Dan Gilbert Solicits David Stern to Veto Paul Trade
2011-12-09
I cannot remember ever seeing a trade where a team got by far the best player in the trade and saved over $40 million in the process. And it doesn’t appear that they would give up any draft picks, which might allow to later make a trade for Dwight Howard. (They would also get a large trade exception that would help them improve their team and/or eventually trade for Howard.) When the Lakers got Pau Gasol (at the time considered an extremely lopsided trade) they took on tens of millions in additional salary and luxury tax and they gave up a number of prospects (one in Marc Gasol who may become a max-salary player).
You can click the link for the full thing. I’m not sure how much influence this e-mail had on David Stern’s decision (certainly, he wouldn’t cancel a trade based solely on Dan Gilbert’s whinging), but Gilbert seems to be speaking for the small market owners who—depending on who you believe—were the motivating force behind the veto.
My thoughts are as follows:
-From an integrity standpoint, this whole fiasco is a joke. The league can enact whatever measures it desires to try in vain to serve some vague notion of “competitive balance,” but Chris Paul isn’t staying in New Orleans; big-ticket free agents aren’t signing with the Timberwolves; and the Lakers, Bulls, Celtics, and Knicks are always going to have the inside track on acquiring superstars. Let it go, owners of teams in Sacramento, Charlotte, and Cleveland.
-As an NBA fan, I wanted this trade to happen. The Lakers either a.) assembled a team that’s treacherously thin, but has two of the best 10 players in the league or b.) by keeping Andrew Bynum, set themselves up to land Howard if Orlando panics and decides they need to at least get something for a player who’s set to leave for free this summer. (By the way, I think Scenario A would have been most likely; it would have been fascinating to see if Bynum could stay healthy, put it all together, and be the third best player on a championship team.) But regardless: Chris Paul on the Lakers! What non-New Orleans resident isn’t excited by that prospect?
-The trade was far from lopsided. The Lakers had to sacrifice their frontcourt depth (the primary strength of their team, the Rockets got one of the best fifteen players in the league, and New Orleans got three starters and something like the 20th pick in the 2012 draft. New Orleans got 85 cents on the dollar with very little leverage. Dell Demps should be commended for that deal; instead, he’s bitterly swilling bourbon and chucking darts at a photo of Stern’s face.
-As a Cleveland fan, I give Dan Gilbert a lot of credit for his willingness to spend whatever it takes to make the Cavs competitive, but he seems, as a person, to be an irredeemable prick. I imagine when he’s eating lunch at a cafe and spots an attractive couple having a conversation in the corner, he mutters “I don’t know why the hell she’s dating him…” to himself, and then complains to the waitress that the frilly toothpicks in his club sandwich are the wrong color. What a miserable human being.
If you want something more substantive, I recommend these pieces by Bethlehem Shoals over at the Classical, Bill Simmons’ take on Grantland, and ESPN’s 5-on-5 feature.
Breaking News: CP3 is going to the Cavs…….woops, just got vetoed by Stern…sorry Dan.
Apparently the time stamp on Gilbert’s email indicates it was sent after Stern blocked the trade. That doesn’t suggest Gilbert didn’t lobby earlier or that Stern didn’t anticipate the argument from “small market” owners, but that would be speculation at that point.
I can’t wait untill Paul goes to L.A. and New Orleans actually gets a better deal for him than the one offerred Thursday, and everyone who said New Orleans just got screwed by the Commissioner and they would never be able to move Paul now for anyything close to what was offerred will get to take it back. Cause I’m sure that’s how it will happen.
Great post, Colin. I thoroughly agree. The turning point for me was when Gilbert said that LeBron quit during the Orlando series. Laughable.
I totally agree Jeff…This website has been corrupted by the ESPN bureaucracy!!! Lets bring it down!!!!
GO CAVS!!!!! John and Colin have failed to represent the Cavaliers…They are in Bron’s and ESPN’s back pocket!!!
