Welcome to the official opening of the NBA free agency period my fellow Stiffs! In less than four-hours, 12 p.m. MTN, players will be allowed to sign contracts with NBA teams. We shall find out soon the fates of Arron Afflalo, Nene, Gary Forbes, and many others. And how about that Lakers, Hornets, and Rockets trade that was cancelled late last night? Get ready for a wild ride!

Lots of people seem worried about the precedent set last night by the NBA when the league owners put pressure on David Stern to cancel the trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers. Well, the only way the league was really able to do such a thing is because the 29 owners are in control of the New Orleans Hornets at the moment.

But is that the only way this happened? All trades must be reviewed by the league office, so could more trades in the future be blocked? Here is my problem with the league blocking this particular trade:

  1. The Hornets did a good job making the Lakers give up their second and third leading scorers; who also double as 2/3 of the team’s seven footer squad. This trade made the Lakers a much different team and the Lakers gave up actual players to do the deal.
  2. The Hornets got some good value in return in Lamar Odom and then shipping Pau Gasol to the Rockets in exchange for Goran Dragic, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and at least one first round pick (the Knicks 2012 pick). NOLA could have easily flipped Odom and Scola for more assets this season as both guys have tons of value for a team in contention of the title.
  3. Does the league just want to see Chris Paul sign with the Lakers, Knicks, or some other market in the off-season without the Hornets getting any value for him? If that is the case, they need to contract the team in NOLA ASAP as they will not survive losing CP3 for nothing.

Strange times.

Lost in the shuffle are two things.

  1. Dwight Howard has asked to be traded to the New Jersey Nets; in exchange the Nets will send their poo-poo platter offer to the Magic.
  2. FREE AGENCY OPENS IN LESS THAN FOUR HOURS!!!!

Morning Links:

Chadler expected to sign with Knicks – Alan Hahn, Newday
The deal for Tyson Chandler is expected to be 4-years and $58 million. Chauncey Billups is expected to be amnestied and will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Cavs owner wanted trade blocked – Yahoo! Sports
The email that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert sent to David Stern about the Chris Paul trade. Good stuff.

With Chris Paul Trade Veto, David Stern Allows NBA Owners To Become Cannibals – Tom Ziller, SB Nation
A good breakdown of the ramifications of the disallowed CP3 deal.

Nate_Timmons on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/Nate_Timmons
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