12/9: NBA Armageddon

As the title illustrates, today is NBA armageddon in a number of different ways... if I had written this 24 hours ago, the "armageddon" reference would've been to the fact that camps were opening today AND free agency was beginning officially at the same time... but now... there's this...

• Chris Paul gets traded to LA... and then "un-traded".... In (literally) the craziest story I've ever heard of in the NBA, the Lakers/Rockets/Hornets came together on a massive 3-team deal that would've netted Paul to LA, Pau Gasol to Houston, and a package of Scola/Kevin Martin/Lamar Odom/Goran Dragic to the Hornets... and then!?... David Stern and the owners killed it... what does that mean, you ask?... I have NO idea... there are varying accounts of it ranging from the owners ganging up to "defend" the fact that they own the Hornets and didn't want to approve the deal, to rogue owners calling Stern and convincing him, to Stern himself simply squashing the deal... and honestly? I don't really care which one happened... but this is a travesty... in the midst of the recovery from the lockout, this is the last thing Stern and the league needs... this could end up in player revolt (check out Twitter from last night), talks of a "fixed" league, and just general chaos... and here's the kicker... THE DEAL WASN'T UNBALANCED!!! If you follow the NBA for long enough, you'll see your share of "what in the world?!!" type of trades, and this really wasn't one of them... in fact, I think this is a BAD deal for the Lakers (do you really want to bank your entire future on Andrew Bynum being healthy with no help in the frontcourt? I don't), and New Orleans wasn't getting a haul like that from any other offer... I'm dumbfounded....

Now that that is over (and I'm sure it'll be back)... let's check out what happened around the league yesterday...

• In the midst of the Paul news, Dwight Howard is reportedly (via ESPN's Chris Broussard) asking for a trade to the Nets... wow... this would've been reported ten-fold if the Paul thing didn't break... New Jersey could offer Brook Lopez and a couple of #1's... eh... I'm sure Orlando could get a better package, and there's NO way they're doing this deal without unloading Hedo or Gilbert, but they could also do worse... we'll see...
• Caron Butler to the Clippers for 3 years/24 million... man, that's a lot of money for Caron Butler at this point... the quintessential "ball-stopper" is a nice player, but I don't understand this move because it blocks Al-Farouq Aminu in the process...
  
• Tyson Chandler to the Knicks? All reporting this is nearly done, with a snag... the Knicks don't really have the cap room to offer the deal... uhh... in order to create room, they need to amnesty Chauncey Billups AND make a trade or two... speaking of Billups, he's complaining about getting amnestied like someone stole his lunch... shut up Mr. Big Shot...
• Greg Oden to sign the 1-year, $8.9 million qualifying offer with Portland... Man, I'm rooting for Greg Oden... I've said it a thousand times, but if he can get through the year healthy, that's a top-3 seed in the West...
  
• Tayshaun Prince back to Detroit for 4-years, $27 million... this was kind of a shock because EVERYONE assumed he was gone... but I'm thinking Detroit offered more money than he would've gotten elsewhere... only explanation IMO....
• Mike Dunleavy to the Bucks for 2 years, $7.5 million... I didn't think Dunleavy was more than a vet minimum guy at this point because he just can't stay on the court, but he's productive when he does, and Milwaukee needs a shooter...
• Jonas Jerebko back to Detroit for 4 years, $16 million... kind of a bold move for the Pistons because Jerebko missed last year injured... could be value there if healthy though
• TJ Ford to the Spurs... kind of weird because of the fit, but if Ford can be a model citizen in San Antonio, it's a no-risk deal and he provides a legit option when healthy now that they've jettisoned George Hill...
  

Hawks Alert!... Quick break-down of what they've done so far...

• Signed Tracy McGrady for the league minimum... I love this move because of the price... absolutely no risk here, and if he's healthy, he could be productive (and definitely better than Damien Wilkins as the backup swing-man)
• Signed Earl Watson for the league minimum... another move I can get behind... with Hinrich out for the first month, they needed a legit PG option to back-up Teague, and Watson is solid... he's a plus-defender at the point, and won't murder you elsewhere... that said, if he's playing minutes when fully healthy, it's not something I want...
• Re-signed Jason Collins... such a Hawks move... he does one thing well (defend low-post scorers), and I guess that's enough to warrant an NBA paycheck...

Elsewhere...

• I hit on the Pujols deal yesterday... but I didn't get to CJ Wilson's 5-year/77.5 million deal with the Angels... they are SPENDING, ladies and gentlemen... I actually thought, coming into the offseason, that Wilson would get more than this, so it's a "bargain" in that sense... he's probably overpaid, but if he doesn't get injured, it's not a bad deal, and that's now an elite rotation from 1 through 4...
  
• Steelers 14, Browns 3... I could pretend that I watched this... but the game sounds dreadful anyway...
  
• Kansas hires Charlie Weis to be its head football coach... what an odd move... I don't like Weis as a head coach anyway, but Kansas?!...
• College Hoops Round-up... UConn knocks off Harvard by 14... not an embarrassing performance for the Crimson, and they showed they belong at least... and West Virginia knocks off K-State in double-OT behind 30 and 12 from Kevin Jones (been there forever!) and 24 from Truck Bryant (also been there forever)...

Enjoy...