For about 45 minutes, NBA commissioner David Stern?well, there were some interjections from Hornets general manager Dell Demps and fellow New Orleans front-office members?held a press conference on Wednesday night, attempting to clarify his role as the decision-maker for the league-owned Hornets and offering a rosy view of the future of the NBA in New Orleans.
Stern and friends were announcing the trade of Hornets star Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers, for a package of Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and a No. 1 draft pick. But Stern spent much of the time explaining the league office?s role in squelching a trade that would have sent Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, with the Houston Rockets as a third team. The commissioner received a backlash of criticism?he characterized it as a ?frenzy??in the wake of the cancellation of the Paul trade to the Lakers. But Stern indicated that those leaking details of the trade?s collapse had ulterior motives.
Stern said he was authorized, after the league bought the embattled Hornets a year ago, to be involved in ?any transactions outside the ordinary course of business, and all transactions involving players and coaches required the approval of the commissioner or his designee. In that context, I was operating at the highest-ranking executive of the owner of the New Orleans Hornets. That?s the way we have always worked with this team in terms of signing off on player transactions that were recommended by Hugh (Weber) and by Dell and by Jac (Sperling). It was in that capacity that we have been functioning here with respect to ownership of the New Orleans Hornets.?
The commissioner also addressed the notion that he was influenced by the complaints of individual owners, mentioning an email that had been sent from Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert: ?I assure all that, first, my decision was made long before I received that email and, second, I wouldn?t have acted upon it even if I had received it because my goal here was to determine what improved the Hornets. There has been some speculation about why I did not want to have Chris go to a team in a large market, because that would somehow have some impact on life under the new collective bargaining agreement, but all I can say there is, that is not the responsibility I undertook as the person responsible for making transactions like this on behalf of the New Orleans Hornets.?
Stern did say that the Hornets are not a ?hobbled? organization simply because they are operating without an owner. One issue that will come up quickly for the team is whether to give Gordon, a potential star, a contract extension. He is eligible to sign one before Jan. 25, and when asked about that possibility, Stern said, ?The team is authorized to have any discussion that any other team can have. So the answer to your question is, it can happen with current ownership or it can wait, it depends on the player?s choice. ... I have to sign off on all major transactions.?
Perhaps the most important takeaway from Stern?s meeting with the media was his thoughts?predictably, and perhaps overly, positive?on the state of the Hornets. The league is looking to get a buyer for the team, but that buyer would have to be willing to commit to the city long term. Already, the Hornets have a lease at New Orleans Arena that runs through this year, plus two more seasons. The NBA is negotiating for a longer lease, and while the league won?t dictate specifically that a new owner must keep the team in New Orleans, it is essentially doing so by making the arena lease an obligation.
?We?re in the process of having discussions and the reason they?re not moving as fast as they might otherwise move is that we?re trying at the same time to negotiate a lease extension, and the ownership will be contingent on the new owner accepting the lease,? Stern said. ?And we think that is a good thing.?
And while the hope of the league is that owning a team?even in a tough market like New Orleans?will almost certainly be a profitable venture from here on, there was an acknowledgement that the Paul deal needed to be resolved in order to make the team more attractive to a new owner. ?I think the future of the Hornets in New Orleans is looking better today than it?s ever looked before,? Stern said.
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