Never shy with his words, Dallas Mavericks owner and perennial fine payer Mark Cuban criticized NBA Commissoner David Stern on Monday on the trade of superstar point guard Chris Paul from the league owned New Orleans Hornets earlier in the season.
Paul, who was set to become an unrestricted free-agent after the season, stated he would not sign an extension with the Hornets, setting the ball in motion for one of the strangest trades in league history. Â After agreeing to a three-team deal with the Rockets and Lakers that would’ve sent Paul to L.A. for Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Lamar Odom, Goran Dragic and Houston’s first-round draft pick, the Hornets offer was rebuffed by Stern for “basketball decisions.” Â
The commissioner later signed off on a deal to the L.A. Clippers for Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and Minnesota’s unprotected 2012 first-round pick to the Hornets for Paul and two future second-round picks.
At the time, Stern and many in the press lauded the deal as a win for the Hornets, who received more draft picks in the deal and younger talent from the Clippers.
Fast forward a bit and Cuban, who was outspoken against the deal from the jump, still hasn’t changed his tune.Â
“I think it was just the way they did the deal, which was ridiculous. I don’t think it was about which team. I think it was the fact that, even with the Clippers, we just went through this whole CBA and said the incumbent team still has the advantage and then the team the league owns (wimps) out. And look how it’s worked out for them.”
Cuban is referring to the Hornets’ paltry 5-23 record, second-worst in the league. Â To be fair, Gordon has only played two games due to injury, and Kaman was forced by the team to miss several games while the Hornets unsuccessfully tried to trade him.
Meanwhile Martin and Scola have both played well while leading Houston to a 16-12 record, which would qualify them as a 6th seed in the West if the playoffs started today. Â I never bought into the hype that the accepted Clippers offer was better than the rejected Rockets/Lakers deal. Â While the jury is still out on the long-term effects on the deal, the facts that Gordon can’t seem to get on the court, he rejected long-term extension offers and there seems to be no suitors for Kaman make the prospects of great success look murky.
Also, the 1st-round draft pick from Minnesota doesn’t look so shiny now that the team has gotten off to a respectable 13-16 start. Â If they continue to play average basketball, the draft pick will be merely a few spots better than Houston’s.
However, Cuban’s criticism didn’t play favorites (that was all me). Â He would have rather had the league-owned Hornets keep Paul for the remaining of the year.
“It’s not about being better or worse,” Cuban told reporters. “It’s about the concepts involved and the integrity of what we went through for the CBA. That’s what it’s all about. They screwed the pooch either way.”
Regardless of his reasoning behind the criticism, it appears Cuban is justified in his disdain for the deal all along.
He may have summed it up best by point out that “bad management gets you bad results.”
