Does this change the way the Lakers are seen by the NBA in ways of future trades?
David Grubb:
"I think the Lakers have damaged themselves and their brand to people who maybe were indifferent before. I spoke with an NBA assistant coach last week and he told me that players asking for trades during a season isn’t new, but the way this all went down was unusual. Ultimately, I think there will be ramifications across the league after this that impact more than just the Lakers, but with two tampering charges and the stain of this episode still fresh in people’s minds, LA will be the poster child for whatever this all means for the foreseeable future."
I don’t know what it is about these two franchises and trades. David and I talked about the Chris Paul situation and the possible similarities. It was a topic of discussion for all media outlets.
But here’s the backstory.
Chris Paul was to traded to the Lakers in a three-team deal. That got vetoed by then-commissioner, David Stern, who called Demps in an interview with Chris Ballard a lousy GM.
"There was a trade that [New Orleans GM] Dell Demps wanted us to approve and I said heck no, but he had told [Rockets GM] Daryl Morey and [then Lakers GM] Mitch Kupchak he had authority to do it and he didn’t. I said no. We just settled a lockout and you want me to approve a basketball trade?” “[Demps] had agreed to trade Kevin Martin and Luis Scola or something, and I said we can do better than that…. And the next trade was [to the Clippers for] Eric Gordon and Al-Farouq Aminu and what we thought was a really great draft pick, the 10th pick, which turned out to be Austin Rivers. At least those three and someone else [center Chris Kaman]. But Dell Demps is a lousy general manager and none of those players are currently with the team anymore, and he may lose Anthony Davis.” Stern continues: “I did it because I was protecting the then Hornets…. To this day everyone always asks me, ‘Well why did you keep Chris Paul from going to the Lakers?’ I didn’t keep him. I didn’t approve the trade. No team sells or trades a future Hall of Famer without the owner signing off, and I was the owner’s rep. But I wasn’t going to hand up Dell Demps.”"
With all of the tampering scenarios surrounding the Lakers negotiating with a GM with a less than sterling reputation, this will be in the minds of a lot of NBA powers going forward.
Enough about Dell Demps. Let’s talk about the face of the Lakers front office.