He owns 1/29th of the Hornets, and likely speaks for all but 3/29ths of the ownership in his statement. Period. This IS a lopsided trade that is short-sighted for the Hornets. Sure, it’s better than “losing him for nothing in return”…but that’s comparing to worst-case scenario. Bottom line is he has a right to complain. He wants his 1/29th of the sale of the Hornets back, and this trade made owning the Hornets LESS appealing. It needed more than just one draft pick and a few role players coming back in return to be worth anything to the SALE of… Read more »
Dan Gilbert is a prick??? Why because he is sucessful and wants the league to be the same…a successful league means a competitive league…sometimes people mistake a driven person as a prick and sometimes we mistake a person who would critisize this person as a…Lazy…Jealous…Unsuccessful…I don’t know you pick.
With the season two weeks away, rookies signed yesterday, and training camp up and running, I think I would rather read more about the cavs than the 105th opinion on the Chris Paul situation. Just saying.
Between Kobe, Paul and Bynum, LA would’ve been depending on three players with shaky knee histories.
If this trade was actually vetoed for basketball reasons, I wonder what they think they can get for Paul that’s better. Scola, Martin, and Odom could be flipped later on for draft picks or young talent. It’s not like they’re going to get Dwight Howard for Paul.
*by the way that quote was from NOLA.com and is from January 2011. CP3 notably cruised through the regular season, apparently in an effort to save his knees for the post season. Love the guy as a player, not sold on him as a long term prospect sadly, just because of his injury.
@Rich – regardless of whether Gilbert is a pleasant person or not (who the f*ck knows?), that was a great deal for New Orleans. Personally, as an occasional Laker hater, I’m upset the deal got vetoed because I thought the Lakers were shooting themselves in the foot. New Orleans lost a hall of fame point guard, sure, but one who is only 26 and already has a serious knee issue. Detail here..: “Paul underwent surgery on the knee in early February. Noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews, unable to sew the damaged piece of cartilage, cut it away instead, one of… Read more »
I agree with Hoops, Nupe and Rich. Gilbert should not suffer anyone’s ire for his letter sent in confidence. And look at that, he’s now the fall guy for every other owner who thought this deal was nonsense. But it’s OK, Gilbert is the gilded and jaded ex-lover gone insane, so he can wear a massive target and take crap from people who will never be in his position.
Really HoopsDogg? Really Rich? You guys do realize that Gilbert and the rest of the owners just voted to totally shaft New Orleans. What happens if New Orleans has to give up CP3 as a FA? Then what? They get absolutely nothing. He has to be traded, and the only teams offering anything of value are the teams that can sign him, i.e. the Lakers. Regardless of what Gilbert thinks about small market competitiveness, the fact is that he voted against the interests of his 1/29th ownership of the New Orleans Hornets. That’s the big conflict of interest of having… Read more »
My biggest problem with this is that Gilberts letter is ‘public’. It could hurt our chances of being able to land a FA because as a player, if given the choice, I wouldn’t want to work for him. The ‘rant’ (which I liked) was one thing, but this seems to be something different. I dont think Gilbert did anything wrong with voiceing his opinion about the CP3 deal, it’s just that he should have voiced it to Stern and not written it. He’s even more looked at as a ‘bad owner’ (from a players perspective) than before. Not that other… Read more »
I have mixed feelings about this as it relates to the Cavs. While we did get burned in the past by one of these bandwagon players leaving, I still believe that we could be the Mavs of the north. Not a spectacular city by any means, but the owner is willing to spend money to win. The only thing missing is an elite superstar who wants to stay with the team (which will hopefully be Irving). If Kyrie really wants to stay and build a winner in Cleveland, he could attract other big names.
Jimbo, do you really think it’s top players being Scola and Kevin Martin change that at all? It doesn’t.
@Tom – me too. As long as the Celtics are one of the 3 teams “everyone” dreams of playing for, he seems ok with the And-1 basketball league.
