Really.

But seriously?


I know he is an All-star level player but elite? I think that might be a bit of a stretch especially at this stage of his career.

He's still the second best post in the league.

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He's still the second best post in the league.

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A few names:

Dwight
ZBo
Blake Griffin
TheMarcus
Love
Amare
Al Jeff



Adding a 31 year old Gasol is a win now move. Without another huge move or two, the Rockets aren't a win now team.

[This message has been edited by Guitarsoup (edited 12/9/2011 9:54a).]

If we're just talking about the players involved in the deal then its a big meh to me. Gasol for Martin, Scola, Dragic and a couple picks in the 25-50 range(which btw can be bought every year for whomever wants them anyway) seems like a lateral move to marginal upgrade at best. But according to most sources this also would have allowed the Rockets to get Nene. All the sudden you transform from a very weak frontcourt to a strong frontcourt while only giving up your backup pg and a no defense SG who is overpaid(dime a dozen). That's makes the Rockets a very interesting team. The season would hinge on how alot of players developed(Budinger as the starter and needing to fill the scoring void, Flynn as a backup PG, Patterson and Morris as backup forwards) but that's an intriguing team. The team we currently have is not. We are what we are. Middle of the pack team with no strengths and a glaring weakness in the frontcourt. We aren't getting Howard. We aren't getting Paul. We need to make a move. I think this was a solid one. Unfortunately, it doesn't really matter

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But according to most sources this also would have allowed the Rockets to get Nene

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If this part is true, then I would have been very interested in the trade only because we are then drastically changing the dynamics of our team. Could be a disaster but at least we would be trying a different formula.

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couple picks in the 25-50 range(which btw can be bought every year for whomever wants them anyway)

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The NBA made it more difficult for this to happen in the new CBA.

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But according to most sources this also would have allowed the Rockets to get Nene.

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They would have the money to offer him, but I don't think Nene leaves Denver right now. Denver has three of their best players stuck in China and can't resign them (Chandler/Smith/Martin) and they have only spent 28mm of the cap. They have to spend like 20mm more minimum to comply with the new higher salary floor. Also, with them missing a bunch of talent, I bet they don't want to lose out on their best player.


Outside of Nene, there isn't a max-level player available unless you can convince a big name star that wants to be traded that Galveston is a lot like South Beach and Gasol is a lot like LeBron.

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Dwight
ZBo
Blake Griffin
TheMarcus
Love
Amare
Al Jeff

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He's currently better than everyone on this list other than Howard. But that's a good point. He is a 'win now' type of move.

Is Nene restricted?

I thought he was an unrestricted FA.

If he's restricted then the nuggets match the offer most likely. If not, why would he want to sign in denver with no chance of competing this year. I'm sure money, but if he's been talking to Houston extensively, there's probably a reason.

Nene's unrestricted.

It really doesn't matter anymore. But if you make that trade, amnesty thabeet, you then have the money to offer the max dollars at Nene, who seems very interested. I think Nene's game compliments really well with both Pau and Patterson. Pau and Patterson are athletic and very good at weakside help whereas Nene has the bulk to handle the "bangers" but isn't a good shot blocker. Offensively, both Pau and Nene can score without the ball going directly through them. I can see Lowry, Lee, and Bud all working much more proficiently with finishers like Nene and Pau in the post to dish to off the drive.

At the very least, that's an interesting team. This year's Rockets will be "scrappy" and "tough" and know their roles and all that, but we are low on frontcourt size and talent. Without that, this team isn't headed anywhere.

[This message has been edited by PoppaB05 (edited 12/9/2011 10:40a).]

I want to see more PP and CLee DAMN IT!!!!!

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I want to see more PP

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You know how I know you are gay?

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I want to see more PP

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You know how I know you are gay?

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You know how I know you're gay? Cause the initials PP make you have dirty thoughts.

You're the one that want to see more PP. Don't try to turn this around.

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You're the one that want to see more PP. Don't try to turn this around.

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Are you used to being "turned around"?

Morey should be sucking Stern's PP for vetoing this stupid deal

Every single national pundit is saying that the Rockets got royally screwed by the veto.

