Dan Gilbert isn’t afraid to type letters. Remember his thoughts about LeBron James following his decision to head to Miami. Well, he opened up his trusty ol’ laptop last night again and let David Stern know that he wasn’t in favor of the Chris Paul deal. But Gilbert seems to be way too caught up in the money that the Lakers would be saving. He also ignores the fact that the trade probably makes the Lakers a worse team, and the Hornets a much better team. Word has it that he didn’t use Comis Sans font this time. Here’s the email he sent to Stern, which forced Stern to nix the deal:
Commissioner,
It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed.
This trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets.
Over the next three seasons this deal would save the Lakers approximately $20 million in salaries and approximately $21 million in luxury taxes. That $21 million goes to non-taxpaying teams and to fund revenue sharing.
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).
I just don’t see how we can allow this trade to happen.
I know the vast majority of owners feel the same way that I do.
When will we just change the name of 25 of the 30 teams to the Washington Generals?
Please advise….
Dan G.
The Hornets are owned by the NBA, which is the only reason that Gilbert’s efforts were successful.
Source: nbcsports.com
