long to start the season: the NBA has no clue what the hell is going on (and nor do I). Tyson Chandler, David West and Lamar Odom, a guy who wasn’t even a free agent going into this three-week orgy of knee-jerk reactions we’re calling an offseason, have all essentially switched teams more than once in the past three days. Anyone over the height of 6’9″ has been signed to an offer sheet worth more than $10 million; Olden Polynice just bought a new Hummer, and they don’t even make those anymore. And Chris Paul hates David Stern almost as much as Dell Demps and Daryl Morey do. Speaking of our fair leader, I’ve appreciated his Frank White-esque mentality with regard to making trades, splashing the Rockets’ name on basically anything resembling a big deal. Can’t knock a man for trying to save his job, if not quite a team.
Eric Todd: Can’t knock Morey, but we sure can knock the NBA (ahem, David Stern/Dan Gilbert) for pressing its/their totalitarian boot(s) to the throats of three of its franchises for the sake of some vague agenda that reads more like the mob fixing boxing matches than a benevolent shepherd looking after a stray ewe. The problem with the party line is that the “basketball reasons” the league cited for nixing the deal imply that New Orleans was getting screwed, that the team could and should, for the best interest of the franchise and its fans, find a better deal, which, in my opinion, it probably can’t and even more probably won’t. Even disregarding the fallout for the Rockets and Lakers, the varied reports of the league’s/Stern’s motivation for vetoing the trade and the carelessly ambiguous language of its official press release set a frightening precedent and generally left a bad taste in my mouth as a fan, not only of the Rockets, but also of the entire NBA.
JM: It definitely felt like Stern shoved something unseemly down our throats. I’m not entirely sure that were Stern trying to procure the best deal for Paul, the one made Thursday wasn’t the best offer; however, the talent sent to the Hornets seemed the least of Stern’s, or Gilbert’s or Cuban’s, concerns. Those men wanted to keep a top-five talent out of Los Angeles, which they did, unless playing for the Clippers counts as playing for Los Angeles (which it doesn’t). Stephon Curry, Eric Gordon and Rajon Rondo all seem like more attractive centerpieces of a deal than the spare parts the Rockets and Lakers sent Demps’ way before Generalissimo Stern called the whole thing off; too bad that never mattered. The only thing I’m left wondering is exactly what does matter to the Commish (no offense to Michael Chiklis, who at this point has a far better reputation than Stern). Is it good PR? A safe journey to the top for some Western symbol of light and goodness to combat the Satan incarnate that resides in Miami, unobstructed by a new powerhouse in purple and gold? Some salvation for his filth-encrusted, malodorous bathroom mat of a reputation that just gets defiled more by the day?
ET: And the Rockets? The team we love/are here to write about, where does all this leave our hopes? Reports are that Houston put an offer sheet out on Marc Gasol yesterday. Wouldn’t it have been a nice incentive to have already had his brother in tow? But alas, what we’re left with are a pair of ego-bruised borderline all-stars (who’ve never actually been) and a pitch to a player that Memphis will more than likely match. So the team is exactly where it started, only more dysfunctional, like a couple who separate because of infidelity only to get back together for the sake of their children. What if Morey doesn’t pull off any trades or free agent signings at all? Won’t Houston just end up exactly where its been for the past two years, at the top of the trash heap, too good for a decent draft pick but not good enough to actually compete? What about trading Martin to Utah for Paul Milsap or Scola to Toronto for draft picks? (Also, how sad/angry are you that we lost Chuck Hayes? Personally, I blame Stern for that, too.)
JM: Eventually, we can all get back at Stern for all of the messy divorces and broken homes he’s caused in the last week, but you’re more than right when you note the absolute lack of regard with which the league office and Stern treated Houston. The Rockets’ meddling, endless planning proved that chess is far less predictable than the irrationalities of a madman in charge of an entertainment enterprise fell apart at their very seams, a wadded ball of beautiful stitching that just couldn’t withstand the endless undulations of Hurricane Stern. So we’re left minus a mini-hero in Chuck Hayes, minus a couple of Gasols (most likely), minus a big, seemingly interested Brazilian warrior/efficient post-scorer/cancer survivor, minus an identity or a sense of cohesion or anything resembling a well constructed team. All thanks to some unintelligible reasoning by an old, power-mad man and a lot of bad breaks, of which not the greatest understanding of game theory (and I most certainly do not possess that) could have prepared any of us. Maybe it’s all for the best (what other platitudes do Rockets followers have to placate themselves with at this point?), as this might jumpstart a true rebuilding process, one that’ll send off our tradeable assets (as you mentioned, Scola and Martin) in order to lead to draft picks and cap space and sugarplums and non-drug-induced-euphoria. The Rockets were so keen on taking wild chances just a few days ago; we can only hope Morey has the foresight, or fortitude, to take this one.
