It has been just over two months since the blockbuster deal that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers, and the whole situation remains baffling. The trade seemed extremely lopsided at the time and is panning out no better as time passes. Many fans implored NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to step in to prevent the trade. Silver revealed that, unlike David Stern’s veto of the Chris Paul trade to the Lakers, he had no power to change the outcome.
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Although both historic trades include the Lakers, the situations were completely different. The deal between the Lakers and the Mavericks followed the league’s legalities for a trade. There was a slight difference in the Paul deal.
In 2011, the Lakers, Hornets and Rockets agreed to terms of a shocking deal. The Lakers would acquire Paul, Houston would receive Pau Gasol and the Hornets would get a plethora of players, including Lamar Odom, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Goran Dragic.
The asterisk here is that then-NBA Commissioner Stern was also the Hornets’ acting owner.
Silver made a guest appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday afternoon. McAfee asked Silver about the possibility of following Stern’s actions. His response was quite simple.
“The Commissioner doesn’t have the right to block a trade other than a trade not conforming to our rules,” Silver said. “[Stern] was both the Commissioner and the acting owner of the New Orleans franchise. He turned down that trade based on what he felt was in the best interest of that franchise.”
In 2010, the NBA purchased the Hornets from former owner George Shinn for roughly $300 million. Their goal was to find a new suitable owner for the team that met their standards. Since Stern had the final say over one of the franchises involved, he had the power to veto the Chris Paul trade.
However, Stern would give the go-ahead on a Paul trade just a few months later, sending CP3 to the Clippers in what remains a very specific and complicated situation. As much as fans would’ve liked Silver to have a final say, he, unfortunately, wasn’t able to.
As a result, Silver witnessed the Doncic trade go down the same way the general public did. Lakers fans were robbed of a great point guard in Paul suiting up for the team but were given reparations by the addition of Doncic many years later.