That Simmons piece made me sick to my stomach. As Zach Harper would say “different strokes for different folks”
Let’s see how much Dan Gilbert likes sending that letter off next Summer when the NBA still can’t sell the Hornets because its top players are Emeka Okafor and Jarrett Jack.
@HoopsDogg – 100% agree.
Just the way I want my team owner to be.
Oh, and KG is an irredeemable prick. But I’d still love him on my team. I don’t want my team run by a bunch of nice guys. I want it run by cutthroats who want to win.
New Orleans gets building blocks? Does anyone else realize Kevin Martin is like 29, while Odom and Scola are well past 30? There is no “building blocks” there. It was a terrible freaking deal for New Orleans. Anytime a team is trading away a franchise player AND TAKING ON EXTRA SALARY AT THE SAME TIME TO DO IT, it’s a bad deal. The moment they weren’t able to include Okafor in this deal, it was bad for the Hornets.
Now this is ridiculous. The LeBron letter was one thing, but this is an in confidence email discussing league business. Gilbert, as a 1/29th percentage owner of the Hornets is COMPLETELY entitled to this opinion, and he has every right to try to protect his interests as an owner of the Cavs and a part owner of the Hornets. The fact that it got out into the media is ridiculous. The commissioner should find who leaked this and fine them $1 million. I respect Dan for doing the #1 thing I want him to do as an owner: fight for… Read more »
This is an ESPN associated blog at the end of the day. Did anyone expect anything different from the “company line”?
Grow Up Dan! stop moaning, and whinning about deals of other franchises. Please focus on the Cavs. I bet you weren’t saying that when LeBron was still in Cleveland. You’re just a sour ex-bf -move on buddy.
Gilbert may be a great friend. But he is a bitter, childish owner. He remains bitter that LeBron took his talents to South Beach. He doesn’t care about New Orleans at all. He essentially wants them to get nothing for Paul, and be as dumb as he was with LeBron. This was a great trade for Houston and New Orleans. Houston gets a top ten player. New Orleans gets building blocks, the reigning 6th man of the year and a draft pick. For the Lakers, it left their frontcourt decimated, with no salary cap space to fix that problem. They… Read more »
And I love this “as a basketball fan” line. I can’t wait 5 years from now when Kyrie Irving is set to leave for New York to play with ‘Melo..man, won’t that be so fun to see? As a basketball fan, of course.
Guy sends a letter voicing his opinion about a team he is part owner of and that makes him an evil villain. K.
So next time Kevin Garnett pops off at the mouth like a fool, does that make him an irredemable prick?
Poor work here, Colin. I think that Dan Gilbert wants his team to be competitive just like everyone else’s. Overall, I’m all for this trade. the Hornets tried to capitalized early by trading Paul and getting a pretty good haul from LA and Houston. Gilbert’s character isn’t on trial…just like Kobe’s, Lebron’s, or Garnett’s isn’t when they take the court. You’ve only seen a glimpse of him. Do I think he should have kept his mouth shut? YES. Do I think this makes him look bad? YES. Gilbert SHOULD have shut up and let our rebuilding process run it’s course…instead,… Read more »
I have often believed that Dan Gilbert would be the right owner to land a championship in the city of Cleveland. Deep pockets, willing to spend to win, seems in touch with the city, a loyal guy who wants to win, not just make $. Maybe be a less showy Mark Cuban for the Eastern Conference. However, I do agree with Colin. He is starting to show his true colors. I defended his letter last year. I thought that it was a little much, but I resonated with it and the emotion in it as a diehard fan of the… Read more »
How dare you say that about Dan Gilbert! Talk about jumping the gun; going from sending a letter to Stern to ‘he must be a total asshole’
Thank you, Colin. Gilbert is increasingly coming off as a loathsome person. As a lifetime Cavs fan, I will never forget the way LeBron so publicly showed up Cleveland when he left. I do not blame him for wanting to get away from Gilbert, however. Dude just seems like a thug.
I can not believe you would say that about Dan Gilbert. He has been a close family friend for years and he paid for my sister’s surgery when we needed him most!!