The casual NBA/Rockets fan think the Rockets got screwed in that trade because they think KMart is a great NBA player since he averages 24 ppg. The NBA pundits know that KMart is very 1 dimensional and a HUGE liability on the defensive end.

[This message has been edited by CM Punk (edited 12/9/2011 1:37p).]

well this is going well for Stern. simmons must be stealing my posts on TA.

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Fact: Of the three teams involved, New Orleans made out the best. Repeat: the best. By my calculations, it landed one of the better offensive big men in basketball (Luis Scola), one of the better scoring 2-guards in basketball (Kevin Martin), a playoff-proven forward who can play either spot (Lamar Odom), a scoring point guard with upside (Goran Dragic), and a 2012 no. 1 pick (via the New York Knicks). Can you do better for someone who was leaving in seven months anyway? I hate trading superstars, but if you HAVE to trade a superstar? That's pretty good.

Meanwhile, the Rockets spent the past three years stashing enough pieces to make that trade: Acquiring the second-best center in basketball (Gasol) while leaving enough cap room to sign a marquee free agent (and yes, they were closing in on Nene). And the Lakers paid the steepest price: giving up their best low-post guy and all of their frontcourt depth, giving Andrew Bynum an immense amount of responsibility (you know, the same guy who stormed off the court half-naked during the playoff sweep last spring) and reinventing their team around Paul's aching knee and Kobe's aching knees. It would have been a brilliant move had it worked and a legendary disaster had it failed — especially if Kobe rebelled against sharing the ball with Paul — only now we'll never know.

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http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7334835/the-sixth-day-nba-christmas

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7335040/teams-blocked-chris-paul-trade-appealing-nba-sources-say

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7334572/nba-sets-dangerous-precedent-los-angeles-lakers

http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/id/7335143/chris-paul-trade-veto-indicates-new-nba-labor-deal-changed-nothing

http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/wilbon-111209/david-stern-nfl-owners-look-vindictive-petty-veto-chris-paul-trade

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_chris_paul_lakers_hornets_nba_120811

I heard phoenix offered Tim Perry, Andrew Lang and Jeff Hornacek.

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The New Orleans Hornets, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers have resumed negotiations in an attempt to find a way to complete a blockbuster trade that would send Chris Paul to L.A., league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

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http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_chris_paul_trade_hornets_lakers_nba_120911

They should submit the exact same trade again and see what happens.

I love how Demps pretty much told the NBA to go F itself. Hope that the Spurs can reel him back in some day.

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On Thursday, the NBA, which took over control of the Hornets from George Shinn last December, vetoed a trade that would have sent Paul to the Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Rockets and Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and a 2012 first-round pick from Houston to New Orleans. Representatives from the three teams have communicated and understand that they need to sweeten the deal for New Orleans, either through additional players or future draft considerations.

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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/basketball/nba/12/09/chris.paul/index.html?sct=hp_t2_a3&eref=sihp

This is ludacris. Let me see if I get this right.

NOLA was going to get:
Odom
KMart
Scola
Dragic
1st rounder
2nd rounder

NOLA was giving up:
CP3

And they want to "sweeten the deal" for NOLA before the trade goes through? This is such a joke.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/7338172/sources-chris-paul-los-angeles-lakers-trade-resubmitted

Now apparently the Lakers only have to give up Gasol. Wtffff. This can't be real life

Khole Kardashian put her foot down bro

Thought I felt an aftershock.

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Thought I felt an aftershock.

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If you guys hated it before, you'll hate it even more now. Apparently the lakers keep odom, and the rockets have to give more players to NO. Hmmm

It was impossible for anything good to come out of this once the league blocked the move. No matter how the trade was rearranged, at least one team will look like the trade got worse, and at least one team will look like they came out better.

The irony of it will be if the Lakers do end up keeping Odom; the whole point was these whiny small market teams complaining the larger markets get all of the superstars; this would make it backfire. Although I can see Stern just going ahead with the original trade if that were the case, he's already proven he has no credibility and will do whatever the hell he wants now.

per "sources" WWL is reporting lakers are backing out of trade, opting to trade odom to mavs instead.